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Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo in London is hosting an exhibition of the private watch collection of Jean-Claude Biver, non-executive chairman of LVMH Group Watch Division.
The event, titled Jean-Claude Biver: “A Retrospective. Share, Respect, Forgive”, has been on a world tour since November last year, and has already touched down in Geneva, Hong Kong and New York.
London gets its chance to see the watches and meet the man during the week of February 24 to 28.
It features notable examples from brands that are closely associated with Mr Biver’s career of more than four decades in the Swiss watch industry including Blancpain, Omega, Hublot, Tag Heuer and Zenith.
But his tastes strayed into rival camps, with pieces from Patek Philippe, Rolex and independents like Philippe Dufour and Rexhep Rexhepi finding their way into his collection.
“Having celebrated 70 years of which 45 in the watch industry, I am delighted to share with the lovers of horology a unique exhibition of my passion for brands, watches and moments which are today an unforgettable part of my career and my life,” Mr Biver says.
His collection has, unsurprisingly, a number of extremely rare and unique timepieces, and he has decided to offer four of the most interesting and unusual at auction in the Phillips Geneva Watch Auction: XI, coming up this May. This selection of four Patek Philippe timepieces is defined by its historical relevance, superb state of preservation and rarity. The watches are an impressive reference 96HU Worldtime from 1937; a reference 1518 in pink gold; a killer Reference 2499 second series, from 1957 and one of only 3 known platinum Reference 1579s, from 1946.
Mr Biver explained why he decided to part with the four pieces from his collection:
"Firstly, these four are among the 15 major references I own. My collection is about a hundred twenty, hundred and thirty pieces, out of which maybe ten percent are outstanding, and these four belong to this fifteen."
"Number two, these four represent eternity. This is a time of transition – it’s a kind of transition, from me to the next owner. I have a very special relationship with each of these four. The four are from Patek. I wanted to make a coherent group, because Patek is the best example of eternity. Patek is eternity, they are the reference for this."
If you want to participate to the auction, or need assistance with bidding, please contact Karolina Blasiak, our Art Advisor: k.blasiak@rosemont-mc.com