The new Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate (refs. 00.10908.03.13.01 & 00.10908.03.13.21) self-winding timekeeper looks like one of the most serious competitors to the legendary Patek Philippe Calatrava series of mechanical dress watches.
If you read this blog regularly, you possibly have heard me whining from time to time about how difficult it was to find a decent-looking timekeeper that wouldn’t look like a hamburger on a normal wrist (i.e., smaller than 42 mm in diameter and preferably thinner than 10 millimeters in height.)
Even a couple of years ago, the bulk of watchmaking brands seemed to be too busy churning out huge, massive-looking watches at least 45 mm wide and no less than 15 mm high. They called them “sporty,” or “charismatic,” or even “stately,” while in fact, as a great share of Earth’s population, those monsters were simply overweight.
Also, being powered by standard movements with casing diameter often less than 20 millimeters, these monsters sometimes look simply ridiculous with their disproportionately tiny oscillating weights and their small calendar windows placed almost in the center of a huge dial.
Well, it looks like the fat-burning mania finally stroked the watchmaking world, too, since there seems to emerge a new trend: watchmakers all over the civilized world keep introducing new families of modestly-sized, sub-40 millimeters dressy timekeepers.
And it looks like this kind of design constantly gets more and more popular among the watch-buying crowd.
It looks like small is the new big.
Take for example the Swiss watchmaker Carl F. Bucherer.
Their Manero family of dressy timekeepers was refreshed earlier this year with the gorgeous Carl F. Bucherer Manero Big Date Power in rose gold (Ref. 00.10905.03.13.01) and fairly recently it was updated once again with a simple, yet elegant Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate, which is, too, available either in 18-karat rose gold (both on a high-quality leather strap on a pin buckle and on a comfortable-looking metal bracelet) or in stainless steel.
Equipped with an ETA-based CFB caliber 1965 automatic movement, the watch sports a standard three-hand dial layout with a small date aperture neatly placed at 3 o’clock.
Like the other members of the family, the Manero AutoDate sports a simple, easy-to-read design approach that was immortalized by Patek Philippe’s legendary Calatrava series.
Its dauphine hour and minute hands are nicely balanced by arrowhead-shaped hour markers and the silver sandblasted dial serves as a perfect background for the rose gold elements.
As I have already noted, the watch is presented in a very compact, classic-looking round body that will possibly feel comfortable on any normal wrist. And, being less than 9 millimeters thick, the watch won’t force you to order a new set of shirts with uncomfortably wide cuffs.
See also: Eggshell-Colored Beauty: Jules Audemars Automatic Chronograph 26100OR.OO.D088CR.01
Photos: Carl F. Bucherer
Carl F. Bucherer Manero AutoDate in Rose Gold specification
Price: $9000 (ref. 00.10908.03.13.01 on leather strap) / $22,700 (ref. 00.10908.03.13.21 on rose gold bracelet)
Movement: Automatic, CFB Caliber 1965, based on an ETA ebauche, 28,800 vph, 25 jewels, Swiss Made
Movement decoration: Decorated by hand
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case: Rose gold (also available in stainless steel)
Shape: Round
Size: 38.00 mm
Case height: 8.75 mm
Dial: Silver
Hour markers: Rose gold, arrowhead-shaped
Hands: Dauphine, rose gold
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Natural brown Alligator leather strap with 18-karat rose gold pin buckle (ref. 00.10908.03.13.01) or a rose gold bracelet (ref. 00.10908.03.13.21)
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective
Back: Sapphire