Brand: Biver | Model: AB (Acier Biver) | Reference: AB | Category: Independent Watchmaker / Haute Horlogerie Time-Only | Release Year: 2026
Last updated: October 21, 2026
The Biver AB is the brand's first stainless steel watch and first hand-wound model, built around the new JCB-004 calibre with a 120-hour power reserve and zero-reset small seconds. Its 38mm, 9.8mm-thin case frames a black DLC-coated 2N gold dial with an onyx outer ring, delivered on a five-row steel bracelet for CHF 68,000.
Biver, the family maison of Jean-Claude Biver and his son Pierre, has so far worked only in precious metals. The AB came from a challenge by the collectors who backed the brand from the start: make a steel Biver. Rather than simply recasing the Automatique, the atelier in Givrins started from a blank sheet with a new case, new dial techniques and a new movement. It is now Biver's smallest and most accessible watch. The dial is the first thing you notice. Its center is carved from a single piece of 2N yellow gold, then finished with a fine-grained black DLC coating, so the warm champagne tone shows only where it frames the center and the small seconds at 6 o'clock. A polished black onyx outer ring continues Biver's use of stone. The minute track is applied in 18k 2N gold by metallisation, and the satin-finished, hand-bevelled gold hands each have four interior angles. A slim arc above the Biver name carries a sliding golden pin that shows the remaining power reserve. Inside is the JCB-004, Biver's first hand-wound calibre, developed for this watch. Its double barrel gives 120 hours of power reserve at 21,600 vph, so you can wind it on Friday and it keeps running into the next week. Pulling the crown snaps the small seconds to zero for precise setting, Biver's signature function from the Automatique. Through the sapphire caseback, the main plate and bridges are PD210 white gold alloy with a 2N yellow gold gear train, hand-finished to the same standard as every Biver. The 38mm steel case is just 9.8mm thick and water resistant to 80m. The 19mm five-row bracelet uses Biver's trapezoidal link motif and is deliberately separated from the case rather than integrated, with quick-release pins. An anthracite Bahia calf strap with steel buckle is included.
The AB is the most accessible entry point to Biver, the independent maison founded by Jean-Claude Biver, one of the industry's most influential figures. Biver produces in very small numbers, and the AB combines several firsts — the first steel case, the first hand-wound calibre and the brand's smallest size — which gives first-year examples a strong historical position. As an "everyday" haute horlogerie watch with gold movement components and an onyx-and-gold dial, it is aimed at collectors rather than investors, but allocation is likely to be tight.
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