Carl F. Bucherer

Carl F. Bucherer is a Swiss Made luxury watch brand known for its well-built sports watches found in the Patravi collection and its popular vintage-inspired pieces like the Heritage Bicompax Annual. The brand’s motto is “Made of Lucerne,” which hints at the company’s strong ties with the city where Carl Friedrich Bucherer opened his first boutique for watches and jewelry in 1888. The main themes of the company are Travel & Exploration and Sport & Adventure. The former honors the second generation of the Bucherer family to run the company, who had “the promise of adventures that might be just around the corner or in far-distant lands — a perfect expression of a brand rooted in Switzerland and at home in the world.”

A notable field of horological expertise for Carl F. Bucherer lies in peripheral technology. The brand researched and developed its own peripheral rotor that powers the self-winding system found in the Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral and Heritage Tourbillon Double Peripheral. With this solution, the winding mass is a peripherally mounted annular segment in place of a regular centrally-mounted oscillating weight present in the majority of automatic watches. This allows for an unobstructed view of the watch movement, enhancing the wearing experience of a Carl F. Bucherer timepiece.

The Lucerne-based watchmaker has been successful with its Heritage collection, specifically the Heritage Bicompax Annual model that pays tribute to the rich tradition of the company. Bicompax refers to the two subdials on the dial while the word Annual stands for the Annual Calendar complication. A competitive price and a vintage chronograph design have made this a popular collection. The Patravi is the other successful Carl F. Bucherer watch collection with its Scubatec dive watch and modern Traveltec GMT chronograph being the fan favorites.

Although Carl F. Bucherer is a lesser-known luxury watch brand, the highly technical designs, solid build quality, and Swiss Made status help justify its prices.