Jean-Claude Biver is the seminal watchmaker. The head of LVMH’s watchmaking division, he’s been the defining force in modern watchmaking, creating many of the pieces we know and love.

Now he wants to retire.

?I hope I will never do another brand,” he said at a watch forum in Dubai. ?Do I have such an ego I need to do it again for myself??

Biver has been pivotal in the recreation of many of major brands like Omega, Tag Heuer, and Hublot. He also makes tons of alpine cheese a year.

The main problem said Biver was the loss of watchmaking talent to other companies.

He doesn’t think his retirement will affect the watch industry, however, which he feels is timeless.

?The more we are surrounded by objects that we know are going to die, the more we want something eternal and that is the art of watchmaking. A watch is eternal and it is art. It connects you to god, to tradition, to love, to dreams. Goddamn, what else can do that,? he said.

The comments were reported in WatchPro.

ByJohn Biggs

John lives in Brooklyn and has loved watches since he got his first Swatch Irony automatic in 1998. He is the editor of WristWatchReview.