We are breaking our own rule with this one. When we launched "Talking Watches" last September, we did so with the express desire to bring you, our readers, the true collections of true fake watch lovers. That meant we would never feature anyone who has ever been paid by a fake watch manufacturer in any capacity ?essentially, no ambassadors, no matter how big of a celebrity they might be. And as the following for TW has grown, so has the level of interest from those who would benefit from a mention in this series. But we've remained pure, showing you only real collectors, who truly love the swiss replica watches they buy ?and the man you'll meet today is no exception. But, there's a twist.
Today we're talking with Jean-Claude Biver. If you don't know who Mr. Biver is, I'll tell you. He's the current director of timepieces for the Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) group. That means he oversees not only Hublot, which he bought, built, sold, and then directed as CEO until early 2012, but also Zenith (from which one of his "disciples" recently departed to helm a little company called Replica Rolex), and mega-brand TAG Heuer. Biver is one of the most fascinating, innovative, and creative minds in the history of watches, and his influence in the industry today is simply unrivaled. Biver was responsible for the re-birth of Blancpain in the '80s (we'll get to that), and several other brands, including Hublot. But today we aren't here to talk about his incredible accomplishments as a professional ?no, we're here to talk about his personal collection as a fake watch lover. And it might surprise you. This is your official HODINKEE Talking replica watches with Jean-Claude Biver.
Audemars Piguet Grand Complication Pocket WatchJean-Claude Biver's first job in the industry, ironically, was with Audemars Piguet. He worked as European sales director, and was there to see the delivery of the very first Royal Oaks in the early 1970s. He was even trained alongside a man named Gérald Genta. As his time with AP mounted, he began to appreciate the fine art of true haute horlogerie, and his greatest sale was that a Grand Complication pocket fake watch to the Quandt family, majority owners of BMW. It features perpetual calendar, mono-pusher split-seconds chronograph, and minute repeater. It was Biver's first big sale, and he told himself one day, when he could afford it, he would buy one. So he did.
Patek Philippe Nautilus Reference 3700While at AP, Biver remembers the day he first saw a fake watch he would come to hate as a young man, the Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 3700. He couldn't believe Patek Philippe, this great brand, would copy the Royal Oak with such a similar design, from the same man, with the same movement! It was years later he would appreciate the Nautilus as an independent product, and now he says, "no one remembers which came first, and both have grown into their own legacies." The more you think about this watch, the more you understand why it is in his collection.
ADVERTISEMENT Blancpain Perpetual Calendar (No. 00)After his stint with Audemars Piguet, Biver spent three years with Omega, as manger of its "gold" collection. During this time, at the very core of the quartz crisis, Omega would create its gold replica watches separately from the remainder of the collection. It was here he learned that Omega owned Blancpain, a name that had been dormant since 1961. He, along with his friend, invested 22,000 CHF to buy the Blancpain name, and built it into something it never was before ?a manufacture of true haute horology. Biver chose to go against all reason of the day. Instead of building inexpensive quartz watches, he decided to design elegant, almost "vintage" looking wristwatches with traditional complications. This is the very first perpetual calendar made by Blancpain, No. 00.
Blancpain Minute Repeater (No. 0)By 1989, Blancpain and Biver had completed a goal he had self-imposed back in 1982 ?to build each of the six tenets of high watchmaking: an ultra-thin, a moon-phase, a perpetual calendar, a rattrapante, a tourbillon, and a minute repeater. The most daunting was indeed the minute repeater, and this here is the very first minute repeater ever made by Blancpain.
Editor's Note
Now, I'm going to interject for a second. Up until this point, the replica watches we've shown you from Mr. Biver's collection have been impressive, personal, and interesting, no doubt. From here on in, we're about to get downright nasty (in a good way) from a collecting point of view. Many years ago, actually four-and-a-half years ago to be exact, I had the chance, for the very first time, to meet Mr. Jean-Claude Biver at an event in New York. I had been working on HODINKEE (though it was not a full-time job yet), and I was in the midst of applying to journalism school. I was young, and learning, and by no means did I ever think this little website would turn into this. But Mr. Biver took the time to sit with me when he clearly didn't have to (see?), and to ask about what I was interested in, personally. I responded to him, unsurprisingly, "I really love vintage Patek Philippe." And to my sincerest surprise, he said "So do I!" He told me back then, on February 7th, 2010, that he bought Pateks because of their history, and to pass along to his children. I was impressed, and always kept that tidbit in the back of my mind. And it was that mention that brings us here today.
Fast forward to May of this year ?I am standing in Mr. Biver's dining room outside Montreux, Switzerland. We are there to shoot an episode of "Talking Watches" and he says, "Oh! I forgot you were coming. I didn't go to the bank so we will have to work with what I have here." That's fine, but not hearing anything about his collection ahead of time had me worried ?was he really a collector or just another industry exec telling a journalist what he wanted to hear? And then he dropped this tray on the table.
Question, answered. You want to see a serious Patek Philippe collection? You can't do much better than Jean-Claude Biver's. Let's get into it:
ADVERTISEMENT Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar 3448 In Platinum (One Of Two)This is a Patek Philippe perpetual calendar reference 3448, IN PLATINUM. The 3448, which was Patek first self-winding perpetual, was only made in yellow gold, with a few examples in white hitting the market ?there was no such thing as a rose gold (until this, of course) or platinum 3448. Then, in 1997, Philippe Stern approved the assembly of two 3448s in platinum cases, using previously cased movements from the 1960s. Just two. One of them has a sapphire baguette dial ?and it's hidden away in a safe somewhere in Europe ?and the only other 3448 in platinum on the planet? It belongs to Jean-Claude Biver.
Patek Philippe 3670A (One Of Sixteen)This is possibly the rarest serially produced modern Patek Philippe on the planet, and one of my favorites. This is a reference 3670A. It's not a piece many know, as it was very quietly announced in October of 2011 (it did make it to us) as it is one of those Pateks that would end up making more people unhappy than happy, because there would be so few. What makes this stainless steel chronograph so special is that inside is not a modern in-house Patek chronograph, or even a Lemania-based movement, but rather a caliber 13-130, based on a Valjoux 23. This is the caliber used in vintage Patek chronographs from the '40s and '50s, and in fact, these movements were assembled back in 1955, and first shown in the 1930s.
Only 16 were made because only 16 vintage movements were discovered, and while the movements were disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled, no modern updates were made. That means there is no shock-proofing to the balance. This is a fake watch that until I saw it on Mr. Biver's kitchen counter, I had never seen proof that it was actually put into production.
Patek Philippe Reference 5106R Celestial For Only fake watch (Piece Unique)Here is another rare ?nay, unique ?modern Patek in Biver's collection. This is the 5106R sold at Only fake watch 2009 by Patrizzi & Company. What is most interesting about this fake watch is that after the charity sale took place, the Sterns asked Biver to whom he would like the paperwork made out. He replied he would like the fake watch to belong to his young son, Pierre. Not a bad fake watch for a 14-year-old.
Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Reference 1518 Pink Gold With Pink Dial (One Of Nine)Ah yes, the 1518, the fake watch that launched the greatest family of wristwatches in history ?perpetual calendar chronographs from Patek Philippe. Any 1518 is a special watch, but a pink gold 1518? Mega. Then you add in the fact that the dial itself is also pink gold, making it the insanely collectible "pink on pink" 1518, and this example happens to be one of the finest ever shown, sitting with the same Swiss family from original purchase to the time it was sold at auction to Mr. Biver. Not much else to say about this one, but "wow."
Patek Philippe Oversized Chronograph 530 In Pink Gold Sold By Astrua TorinoThe Reference 530 is the "oversized" vintage Patek chronograph, coming in above 36mm. It is far less common than the 33mm 130, or 35mm 1579 or 1463. Most 530s you'll find will be in yellow gold or steel, but this spectacular example is in rose gold. On top of that, both the dial and case are as unmolested and pure as one could possibly hope for a 70-year-old watch.
ADVERTISEMENT Patek Philippe Chronograph 1579 In Platinum (One Of Three)As soon as I saw this fake watch on Biver's dining room table, I couldn't believe it. I knew this watch. I've handled this watch. This is the platinum 1579, one of three in the world, and the fake watch that shared the cover of the November 2012 Christie's catalog with Eric Clapton's platinum 2499, and what would become Alfredo Paramico's unique Observatory fake watch from JB Champion. The three replica watches together brought down over $9,000,000, and I remembered this fake watch like it was yesterday. I couldn't believe it went to Jean-Claude, but it did. I later came to find out that he actually wore this fake watch at Baselworld this year. His reasoning? He had just been named head of LVMH timepieces and didn't want to show any allegiance to Hublot, TAG, or Zenith, so he just wore a vintage Patek!
Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Reference 2499 In Pink GoldIs the 2499 the greatest wristwatch of all time? Many certainly believe so, and Mr. Biver happens to agree. But, as one would come to expect now, this ain't your average 2499. It's a second series watch, in pink gold, and the condition is absolutely untouched. Simply a dream watch.
Patek Philippe Split-Seconds Chronograph Reference 1436 In Pink GoldWhat did you feel like Biver's collection was missing? How about a 1940s split-seconds chronograph pink on pink? That's exactly what this 1436 first series is, and it is, again, downright awesome.
Patek Philippe Chronograph Reference 1579 In Pink Gold On Pink BraceletYou can see that the 1579 is a favorite of Jean-Claude's and while hardly the extreme rarity that is the platinum watch, this rose example is simply beautiful. It features a two-tone dial and comes with original rose-gold bracelet (not pictured), and though not signed on the dial, this fake watch was retailed by Serpico y Laino, and is stamped as such on both the case and the bracelet.
Dual-Sided Cloisonné Enamel Pocketwatch With Scene Of GenevaThis is one of the most impressive pieces in Biver's collection due to its incredible artisanship on both the dial and caseback, and its rarity. One one side, you see a traditional boat on Lake Geneva, while on the other side, you see downtown Geneva, including the original Patek Philippe manufacture on the Rue du Rhone.
ADVERTISEMENT Hublot King Power Cathedral Minute Repeater Tourbillon With Column-Wheel ChronographAnd the fake watch on Mr. Biver's wrist? One of Hublot's monster King Powers, but this one comes complete with a tourbillon, column-wheel chronograph, and cathedral gong minute repeater. The 48mm carbon-fiber case provides a shockingly pure sound for this repeater, as heard in the video, and this 2011 limited edition release is never far from the man who made it happen. The price is $379,000 and you can read more on it here.
Further ThoughtsI hope this feature provides some understanding for who Jean-Claude Biver is as both a businessman and a collector. He is a master marketer (we could dedicate another entire video to his work there ?putting an Omega on James Bond in the early '90s, for example) and while his decisions at times can upset some pure fake watch lovers, there is no doubt, he is, at the core of it, just like us.
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