Editor's Note

Now, I'm going to interject for a second. Up until this point, the watches we've shown you from Mr. Biver's collection have been impressive, personal, and interesting, no doubt. From here on in, we're about to get downright nasty (in a good way) from a collecting point of view. Many years ago, actually four-and-a-half years ago to be exact, I had the chance, for the very first time, to meet Mr. Jean-Claude Biver at an event in New York. I had been working on HODINKEE (though it was not a full-time job yet), and I was in the midst of applying to journalism school. I was young, and learning, and by no means did I ever think this little website would turn into this. But Mr. Biver took the time to sit with me when he clearly didn't have to (see?), and to ask about what I was interested in, personally. I responded to him, unsurprisingly, "I really love vintage Patek Philippe." And to my sincerest surprise, he said "So do I!" He told me back then, on February 7th, 2010, that he bought Pateks because of their history, and to pass along to his children. I was impressed, and always kept that tidbit in the back of my mind. And it was that mention that brings us here today.

Fast forward to May of this year – I am standing in Mr. Biver's dining room outside Montreux, Switzerland. We are there to shoot an episode of "Talking Watches" and he says, "Oh! I forgot you were coming. I didn't go to the bank so we will have to work with what I have here." That's fine, but not hearing anything about his collection ahead of time had me worried – was he really a collector or just another industry exec telling a journalist what he wanted to hear? And then he dropped this tray on the table.