The new Zenith
Defy Classic Blue
Ceramic
Making a Unico movement at the Hublot manufacture
The Hublot Manufacture in Nyon.
Jean-Claude Biver
AND THE
‘ETERNAL’
WATCH
A handmade watch is a ‘piece of eternity’
Biver tells iW, and as such it will never die.
BY VASKEN CHOK ARIAN
LAST NOVEMBER, JEAN-CLAUDE BIVER RECEIVED THE 2018
GRAND PRIX D’HORLOGERIE DE GENÈVE SPECIAL PRIZE
OF THE JURY FOR HIS MORE THAN FOUR DECADES AS A
LEADER IN THE WATCH INDUSTRY. WHILE HE STEPPED
DOWN FROM AN OPERATIONAL ROLE WITHIN LVMH
LATE LAST YEAR, BIVER DOES STILL ADVISE THE LUXURY
GROUP’S WATCH BRANDS. HE REMAINS PRESIDENT NON-
EXECUTIVE OF THE LVMH GROUP WATCH DIVISION, AND
THE CHAIRMAN OF HUBLOT, TAG HEUER & ZENITH.
Biver’s influence on the watch industry is immense. Starting with
Audemars Piguet in 1975, Biver then re-founded Blancpain (in 1983) and
went on to work at Blancpain, Omega, Hublot and most recently the entire
LVMH Group (including Zenith and TAG Heuer). Every brand he has worked
with has enjoyed a higher industry standing, greater consumer awareness
and stronger sales as a result of his leadership. His well-known love of the
industry and of watchmaking has over the years been recognized as instru-
mental in the growth of fine watch demand across the globe.
International Watch sat down with Biver earlier this year to speak with him
about the state of today’s watch industry, about his passion for watchmaking
and about his plans at LVMH and beyond.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR JEAN-CLAUDE BIVER?
I have a contract with LVMH and I’m staying here. I’m chairman of Hublot,
TAG Heuer and Zenith. I don’t know when, or if, something will change. For
the time being until my contract ends nothing will change.
DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS TO START YOUR OWN WATCH BRAND?
There are rumors that I will start the watch brand, but these rumors have
been around for forty years, ever since I sold Blancpain. People might not
know that in nine years I will be eighty years old. Is it reasonable to start a
new brand when in nine years you will be eighty? When you are twenty-five
years old, you have fifty more years to succeed. If you are seventy-one, how
many years do you have?
So I don’t think I will start a brand because it would not be reasonable.
Once you have succeeded with five brands, and have been in the business for
45 years, you can leave with success. I don’t need it for me. If LVMH wants to
start a brand, it’s different.
YOUR PASSION FOR WATCHMAKING IS CLEAR. HOW HAS IT
SERVED YOU?
It’s a big asset. It is a privilege. I wish everybody would have the
same passion.
The Swiss watch industry is my home. It is where I have succeeded and
SUMMER 2019 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | 45