Lucerne-based, family-owned Carl F. Bucherer scaled new heights of horological complexity with the unveiling of its Manero Minute Repeater Symphony earlier this year. Following up that haute horlogerie piece this month is another timepiece whose in-house movement employs Carl F. Bucherer’s hallmark peripheral rotor, albeit one with a somewhat more practical, “everyday” signature complication than a minute repeater with a perpetual tourbillon. Here’s a look at the new Manero Peripheral BigDate.
As with other recent releases from Carl F. Bucherer — most notably the 1950s-inspired and increasingly popular Heritage Bicompax Annual series — the Manero Peripheral BigDate in both its iterations takes inspiration from historical models from the company’s archives, in this case the so-called “Mr. Blue” and “Mr. Green” editions of the Manero PowerReserve introduced in 2017. These models’ dials are more subdued than the vibrant ones of those colorful timepieces, however — one in light metallic blue with beige details, the other in gray with details in olive green — though they display a very similar arrangement of functions: central hour and minutes hands, small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, power-reserve indicator at 3 o’clock, day of the week at 9 o’clock, and the eponymous Big Date display at 10 o’clock.
The stainless steel case measures 41.6 mm in diameter and 12.2 mm thick, framing a domed sapphire crystal, with both sides treated with antireflective coating. The dial’s diamond-shaped, faceted indices, including a double-index at 12 o’clock, are applied and rhodium-coated. Another sapphire pane appears in the back of the case, showing off the new Caliber CFB A2011, whose primary talking point is the peripheral rotor that alongside the signature date feature lends this model its name. A hallmark of Carl F. Bucherer’s in-house movements since 2008, when the base Caliber CFBA1000 made its debut, the namesake rotor winds the watch in both directions to amass its 55-hour power reserve while its positioning along the edge allows a clear view of the rest of the movement. The highly decorated movement holds 33 jewels and beats inside a case that resists water pressure to 30 meters.
The Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral BigDate comes on either a beige or olive green textile strap matching the dial’s detail color (priced at $8,700) or on a stainless steel bracelet with a pin-lock folding clasp (priced at $9,100).
