Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. The New Editions of the Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Chronometer Celebration
Bucherer’s 1960s revival watch becomes more versatile with new leather strap combinations.
Carl F. Bucherer embraces almost every facet of watchmaking. Operating since 1888, Carl F. Bucherer started retailing luxury watches and jewellery in Lucerne before going international. In 1919, Bucherer spotted another niche and began manufacturing its own branded watches. With a rich archive of material, Carl F. Bucherer’s Heritage collection is home to reeditions of selected vintage models equipped with up-to-date movements. Last year, the brand celebrated its 135th anniversary with a Heritage Chronometer inspired by a 1960s watch, presented in steel or gold with matching mesh bracelets. Capturing the minimalist mood of the vintage watch to perfection, the Heritage Chronometer Celebration time-and-date returns this spring in new limited editions with leather strap options.
Offered in steel or 18k rose gold, the 39mm case has a lean profile of 8.45mm, positioning it as an attractive dress watch option, although some might quibble about the date. The straightforward construction, with its simple, round, polished case and short lugs, reflects the 1960s trend for deliberate, studied minimalism. The screw-down caseback is engraved with a 1960s-era embossed Carl F. Bucherer family crest with a swan and a beech tree, symbols of the founding family’s hometown of Lucerne.
Expanding the Heritage Chronometer Celebration collection, the four new models are fitted with embossed calfskin leather straps in dove grey or dark brown and sit alongside the 2023 models with their attractive Milanese mesh bracelets. Comparing the bracelet model with the latest leather strap models, you’ll notice that the quick-release system to change the bracelet is not featured on these watches.
Protected by a box-shaped sapphire crystal rising above the bezel, the dial appears in the same colours as last year: silver, brown gradient lacquer and black lacquer. The two stainless steel models can be ordered with a silver galvanised or black lacquered dial. The more studied brown gradient lacquered dial is only available with the rose gold case, along with a second galvanised silver option.
While the overall aesthetic responds to pragmatism, the details on the dial are refined. For example, the hands and applied indices feature bevelled edges, producing a subtle 3D appearance. Another feature that attests to the attention invested in the dial is the streak of black lacquer applied to the rose gold-plated indices and hands (for the rose gold case) and the rhodium-plated indices and hands on the steel model. The simple rectangular baton hour and minute hands are treated with a streak of luminescent material but sparingly in keeping with its dressier watch appeal. An unexpected dash of colour is provided by the red arrow-tipped central seconds hand. The date window sits at 3 o’clock and has a white background, but thankfully, it does not decapitate the index. Last but not least is the inscription alluding to the chronometer-grade movement powering the watch.
Beneath the solid caseback is the calibre CFB 1965.1, based on the reliable Sellita SW300 automatic movement. The COSC-certified chronometer movement runs at a rate of 28,800vph and has an autonomy of 42 hours.
Availability & Price
The Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Chronometer Celebration models in rose gold are limited to 88 pieces per dial colour and retail for EUR 11,700. The stainless steel models are limited to 188 pieces per reference and retail for EUR 5,500.
For more information, please visit carl-f-bucherer.com.
6 responses
That is a pretty steep price for not much of a watch (not commenting on design as it is a personal thing…).
I quite like the design especially the brown on gold tones, but the price is steep for a Sellita and any watch that presents with black text on a white date wheel is an instant hard no. The only exception would be if the dial was white too.
It’s nice, in a ‘my dad would wear this’ kind of way.
He would never throw that amount of stupid money at it, though.
Now with Rolex as your boss Bucherer inherited the high price and only a Sellita movement the times are a changing !
A nice looking watch and the Sellita is a good movement but the price on a leather strap, obviously paying for the name on the dial. Shades of Rolex, must be a family thing.
The hands, indices, diminutive bezel and lugs remind me of my Mido 1959 Commander. I prefer the case design of the Mido, lugless, smaller, integrated crown…and the caliber is the original ETA Chronometer, runs dead straight in the past 2 years. I payed 750 euro. I don’t see how this one is worth 5500. Limited edition, slightly higher specs on some little things… 1500-2500 retail should be a price that makes them decent profit. I don’t see the brand spending on marketing, so I assume the extra 3-4k is simple greed. Anyone buying one at retail will lose 50% instantly.