There are very few true watchmaking legends left amongst us. I mean the generation that through sheer visionary brilliance, testicular fortitude, entrepreneurial élan and pure omnipotence brought about the resurrection of the Swiss watchmaking industry. Amongst those who have now ascended to horology’s Valhalla are the incredible Nicolas G. Hayek, the extraordinary Günter Blümlein, the inimitable Patrick Heiniger and, one of my personal mentors, the unforgettable Rolf Schnyder. The heretofore unseen heights the watch industry has reached today stand entirely on the foundations built by these men. The last few of these individuals — the great horological immortals — still amongst us today are Philippe Stern, the legendary leader of Patek Philippe, and one of our industry’s most beloved figures, Jean-Claude Biver.
Who exactly is Jean-Claude Biver? To try to surmise that would be trying to contain the vastness of the ocean by cupping your hands in the tide. He is, as the poet Walt Whitman would say, a man who “contains multitudes.” Amongst the various roles in the colossal heroic arc of his life’s journey, it was as a resurrectionist that he has found his greatest success and fame — first with Blancpain, and then, in the beginning of this century, he took a failing obscure brand known for combining rubber and gold in watches, and turned Hublot into one of the new millennium’s greatest success stories. But Biver’s latest role and, as he puts it, “my final one,” is as co-creator of his eponymous brand, a project that has been the subject of personal rumination for the past three decades. It is as the patron of JC Biver that the great man has found himself in the most poignant adventure of his life. Because what he is engaged in is not the mere creation of timepieces, but also the forging of a legacy
