Hodinkee
Introducing: The Biver 'AB' - A New Manually-Wound Release In Steel
What We Know A few weeks ago I got an unexpected invite from Pierre Biver to see the brand's newest watch. Despite any ideas I might have had in my mind, Biver's new watch—just called the "AB"—was not what I expected. Instead of a new, complicated, potentially larger piece, the AB is a response to customer demand, says Biver (the person, not the brand, but kind of the person and the brand in one). After their Automatique was a runaway success in its various forms over the past two years, they resisted the urge to put the proprietary movement in a stainless steel case (as highly requested). Instead, today, they're launching a manually-wound, proprietary new movement with over 100 hours of power reserve, in a smaller steel case and moving the brand forward. The watch measures 38mm by 9.8mm thick, with a 19mm lug width. The case maintains the general hallmarks of Biver's cases, with brushed and polished geometric angular lugs—reminiscent of a Patek 3448 or 3450—but with tweaks to the bezel to change how it looks on the wrist. The dial is a multi-level gold dial, with a grained central texture, 2N gold metallicized indices, chamfered levels, gold hands with hand-finished facets, and an onyx stone-dial ring for the hour and minute track. The watch also comes with Biver's striking, angular bracelet, which now comes with a patented micro-adjust activated by two push buttons. Photo by Mark Kauzlarich. The caliber JCB-004 is developed in collaboration with Le Cercle des Hor...
