Biver Expand Automatique Collection with 6 New Dials

Biver watches haven’t exactly had a quiet year, literally in the case of their superlative Carillon Tourbillon watches launched earlier this year. Now though they’re making the most of what many considered (us included) the ultimate grail watch of 2024, the Biver Automatique, in a double handful of new dial variations for Dubai Watch Week. Ever wanted a time-only hardstone watch with proper grail credentials? Look no further.

Before we get onto the main event, there are actually three distinct new facets to the collection, the first and simplest of which is a stunning two-tone. Biver has favoured luxurious monochrome in the past in full rose, yellow or white precious metal, so this is their first mix of precious metals. They did do a version with a bit of carbon fibre in the mix, but like I said, their first precious metal mix.

Specifically, Biver have paired a warm rose gold case with a white gold dial that has a greater amount of palladium in its make-up. This gives the metal a slightly lighter, brighter gleam than standard white gold for a better contrast with the rose of the case, hands and indexes. Otherwise, it’s business as normal for the immaculately made, ultra-restrained Automatique.

This is a small change in the grand scheme of things, but it makes for an absolutely beautiful watch – even beyond the Automatique’s usual charms. You don’t always need a new technique, just a change of palette. That said…

The next watch shows off a familiar case with a new dial once again. But rather than simply changing the dial from monochrome to two-tone, it instead leverages guilloche. Surprisingly for a brand so obsessed with finishing, this is the first guilloche in the Automatique line. Other collections sure, but the Automatique has always been the less-is-more posterchild. Thankfully, it’s not over-the-top in it’s use of dial engraving, even if it is complex.

The clous de Paris rings around the middle of the dial actual vary in size to better harmonize with the sunray brushing across the rest. It’s tasteful, discrete and looks awesome in the dark blue, particularly against the weighty, 39mm platinum case.

Now that they’re out of the way, onto the main event: stone dials, of which there are four – kind of. To quickly run down all the dial / case pairings, you have: platinum with blue, grained quartzite; platinum with pale lavender jade; rose gold with gorgeous mahogany obsidian and yellow gold with Oeil De Fer, better known as Tiger Iron.

I said sort of earlier because while there are four stones, there are seven watches. That’s because you can have the blue quartzite with white gold, diamond or sapphire markers and the lavender jade with white gold or diamond markers. There’s no such treatment for the obsidian or tiger iron versions, which makes sense given how prominent and particular their colourings are. There’s not much else that would match them.

Of the lot, my favourite – as it always is – is the Oeil De Fer. I loved it in the Rolex GMT Master-II earlier this year and I love it here. The mix of tiger’s eye, red jasper and hematite is so much more organically nuanced than most stones. It’s not just striations; it’s a full stratum of Australian stone. That said, I see both the jade and quartzite doing very well, they’re a bit more wearably down-to-Earth. Well, as down-to-Earth as Biver watches get.

All of the new Automatique’s house the same movement, the JCB-003, built by the maestros of Dubois-Depraz and boasting a 3.5hz frequency and 65-hour power reserve. As ever, the specs are one thing, impressive though they are. The finishing is another. Even the surfaces you don’t see are immaculately done, which goes some way to explaining the pricing.

After all, by any standards a time-only gold watch for a starting price of CHF 80,000 (around £75,500) is a tough sell. But then, this was our ultimate grail watch of 2024 – and while the looks here may have changed, that fact has not.

More details at Biver.