JC Biver Automatique Watch Review

The old adage goes that ‘quality is in the details’. Honestly, it’s a phrase we hear enough that it’s hard to take seriously, like ‘limited edition’ or ‘made in Switzerland’. But every now and then comes a watch that not only embodies the concept, but rams it so far down your throat you’ll be passing bevelling tools for weeks. That watch is the Biver Automatique.

If you’ve never heard the name Jean-Claude Biver you’re either new to the watch industry or never really branched out past Rolex. He’s the man many credit for revitalising the watch industry in its post-Quartz Crisis slump in the 1990s. You have him to thank for Blancpain, Hublot, and a large part of modern Omega (including their obsession with ambassadors). He has historically been a tour de force and, when he retired a few years back, savvy gamblers didn’t bet on him staying away for long.

Last year, the triumphant return of Jean-Claude happened with the advent of Biver and, honestly, it was more of a surprise than you might think. Not that JCB was back of course, but just what he was back with: beautiful, classically built watches drenched in all the trappings of haute horology. He also had his son in tow, who is ostensibly the driving force behind the new brand.

They certainly hit the ground running, with Carillon minute repeaters with tourbillons and jewels aplenty. They were gorgeous and demonstrated a certain mission statement: that every part of the watch, inside and out was finished to perfection. The problem is that nice an idea as that is, it was too easy to get distracted by everything else. When you have a tourbillon, repeater and a gem-set bezel, knowing the barrels inside have been flawlessly finished just doesn’t have the pull it should. And so we have the Automatique, a watch that pulls back on the over-the-top stuff to show off that mission statement all the more clearly.

Let’s not beat around the bush, the Biver Automatique is a beauty. It might just be the finest dress watch I’ve tried on in years. The 39mm rose gold case has some pretty prominent lugs, but at 10mm thick it wears phenomenally well and the slim bezel leaves plenty of room for the dial to breathe. That dial, in matching rose gold has an air of Laurent Ferrier in its streamlined minimalism, albeit with much more ornate, faceted black indexes.

The detail here comes, of course, from the finishing, with alternating circles of radial and circular brushing. On paper it doesn’t sound like it would be a dramatic difference but, well, look at the thing. Finished with a stunningly sharp handset and a solid rose gold chapter ring, it’s the most nuanced bit of monochrome I’ve ever worn. The thing is, that’s not even the main event.

We’re used to seeing a well-finished movement these days, especially at this level. You flip a Vacheron or Patek over, you know it’s going to be something special. The Biver Automatique though laughs at your Poincon de Geneve.

Thanks to the microrotor construction, the full movement is on display and what a display it puts on. The rose gold rotor has a fan-like guilloche pattern, while the main bridges opt for a more classical clous de Paris style motif, all painfully precise and light-catching. But it doesn’t stop there. The remaining metalwork is all brushed, every edge is bevelled. The metal underneath offers plenty of brushing and perlage, even when you’re barely ever going to see it. The JCB logo is hidden 90% of the time, nestled as it is in the microrotor track. It’s the level of obsessive detail that makes me wonder if, at the same time we appreciate its details, we shouldn’t stage an intervention. Engrave a message on the balance cock if you’re being held against your will.

The movement is a Dubois Depraz-made number dubbed the JCB-003, with a not insubstantial 65-hour power reserve. I can’t attest to how quickly it winds with the micro-rotor, but it has manual-wind anyway so that’s not really a problem. Interestingly, it’s a movement that’s been designed from the ground up to be versatile, ready and willing to take on a host of complications. What those complications will be only time will tell. So far JCB have built minute repeaters and automatics; to say it’ll be something between those includes 99% of complications in the world.

It’s worth noting that none of the finishing actually adds to the chronometric performance of course. Hell, the chance of damaging parts during finishing makes it more likely there could be a timekeeping problem and the movement needs to be re-done. So why, why do this?

Well, we’re talking about it, that’s one reason. It’s also incredibly beautiful, so there’s another. Perhaps the biggest reason though takes me back full circle to the beginning. We’ve seen plenty of minute repeaters over the past few years and more tourbillons than 1 can count. We’ve seen metiers d’art engravings, marquetry and enamelling of every stripe and colour. But in the Biver Automatique is a watch that can quietly take its place with the best of them. It’s not flashy (at least, no more so than any other solid gold dress watch), it’s not loud and most of its qualities are hidden on its handsome backside. If there’s a watch that defines the saying that ‘quality is in the details’, it’s this. Which for the price, feels about right.

More details at Biver.

​Oracle Time 

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