n 2023, Carl F. Bucherer entered a new era, consolidating its watches into three families and promising to optimise production capacity in favour of high-end in-house manufactured timepieces. Since then, it has delivered on that promise, increasing the proportion of watches that feature its own manufacture movements and proprietary Peripheral Technology. This focus perfectly characterises the brand’s ongoing journey, expressed by the maxim ‘Exploring Time’, demonstrating how it proudly forges its own path in watchmaking excellence.

The new era also reaffirms the values that have defined CFB ever since it was founded, in 1888, by a visionary with a progressive mindset and a global outlook. Today, the Swiss watchmaker prides itself on being an authentic manufacturer of movements, with a holistic approach to innovation – retaining highly specialised in-house skills across all areas of production – and as the industry leader in Peripheral Technology.

CFB’s expertise in the field began in 2008, when it first launched a peripherally mounted automated winding system, with a bi-directional oscillating weight that rotates around the periphery of the movement, rather than around a centrally mounted rotor, allowing for an unobscured view of the movement. Then, in 2018, CFB introduced the world to the ‘Double Peripheral’, adding a peripherally mounted ‘floating’ tourbillon. In 2021, it further integrated a peripherally mounted minute repeater regulator, creating the world’s first ‘Triple Peripheral’ movement.

Since then, the brand has continued to incorporate high complications in timepieces featuring Peripheral Technology: last year, it released a Perpetual Calendar with a peripherally mounted automatic winding system. CFB’s mastery in Peripheral Technology is supported by multiple patents and represents a highly original and technically intriguing perspective on watchmaking. Samir Merdanovic, CFB’s Chief Technology Officer, says: “Peripheral Technology is astonishingly complex and each complication takes years to perfect. We’re proud that we continue to challenge ourselves in this way – the innate intricacy of these movements reveals our dedication to advancing the art of Swiss watchmaking and makes clear what we mean by Exploring Time.”

It is undoubtedly the Manero product family that, so far, best embodies CFB’s new era. In this line, urban design as a tribute to the lifestyle of vibrant cities meets innovative complications and maximum functionality. Variations of the CFB A2000 manufacture movement – considered by many the very essence of the brand – are at the heart of several stand-out Manero releases in recent months. Its peripherally mounted automatic winding system drives a 55-hour power reserve.

This manufacture movement has been newly celebrated in the Manero Peripheral Big Date, within a case of forged carbon, from 2023’s CFB Capsule Collection; in colorful expressions of the Manero Peripheral (40mm), launched with a choice of hybrid rubber straps or stainless-steel bracelets; and in the bold new colourways of the Manero Peripheral Perpetual Calendar. It will also feature in a number of upcoming new releases in 2024.

The CFB T3000 ‘Double Peripheral’ movement – which incorporates the brand’s signature ‘floating’ tourbillon as well as an automatic winding system – has featured in some of the brand’s most exciting new timepieces, emphasising the reputation of the brand as a highly innovative, continually evolving watchmaker. This distinctive tourbillon, neither mounted on the movement main plate nor an overlying bridge, uses a peripherally mounted rotating carriage supported at three points by ceramic ball bearings. As with the peripheral winding rotor, this ‘floating’ construction allows for a thinner movement, plus an unhindered view of the rotating carriage from both sides.

The T3000, comprising 189 separate parts, is the centrepiece of the Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral from the CFB Capsule Collection, set in a forged carbon case. It also powers its sibling in the VIP Capsule Collection, whose forged carbon case also includes red gold elements, and the stunning Manero Double Peripheral Paradise, featuring a full-spectrum, rainbow-like bezel containing 40 baguette-cut gemstones and corresponding gemstone index marks. These timepieces epitomise the brand’s enthusiasm for cutting-edge materials and reveal an unconstrained, more exuberant side to CFB.

Without doubt, the CFB MR3000 movement is the pinnacle of CFB’s approach to Peripheral Technology. The MR stands for Minute Repeater and refers to a complex mechanical system that audibly chimes the time in hours, quarters and minutes. Based on the T3000 movement, it is a ‘Triple Peripheral’, introducing in addition to the peripheral rotor and peripherally mounted Tourbillon, a peripherally mounted regulator that controls the speed at which hammers strikes two gongs to sound the time. Fly governors are usually fitted invisibly, but CFB’s watchmaking finesse sees this take centre stage – visible on the dial through an aperture at six o’clock, mounted via three low-friction ceramic ball bearings. It spins into action whenever the repeater is activated.

This movement, comprised of 617 individual parts, powers the Manero Minute Repeater Symphony, originally launched in 2021, as well as the Manero Minute Repeater Anniversary, a collection of six unique timepieces launched in 2023. These watches explore the full range of CFB’s extraordinary manufacturing finesse, pushing the envelope to showcase its contemporary cultural relevance and modern design sensibilities. The range includes innovative dials with noble materials, gemstone-covered bezels and a trio of watches finished in remarkably vivid hues that perfectly embody the Manero product family – timepieces created for modern, urban lifestyles.

Samir Merdanovic says: “Pursuing new horizons, thinking outside of the box, always challenging the status quo is why we are leading in peripheral technology - it ́s an integral part of the DNA of Carl F. Bucherer and what continues to drive our approach to watchmaking today.”