“Evolution Technology” by Carl F. Bucherer

Carl F. Bucherer thinks independently and defines its own path. This attitude is expressed in the independent EvoTec Manufacture Concept that has been adopted by the progressive watch brand from Lucerne.

The concept is based on “Smart SimPlexity®”, the company’s own methodical approach to the development of movements, mechanisms and additional functions and on the production in the Manufacture’s workshops. The first results of this innovative approach include the CFB A1000 Manufacture movement and the functional modules of the three Patravi EvoTec watch models presented in 2009 and 2010.

When the decision-makers at Carl F. Bucherer started to discuss the possibility of the company having its own manufacturing workshops and calibers, it soon became apparent that they wanted to take a completely different, independent route. Their goal was the professional pro- duction of movements at a capacity that would ensure maximum quality and reliability.

The progressive watch brand from central Switzerland achieved this objective by establishing the Carl F. Bucherer Technologies SA company in Ste-Croix, by continuously investing in machine systems and by developing the composition of its staff. This center of skills devoted to the research, development and manufacture of watch movements and functional modules now benefits from extensive expertise, exceptional creativity and the most modern infrastructure. As well as placing these demands on production itself, the holistic “Evolution Technology” Manufacture concept – EvoTec – has a major impact on the development of move- ments, mechanisms and additional functions. Since the repositioning of Carl F.

Bucherer in 2001, the brand has become increasingly focused on the philosophy that has been its cornerstone since its foundation: the creation and design of very useful and attractive additional functions, such as chronographs or big date displays, which it has implemented since the 1940s. It was obvious that this philosophy would also be applied to the development of the company’s own movements and technologies. “It is not our mission to create the most complex watch on earth or to build highly demanding mechanisms that will ultimately not work. Our very exciting technical innovations offer the wearer maximum precision and reliability,” declared Thomas Morf, CEO of Carl F. Bucherer.

The best proof that this philosophy is already being actively implemented is the CFB A1000 Manufacture movement. The benefit for the wearer was the focus of this completely new automatic caliber. It combines the aesthetics of a hand- wound movement with the comfort of an automatic winding. This is achieved by a peripherally positioned oscillating weight that provides a view of the carefully decorated microcosm – a demanding challenge for watchmakers that other manufacturers had yet to solve in a satisfactory manner. The company from Lucerne managed it using a new type of dynamic shock absorption (DSA) for the oscillating weight, which effectively prevents damage to the sensitive bearing when the rotor moves laterally during high impact.

Carl F. Bucherer has supplemented this patented invention with a fine adjustment of the balance wheel (CDAS) that requires adjustment only once; this system has also been patented.

Dr. Albrecht Haake, Executive Vice President Technologies, has developed his own methodical approach known as “Smart SimPlexity®” to determine the procedure for new developments at Carl F. Bucherer. This copyrighted method shows how future or existing, traditional technology can be redesigned, improved or reduced in complexity as far as possible to create more intelligent and, in particular, more reliable implementation options.

This approach deliberately overlooks “the more complex the better” maxim that has dominated the watchmaking industry for many years. While it is often easy to solve a problem using a complex method, the designers at Carl F. Bucherer are not looking for the easiest way, but for the best. This method has already been used to create the functional module equipping the Patravi EvoTec DayDate, which was introduced in 2009. The technically innovative mechanism for switching the big date is based on a moveable finger, which is integrated into the date-change ring and makes it possible, when changing the date from the 31st to the 1st of the following month, to challenge only the disk with the second digit while that controlling the first digit stays still.

All models featuring the Carl F. Bucherer Manufacture move- ment that are to be presented by the brand in 2010 are based on this proprietary concept. For this reason, all of their names include the EvoTec label.