Like the century into which he was born, an era of invention and new ideas, Carl Friedrich Bucherer broke with tradition. In 1888, the year the steepest cog railway in the world took its first passengers up the sharp slopes of Mount Pilatus overlooking Lucerne, the Swiss entrepreneur opened a shop selling watches and jewellery to the town's many tourists, laying the foundations for a business that would grow once/soon into a world-renowned brand. From decorative timepieces to precision mechanisms, success was on the cards. howing characteristic insight, Carl Friedrich Bucherer was one of the first to imagine a watch worn on the wrist. His successors would grow his legacy. In 1960, the company joined a consortium of leading Swiss watchmakers whose purpose was to develop the first quartz movement: Beta 21. The brand was one of the top names for chronometers throughout the 1970s and managed to also set a new benchmark in dive watches: the Archimedes Super Compressor (1971) was built to withstand pressure to a depth of 200 metres. Another important milestone followed in 2008 when the company presented the first serial-produced calibre to be automatically wound by an oscillating weight on its periphery. In 2016, with the opening of new facilities in Lengnau, in the canton of Berne, Carl F. Bucherer achieved the enviable status of Manufacture by increasing and optimising production in the process.
Carl Friedrich Bucherer and his wife Luise opened a watch and jewellery shop on Falkenplatz in Lucerne. Carl Friedrich's parents already ran a hardware store, selling all manner of items from knives to binoculars to watch chains. No-one imagined that from these modest beginnings, the business would grow into a globally renowned company.
Encouraged by his sons Carl Eduard and Ernst, Carl Friedrich Bucherer launched his first collection of women's watches in the Art Deco style.
By now, the brand had earned a reputation as a leading name for gold, silver and watches including, from the end of the decade, chronographs.
The company was part of a Swiss consortium to develop and to produce the first quartz wristwatch movement, Beta 21.
Launch of the dive watch Archimedes Super Compressor, built to withstand pressure at a depth of 200 metres.
Jörg G. Bucherer, a nephew of Ernst Bucherer, took the head of the company.
As a tribute to the founder of the company and grandfather of Jörg G. Bucherer, the brand repositioned itself under the name of its founding father: Carl F. Bucherer.
The Patravi TravelTec with its simultaneous display of three time zones required a completely new integration of the movement with the case.
Launch of the CFB A1000 automatic calibre. Three years in the making, it was the first movement to be entirely designed and built in the Carl F. Bucherer Manufacture. Energy is provided not by a central or off-centre rotor, but by an oscillating weight on the periphery of the movement that winds in both directions.
Introduction of CLR-Liga laser technology to protect the brand's Manufacture movements against counterfeiting. A unique signature is imprinted on the surface of the movement, using diffractive nano-structuring. This signature can only be authenticated by a special laser scanner.
Opening of the new Manufacture in Lengnau, near Biel/Bienne, in a fully renovated and refurbished building. The 3,000 square-metre facilities marked a key stage in the brand's development stemming from its sustainable growth strategy. Wood-floored corridors run throughout the three floors, and the brand's motto is written in gilded letters on white walls: “Time can be captured and stored here”.
Carl F. Bucherer opened an exclusive boutique in Lucerne, where it all began almost 130 years ago. The new store was designed as a key element in the brand's identity.
The Bucherer group acquired the American watch retailer Tourneau, adding 28 retail locations in the United States to its global network. Operated as an independent brand since 2001, the company founded by Carl F. Bucherer also celebrated its 130th anniversary that year.
The manufacture – pioneer of the peripheral automatic winding system - once more proved its competences in creating outstanding technical complications with the launch of the Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral. A world’s first that combines the peripheral automatic winding system and a peripherally mounted tourbillon.
