A Closer Look At The Carl F. Bucherer Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral

(Portions of this article by Roberta Naas first appeared on Forbes.com.)

It isn’t new that Swiss watch brand Carl F. Bucherer deftly blends high technology with craftsmanship and art in its timepieces. However, the newest gem-set Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral watches not only boost the brand’s patented double peripheral automatic winding technology, but also uses an innovative high-tech laser technology for the incredibly intricate dial. Pair this with sapphire, tsavorite or amethyst bezels and these watches will blow you away.

A closer look at these new $158,500 watches, each in color-coordinated harmony, makes it difficult to ascertain if the beauty is on the outside or the inside. Essentially, it is both. Powered by an in-house movement that features two peripherally mounted complications, the 43mm 18-karat rose gold watches bring multiple watchmaking arts together.

The brand’s watchmakers were inspired by the vibrancy of colors that surround them, including rich blue waters and lush green spaces for two of the watches. The third is a vibrant rendition of the color purple – in all its glory. Each of the watches boasts a stunning dial created using an innovative laser-patterning technique. Thanks to this laser technology, each dial is exacting in its design, with a repeat pattern of miniature pyramids that start tiny in the center of the dial and seem to swirl outward, gradually increasing in size until they meet the edge of the dial.

Once the patterns are laser etched and refined, the dials are coated with a semi-transparent colored lacquer (blue, green or purple), with higher concentrations of color filling the base between each pyramid – yielding a degrade’ effect. The end result is a unique three-dimensional guilloche effect that dazzles with each flick of the wrist. The entire dial is mesmerizing. Add to that the fact that Carl F. Bucherer’s artisans fitted the watch with 11diamond indices using baguette-cut diamonds for added allure.

But it doesn’t stop there. The brand’s gem setters adorn each bezel with 40 baguette-cut gemstones color coordinated to the dial. The blue version is set with 5.1 carats of sapphires, the green version is set with 4.7 carats of tsavorite and the pink/purple version features 3.5 carats of amethysts. The stones are hand-selected to ensure a perfect match to one another.

Once you’ve wrapped your head around the allure of the aesthetics, you can’t help but notice the mechanics, especially since a large aperture in the dial at 12:00 showcases the tourbillon escapement in all its glory. The tourbillon, designed to compensate for errors in timekeeping due to the effects of gravity on the watch in certain positions, is peripherally mounted and seems to float in air as it makes its rotations.

The  CFB T3000 movement is highly complex. Developed in house and first introduced to the world in 2018,  it is the first movement to combine a peripheral floating tourbillon with a peripherally mounted  automatic winding system driven by a bi-directional oscillating weight. Consisting of 189 hand-finished, hand-assembled parts, the movement vibrates at 21,600 beats per hour and offers 65 hours of power reserve. It is further equipped with a high-tech silicon escapement that reduces friction and the need for lubricants. In addition to hours, minutes and seconds, as well as the tourbillon, the watch offers a stop-seconds function that allows for the rotation of the tourbillon cage to be stopped so that the watch can be synchronized to the very second.

Each automatic watch is fitted with a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating and boasts a sapphire crystal case back for viewing of the movement. The watches, water resistant to 30 meters, are finished with a hand-stitched textile strap made from recycled PET and in a color matching the dial.