The new Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate (refs. 00.10908.03.13.01 & 00.10908.03.13.21) self-winding timekeeper looks like one of the most serious competitors to the legendary Patek Philippe Calatrava series of mechanical dress watches.
If you read this blog regularly, you possibly have heard me whining from time to time about how difficult it was to find a decent-looking timekeeper that wouldn’t look like a hamburger on a normal wrist (i.e., smaller than 42 mm in diameter and preferably thinner than 10 millimeters in height.)
Even a couple of years ago, the bulk of watchmaking brands seemed too busy churning out huge, massive-looking watches at least 45 mm wide and no less than 15 mm high. They called them “sporty,” “charismatic,” or even “stately,” while in fact, as a great share of Earth’s population, those monsters were simply overweight.
Also, being powered by standard movements with casing diameters often less than 20 millimeters, these monsters sometimes look simply ridiculous with their disproportionately tiny oscillating weights and their small calendar windows placed almost in the center of a huge dial.
Well, it looks like the fat-burning mania finally stroked the watchmaking world, too, since there seems to emerge a new trend: watchmakers all over the civilized world keep introducing new families of modestly-sized, sub-40 millimeters dressy timekeepers.
And it looks like this kind of design constantly gets more and more popular among the watch-buying crowd.
It looks like small is the new big.
Take for example the Swiss watchmaker Carl F. Bucherer.
Their Manero family of dressy timekeepers was refreshed earlier this year with the gorgeous Carl F. Bucherer Manero Big Date Power in rose gold (Ref. 00.10905.03.13.01). Fairly recently it was updated once again with a simple, yet elegant Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate, which is, too, available either in 18-karat rose gold (both on a high-quality leather strap on a pin buckle and on a comfortable-looking metal bracelet) or in stainless steel.
About the mechanism
The Manero AutoDate sports an automatic movement that, for marketing reasons, the brand calls “CFB caliber 1965“.
Of course, it is not an in-house caliber: it is based on a mass-produced ebauche whose name the Swiss brand doesn’t really care to disclose.
Initially, I believed that it must be something like an ETA 2892, but, comparing the specs of the mechanism that were released after the initial press release, I think that the caliber is in fact based on the well-known Sellita SW300: it sports the same dimensions of 26.20 x 3.60 millimeters, has the same 25 synthetic rubies, and features the same 42 hours of power reserve.
The number of jewels is the reason I no longer think that it’s a modified 2892-A2: the ETA mechanism has only 21.
The SW300 is a fairly reliable and accurate movement and this CFB 1965 version will probably be even better: luxury brands like Carl F. Bucherer tend to go the extra mile when it comes to the initial quality control and more rigorous adjustments. It will also be a lot easier and cheaper to maintain in the long run compared to in-house calibers in similarly priced watches from brands like Patek Philippe or Rolex.
The watch sports a standard three-hand dial layout with a small date aperture neatly placed at 3 o’clock.
Like the other members of the family, the Manero AutoDate sports a simple, easy-to-read design approach that was immortalized by Patek Philippe’s legendary Calatrava series.
Its dauphine hour and minute hands are nicely balanced by arrowhead-shaped hour markers and the silver sandblasted dial serves as a perfect background for the rose gold elements.
As I have already noted, the watch is presented in a very compact, classic-looking round body that can feel comfortable on any normal wrist. And, being less than 9 millimeters thick, the watch won’t force you to order a new set of shirts with uncomfortably wide cuffs.
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Photos: Carl F. Bucherer / pagassi.com
Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate in Rose Gold specification
Price: $9000 (ref. 00.10908.03.13.01 on leather strap) / $22,700 (ref. 00.10908.03.13.21 on rose gold bracelet)
Movement: Automatic, CFB Caliber 1965, 28,800 vph, 25 jewels, Swiss Made
Movement decoration: Decorated by hand
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case: Rose gold (also available in stainless steel)
Shape: Round
Size: 38.00 mm
Case height: 8.75 mm
Dial: Silver
Hour markers: Rose gold, arrowhead-shaped
Hands: Dauphine, rose gold
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Natural brown Alligator leather strap with 18-karat rose gold pin buckle (ref. 00.10908.03.13.01) or a rose gold bracelet (ref. 00.10908.03.13.21)
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire