Dancing skeletons on a watch dial dedicated to Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

The father-and-son Biver brand made their first appearance at Mexico's main watch trade show this year, and took it by storm. Biver has added Mexican motifs to the Carillon Tourbillon model introduced last March. The model was Jean-Claude Biver's answer to long-running rumors and the promise he would launch his own brand.

It revealed the complications he loves most of all. The model married a minute repeater with three carillon hammers and a tourbillon. Another defining trait of the first series to leave Biver's workshop were their stone dials.

All of these features are also present on the "La Danse du Temps" model created for the Salón Internacional de Alta Relojería (SIAR). A melodic chiming mechanism, a tourbillon at 6 o'clock with a bridge that mirrors the shape of the hands, and a dial made of onyx — but with added local color.

The artist invited to take on the responsibility of creating the latter was Joel Niño. The resulting dial encircled by a railroad-style scale depicts a dance of the dead performed by two golden skeleton figures: a male skeleton wearing a traditional Mexican hat dances with his partner, the famous La Catrina.

The backdrop should also instantly remind those who appreciate Mexican traditions of Papel Picado: a decorative tissue-paper cutting craft. The Day of the Dead decoration is simply exquisite. As for the other watchmakers, the brand De Bethune also unveiled a model with an engraved dial specially created for this year's SIAR.

But there were less special limited editions and unique pieces than usual this year. Other companies brought models that are already famous but in a dedicated style for Mexico.

For instance, the event saw the return of last year's Chopard L.U.C Skull One Calavera Pop Art and Konstantin Chaykin's Calavera Limited Edition.

The 42-mm "La Danse du Temps" in rose gold (a configuration also used on debut versions of the model) is fitted with Biver's recognizable bracelet with five rows of faceted links. Housed inside the case is the JCB.001 movement developed for Biver at the workshop of Le Cercle des Horlogers.

This movement runs at a frequency of 21,600 vph and ensures 72 hours of power reserve. Despite how complicated the engine powering this watch is, the engineers managed to equip it with a micro-rotor, which has helped keep the movement's height down.