Nestled in the Swiss countryside of Lucerne, the Carl F. Bucherer manufacture couldn’t be further away from the turquoise waters of the Maldives, home to the Manta Trust and the Maldivian Manta Ray Project (MMRP). And yet these two extremely different places, and the people who work there, have been joined together by a common passion for manta ray conservation.
The Maldivian Manta Ray Project
The Maldivian reef manta ray population is the largest and one of the most intensely studied in the world. Since 2005, the MMRP has been collecting data about the population’s movement, its environment, and how tourism and human interactions affect it. The project has identified over 4,900 individual reef manta rays and can now better understand their needs, which is essential to being able to protect the species both in the Maldives and elsewhere in the world.
Carl F. Bucherer and Manta Trust
Carl F. Bucherer has been supporting the Manta Trust since 2017 by raising awareness and vital funds through the sale of special edition diving timepieces. This year Carl F. Bucherer is releasing the fourth watch in the series, a special Patravi Scubatec Maldives edition. Like with the previous models, a portion of the sales of these timepieces will go to funding the organization’s important work.
All about the Patravi Scubatec Maldives Edition
This newest member of the Patravi family comes in a 44.6 mm stainless steel case with an eye-catching unidirectional rotating bezel with blue and white ceramic inlays. The blue theme continues onto the dial with a bright blue lacquered wave decoration that catches the light like the sun on the ocean. It is paired with a natural rubber strap, also in blue, that has a textile insert that has been made from 100% recycled plastic pulled from the Mediterranean Ocean, further underscoring Carl F. Bucherer’s love for the sea and its creatures.
In terms of the diving functions, there are a lot of serious features, starting with great legibility that comes in the form of a bold 60-minute scale with luminescent markings to calculate elapsed time underwater, as well as Super-LumiNova on the indexes and hands. There is a non-slip bezel for easy manipulation, even with diving gloves on, and a finely adjustable diving folding clasp that extends for wear over a wetsuit. The timepiece also features a screw-down crown, a helium release valve, and an impressive water-resistance of 500 metres. The watch is powered by Carl. F. Bucherer’s CFB 1950.1 COSC-certified chronometer, making it a professional piece of diving equipment.
A New Floating Research Station
Funds raised from the new Patravi Scubatec Maldives edition will be going towards a new floating research station in the Maldives. The current research bases are centralized, limiting the extent to which members of the Manta Trust team can travel and the area they can survey. The floating research station will allow the research team to work together in one place and study areas that have so far been inaccessible from the centralized stations.
Hopefully, with these new timepieces, Carl F. Bucherer will be providing the time needed to make sure that we can do everything we can to help these graceful creatures thrive.
