A well-known watchmaker, historian and expert in both clocks and watches recently confided that, in his opinion, “we’ve pretty much invented everything there is to invent in mechanical movements.” Pure provocation? The future will tell. Either way, there are brands which are reinventing, rather brilliantly, some of the mechanical calibre’s fundamental principles. Including those which many believed were set in stone.
The rotor is one. Today’s watch aficionados can choose between a micro-rotor (as at Parmigiani Fleurier, Cartier and Laurent Ferrier, among others) and a traditional oscillating weight. And that, it seemed, was that. Enter Carl F. Bucherer, one of the few brands to equip its calibres with a peripheral oscillating weight.
This semi-circular segment is positioned not in but around the movement, and therefore does not obstruct our view of the various parts. It is the ideal development when showing off the watch’s inner mechanisms but one that requires a certain expertise to develop the peripheral mounting and, more to the point, achieve winding efficiency that is at least equal to that of the two traditional concepts.
Calibre CFB A1000 does exactly that. Introduced in 2008, it was Carl F. Bucherer’s first manufacture calibre to incorporate a peripheral rotor. Ten years later, in 2018, the Lucerne-based brand presented the T3000: the third generation since the A1000 with a T for Tourbillon. This is the movement that drives the three newly released Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral.
Why “double peripheral”?
Like the rotor, there is nothing conventional about the T3000’s tourbillon. It, too, is peripheral, hence the Double Peripheral name given to the collection. This tourbillon is neither suspended nor flying. Instead, it is peripherally mounted, which gives the impression that it is floating in space. Again, transparency is key, all is revealed.
This proprietary development is entirely different from a classic tourbillon construction. The closest comparison would be a “mystery tourbillon” of the kind Cartier once made, its peripheral mounting being invisible (hence mysterious).
Laser sculpting
The three watches that Carl F. Bucherer unveils today are wonderfully bold aesthetic interpretations of this movement, masterminded by Samir Merdanovic, formerly at the head of Eterna Movement Company (EMC), the independent manufacture which he separated from the Eterna brand.
He has imagined a new “home” for the movement, the centrepiece of which is a laser-sculpted dial. The choice of technique is important: Carl F. Bucherer is a resolutely modern manufacture. It has nothing against traditional complications (as evidenced by these tourbillons) but its vision is always profoundly contemporary.
The three dials (in blue, green or purple with colour-matched gemstones on the bezel) appear to have been decorated with guillochage but what looks like a Clou de Paris, isn’t. A Clou de Paris is a four-sided pyramid whereas these pyramids have just three sides. More a 3D triangle.
Faux pyramids or real triangles?
Carl F. Bucherer has crafted an optical illusion that makes it impossible for us to know whether each side is equal, revealing only that “patterns were galvanically refined before being coated in a semi-transparent coloured lacquer which concentrates pigment in the ‘valleys’ between each pyramid.” The impression is one of volumes and depths that change depending on the light and which part of the dial is under scrutiny, with motifs that are larger near the bezel, becoming more tightly packed in the centre.
One last detail: notwithstanding the precious nature of these three limited editions (of 18 pieces each), the strap is made from recycled PET. At this level of exclusivity, collectors are more accustomed to hand-stitched alligator. Like it or not purists, this isn’t the case here. Just as Antonio Calce has banished leather straps at Greubel Forsey, Carl F. Bucherer has found a clever way to take its customers out of their comfort zone. It’s a rare stance, when so many brands are content to trot out yet more legacy-inspired watches, to the delight of ultra-conservative collectors. The type who are unlikely to ever visit Lucerne and Carl F. Bucherer...
