When you're shopping for a new watch, a recognisable brand name can carry a lot of weight. Just look at the droves of people flocking to manufacturers like Rolex and Omega for examples of this in action.
Still, that doesn't mean that work from smaller brands should be ignored. Quite the opposite in fact – these manufacturers can often be innovative and offer beautiful designs in their smaller quantities.
That's exactly what we have with the new Biver Automatique range. These simple three-hand watches hide one of the most beautiful movements I've ever seen. That comes complete with a 22k gold micro-rotor, for some serious horological street cred.
The aim here is to take something complex and distill it down to a pure, simple form. Co-founder, Jean-Claude Biver, compares it to playing jazz on the piano. Before you can craft that melody in a seemingly effortless way, you must understand scales, harmony and composition.
That's played out in these pieces most notably on the dial. Crafted from 18k gold – either white or rose, depending on your choice of model – these dials are colour matched to their corresponding cases, and hand-finished in different ways to add depth and texture.
That air of complexity continues with the movement. Developed in conjunction with Dubois Depraz, the calibre JCB-003 was built from the ground up as a technically sound movement which can be adapted as the brand grows.
You'll find a 65-hour power reserve, while it also features a seconds hand which will snap back to zero when the crown is pulled out. That allows for precise time setting down to the second – and makes it incredibly easy to do so.
So, just who are Biver? Well, having only launched in 2023, they're a very new kid on the block. Don't mistake that for a lack of heritage, though. Co-founder, Jean-Claude Biver has a CV which includes brands like Audemars Piguet, Hublot, the Swatch Group and more.
If you're in the market for a stunning watch with a little more personality than the usual suspects, the Biver Automatique should be on your list.
