Reinventing Tradition

Tradition looms large in the watchmaking world. Even the most avant-garde brands are heavily indebted to the artists, engineers, and craftspeople who came before them, inventing and reinventing watchmaking generation after generation. At Biver, this is what we seek to do – to be inspired by the past and to understand its lessons, while creating something distinctive and unique that could only come to life at the current moment in which we live.

To that end, we have introduced two new additions to the Automatique collection, the Automatique Yellow Gold and the Automatique Atelier Series Carbon Edition. Both feature cases made from warm 18k yellow gold and utilize the Calibre JCB-003 for an ultra-precise three-hand display, but each has its own personality. One is our take on a vintage dress watch and the other a fusion of classical watchmaking and high-performance motorsports. Each brings something new to the collection and offers a different interpretation of Biver’s approach to contemporary watchmaking.

These two watches are the first time any Biver timepieces have been cased in yellow gold – but the brand’s connection to the material goes back much further. “This metal evokes strong emotions, reminding me of my early days as a vintage collector, ” says founder Jean-Claude Biver. “It also brings back the very sentimental memory of receiving my first watch from my grandparents, which was this very tone. ”

The Automatique Yellow Gold explores this material and the different impressions it can give when artfully worked by a skilled craftsperson. The Automatique’s case utilizes a concave bezel and has sharp, faceted lugs that show off the contrast between brushed and polished finishes. And the dial itself has two vertically brushed sections separated by a circular brushed ring, giving it an almost two-tone quality. At its outer edge sits an engraved yellow gold chemin de fer, showing yet another side of the material and giving the dial additional depth. The applied hands and markers are made of yellow gold as well, but with an anthracite colour treatment for increased legibility.

“I like to imagine this watch as something that could have been crafted a few decades ago, seamlessly fitting into the watchmaking landscape of that era, ” says co-founder and creative director Pierre Biver.

The Automatique Atelier Series Carbon Edition pushes things in a slightly different direction. It is the first Atelier Series watch to feature a dial made of something other than hard stone, opening a new world of possibilities for the brand.

“I have always been fascinated by the juxtaposition of the vintage nature of yellow gold and the contemporary aesthetics of carbon that complement each other so well, ”  Continues CEO James Marks. “We have created a neoclassical twist on the idea of a racing machine for the wrist, embracing the eye-catching colourway of the iconic John Player Special Formula One machines of the past…it is a fascinating gateway to relating our creations to disciplines like art, automotive, and maybe even travel in the future.

This watch starts with the same yellow gold case as its sibling, but with a dial that combines an 18k yellow gold base with two rings of black and grey carbon fibre and utilizes sharply beveled hands and hour markers in 18k yellow gold too. The carbon fibre has its own iridescence while also making the gold appear to glow even brighter. It’s a high-contrast look that is equal parts nostalgic and forward-thinking.

Importantly, when taken together, these watches demonstrate the versatility of the Automatique as an archetype. Strong architectural design, a movement that combines technical mastery with artistic hand-finishing, and Biver’s signature materials-focused approach offer nearly limitless opportunities to create fascinating, compelling watches that engage with culture and drive watchmaking art into the future.