====== Biver, Jean-Claude ======
{{wst>image_r|Biver,_Jean-Claude|Jean-Claude Biver}}
**Jean-Claude Biver** is a Swiss watch producer associated with [[Blancpain]] and [[Omega]], and now CEO of [[Hublot]] and [[TAG Heuer]].

===== Encounter with the Haute Horlogerie =====
Jean-Claude Biver was born on 20 September [[1949]] in Luxembourg. "By jogging" he came to mechanical watches, he tells in an interview. He has run much marathon in the [[Vallée de Joux]]. His running partner and friend was [[Piguet, Jacques|Jacques Piguet]], a manufacturer of high quality mechanical movements. On his wrist Biver discovered a [[skeletonized]] watch, which greatly impressed him. At the 60th birthday of Piquet's father, he met the CEO of [[Audemars Piguet]]. In the short term he was given a workplace. After he had been at [[Audemars Piguet]] from [[1975]] to [[1979]] and had been studying the methods of the [[Haute Horlogerie]], he spent two years as a manager at [[Omega]].

===== Swatch Group: Revitalization of Blancpain and Omega =====
In [[1981]] Biver together with Jacques Piguet bought the rights to the brand, [[Blancpain]] from the [[SSIH]]. This brand had fallen out of use in the 1970s, though it had a long history. Under Biver and Piguet, Blancpain re-launched in [[1983]] and presented an entirely new model range of luxury watches with mechanical movements. The bold motto read //"Since 1735 there has never been a Blancpain [[quartz watch]]. And there never will."// With the success of this venture - then held to be futile by many - Biver contributed significantly to the renaissance of the mechanical wristwatch, presumed dead by nearly everyone at this time.

Blancpain was sold back to the successor of SSIH, [[SMH Group]], in [[1992]]. This brought substantial profit to Biver and Piguet, but he remained CEO of Blancpain until [[2003]] and joined the Board of Directors for the group, now renamed [[Swatch Group]], as well. While at Swatch Group, Biver was given the task of revitalizing [[Omega]] as well. He focused on product placement (replacing [[Rolex]] and [[Seiko]] in the //James Bond// films) and celebrity endorsements. Biver left Swatch Group, including Blancpain and Omega, in 2003.

===== LVMH: Hublot and TAG Heuer =====
Biver briefly retired from watchmaking but returned in [[2004]] as CEO of [[Hublot]]. Under Biver, Hublot expanded dramatically, notably launching the [[Hublot Big Bang|Big Bang]], which represents the concept of "fusion" between old and new in the industry. The company grew to fivefold increase in sales and was purchased by [[LVMH]] in [[2008]]. In [[2010]], Jean-Claude Biver received the prestigious [[Prix Gaïa]] Esprit d'Entreprise award.

Biver took over fellow LVMH brand, [[TAG Heuer]], in [[2014]]. He quickly tackled the company's marketing and sponsorships, ending an association with the McLaren motorsport team in [[2015]] in favor of Red Bull Racing. Biver also rationalized TAG Heuer's [[manufacture movement]] development, putting the [[Heuer 02|CH80 (now Heuer 02)]] on hold and slowing production of other pricey in-house chronograph movements like the [[Heuer 01|Cal. 1887 (now Heuer 01)]]. Biver also reduced TAG Heuer's high-end luxury watch aspirations to focus on less-expensive volume models.

In November, [[2018]], Biver was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the [[Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève]] for a lifetime of achievement.

===== Literature =====
  *[[Das ZEITGEFÜHL-Uhrenbuch]]; Author [[Gerd-Lothar Reschke]]; ISBN 3-938607-61-0

===== Weblinks =====
  * [[http://www.persoenlich.com/pdf/interviews/interviews325.pdf|Interesting interview with Jean-Claude Biver (www.persoenlich.com)]] (German)


{{tag>Biographies Omega Blancpain Hublot TAG_Heuer}}