Born and raised in Switzerland's Jura mountains, the birthplace of watchmaking, Sascha Moeri knew from an early age what his calling was. Even before earning his MBA degree in the US, he started his success story with the Swatch Group. Until 2010, he worked for the Chow Tai Fook Group (Hong Kong) in Bienne, simultaneously acting as both Vice President of Milus International and CEO of Milus Europe. In this dual role, he repositioned the brand on the global market and set up sales in more than 30 countries. This did not go unnoticed for long: in 2010, Guido Zumbühl, CEO of the Bucherer Group, asked him to take over management of Carl F. Bucherer. Moeri, one of the youngest CEOs in the history of the watch industry at that time, accepted the challenge of getting the brand on track.
Founded in Lucerne in 1888, the manufacturer became the world’s first watchmaker to produce a peripheral automatic winding system in series when it introduced the A1000 calibre. Together with his movement developer, Moeri created the A2000 calibre, a movement with a peripheral winding mechanism that is not only chronometer-certified but also highly industrialised so that it is extremely reliable and can be produced in large quantities. It has to be, because the number of watches sold every year has been increasing steadily, from 6,000 in 2010 to 30,000 in 2019.
Moeri’s vision for the peripheral technology came to fruition. Working with a talented team, he consolidated production in a three-story factory building in Lengnau and expanded it into a competence centre with an incredible vertical manufacturing range. New lines such as the Heritage collection, the ScubaTec, or the Manero Flyback supported the brand refresh and got Carl F. Bucherer where it is today, with 400 licensed retailers around the globe carrying its timepieces.
The Manero Tourbillon DoublePeripheral and the patented T3000 Manufacture movement, which has been powering three new versions of the watch since 2020, underscore Carl F. Bucherer’s drive to master peripheral systems. With the floating tourbillon and peripherally mounted ceramic ball bearings, Moeri has succeeded in cementing Carl F. Bucherer’s position as a pioneer and leader in peripheral technology.
*On the occasion of GMT Magazine and WorldTempus' 20th anniversary, we have embarked on the ambitious project of summarising the last 20 years in watchmaking in The Millennium Watch Book, a big, beautifully laid out coffee table book. This article is an extract. The Millennium Watch Book is available on www.the-watch-book.com, in French and English, with a 10% discount if you use the following code: WT2021.
