The Carl F. Bucherer brand is riding high, having experienced its best year since the founding of the brand. “Business is amazing,” says CEO Sascha Moeri. “We had our best year ever last year—not just the highest turnover, but the best bottom line. Asia is really booming, we are quite strong in Europe, and the US is coming back.”
“For this year and beyond, the direction is to focus on the legacy and the history of the brand which dates back to 1919,” he continues. “The history of Carl F. Bucherer is deeply rooted as one of the world’s best retailers and also a watch manufacturer. There is so much that has not been publicly communicated, and this is what we have to do. There are so many brands who have to create their stories, but we have a real story in-house. It’s a three generation family business, the grandfather started the business, and there are so many stories to tell.”

Patravi DayDate
Continuing the use of its in-house, peripheral rotor movement, the CFB A1001, this year at BaselWorld Carl F. Bucherer introduces the 42.5 mm Patravi DayDate, using a big date and a day of the week indication. A great looking watch, in a round case, the Patravi DayDate is not only classical, but also modern and highly functional.
“Last year, we saw the trend towards classicism and we are very lucky because these elements have always been in our brand,” Moeri says. “Last year, we sold 42mm and 43mm very strongly, so smaller sizes are coming back.”

PATRAVI DAYDATE, PATRAVI TRAVELTEC 4X

Patravi TravelTec 4X
The Patravi TravelTec has always been a head turner, with its bold combination of a large size (46.6mm), very masculine layout and three time zone readability, and this year Carl F. Bucherer introduces the TravelTec 4X, using four materials—titanium, ceramic, rubber and now red gold—for a bold statement watch. The red gold contrasts nicely with the black, red and grey, and the tinted see-through dial gives a glimpse into gearing of the decorated automatic movement.
“The TravelTec 4x is a sign of continuity for our brand,” Moeri says. “The Traveltec is an amazing piece that we developed and this new piece is a way to keep the link with what has gone on before. We haven’t changed everything—and we have so many good things in-house.”
Carl F. Bucherer is looking to add retailers in strategic areas of the world. “We already have 350 doors and we will add retailers prudently,” Moeri details. “We will never say no to a good partner, but we have to be able to deliver watches to our retailers. This year we made 15,500 pieces and we want to go up as fast as possible up to 20,000 while keeping the same quality.”

Source: Europa Star April - May 2012 Magazine Issue