nce, the world seemed a far bigger place, with unfathomable distances that felt they might take weeks to traverse. With the advent of jet travel, that practically changed overnight. The notion of Exploring Time now took on tangible meaning as people could move easier and faster between the time zones, and they needed a travel companion up to the task.

The original Worldtimer was created to mark the newfound optimism and wanderlust of the era. It appealed to this new generation of travellers by being one of the first watches to incorporate a second time zone. At the time, the timepiece brought to life the brand’s cosmopolitan spirit and global mindset - values that remain as important today as they were then. It also demonstrated the technical finesse of its watchmakers, as displaying two time zones simultaneously on one watch was completely new.

The timepiece demonstrated how Carl F. Bucherer’s watch designers were themselves Exploring Time. This was expressed through an innovative case complication that deployed a simple gear train, operated by a second crown at 9 o’clock, to drive a city disk that displays a second time zone, as required.

Since then, increasingly elaborate complications allow wearers to automatically track their journey as they traverse the globe, but few timepieces match the pure mechanical simplicity of the original Worldtimer’s case complication. CFB’s new Heritage Worldtimer exactly preserves that mechanism, which needs the wearer to activate it whenever they require. This retro charm deliberately contrasts with the automation of today and tells an affectionate story about an earlier era.

The timepiece is available in a rose gold variant, limited to just 88 pieces, which authentically emulates the glamor of its precursor. It features a sunray-brushed silver dial, with utilitarian, thin baton-style hour and minute hands and engraved rose-gold-plated indices. Alternatively, an unlimited stainless-steel variant is available with a choice of silver or black dials with, respectively, engraved silver or rhodium-plated index marks.

In the centre of the dial, the worlds “Chronometer” and “33 Jewels” replace the earlier watch’s “Waterproof” and “17 Jewels”, hinting at the status of the new movement within - and reflecting that, since the 1950s, water-resistance has become commonplace.

The two crowns - one to wind the movement and adjust the time, the other to operate the time-zone complication - have been ergonomically redesigned. Some of the names of cities on the dial’s outer disk have changed, reflecting the modern world’s key commercial hubs, but the font in which they appear remains astonishingly similar.

Across the range, the original Worldtimer’s black leather strap has been updated with a timelessly elegant black fabric strap - reminiscent of the look and feel of a luxurious city suit - completed with a gold pin buckle. The stainless-steel options are available with a black textile strap and a stainless-steel pin-lock folding clasp or with a matching stainless-steel bracelet. Both, the textile strap as well as the stainless-steel bracelet, are equipped with a quick release mechanism which enables the wearer to swap between bracelet and strap to vary looks.

The new timepiece is powered by a CFB A2020 manufacture movement, offering the accuracy and precision of a COSC-certified chronometer, and incorporating CFB’s signature Peripheral Technology. CFB is at the forefront of Peripheral Technology, which repositions critical parts of the movement by moving them around the periphery via ball bearings, rather than around a central rotor or attached to the movement’s plates or bridges. This striking innovation reflects CFB’s technical finesse and comes with multiple benefits., including a thinner movement that is never obscured when viewed through the sapphire case back. In this watch, this is showcased with a peripherally mounted, bi-directional automatic winding system.

If the original Worldtimer reflected the audacity, ambition, and glamour of a fascinating period full of technological and cultural advances, its modern interpretation combines the original simplicity and genuine affection for the past with the same passion for Exploring Time and the pursuit of progress.

The new Heritage Worldtimer continues CFB’s exploration of emblematic watches from its archives, paying tribute to the trends, cultural influences and watchmaking technologies of bygone eras, while updating them for modern tastes. The collection showcases CFB’s open-mindedness toward new technologies and embrace of evolving global trends as well as how travel, exploration, and a cosmopolitan outlook have been part of CFB’s DNA since 1888.