Carl F. Bucherer, which first claimed manufacture status in 2008 with the debut of its first in-house movement, Caliber CFB A1000, takes its horological expertise to the next level this year with the introduction of its second-generation base movement, Caliber CFB A2000, unveiled today at Baselworld 2016.
Like its predecessor, Caliber A2000 was entirely designed and produced in Carl F. Bucherer’s watchmaking atelier in Lucerne, Switzerland, and features an automatic winding system with an unusual peripherally arranged rotor. (CFB claims to be the first watch manufacturer to put a movement with peripheral-rotor design architecture into serial production.)
Caliber CFB A2000 improves upon its predecessor with an advanced level of technical craftsmanship in the service of even better accuracy. The movement’s breakthrough innovation is its “completely free breathing” balance spring, which undergoes, the brand says, no change in its effective length. This is due to the motion of the watch being calibrated exclusively through the use of pivotable masselottes — small weights that sit on the four balance arms and control the inertia of the balance. The balance itself oscillates at a higher frequency than that of the original— 28,800 vph or 4 Hz, compared to the CFB A1000’s 3-Hz frequency — a property that helps to ensure a more precise rate stability. Like the CFB A1000, the movement has Geneva waves decorating its bridges and balance cocks.
The movement was designed to be a true base movement, i.e., it can be incorporated into numerous new watch models and can have multiple additional complications added. The first version to be used in a watch is dubbed with the alphanumeric designation CFB A2050: it includes a separate small seconds indication and a date display at 3 o’clock in addition to the hours-and-minutes time display. The new wristwatch in question — the Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral — makes its debut at Carl F. Bucherer’s booth at Baselworld 2016 this week.
