Hands-On The Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral Breathes New Life And Color Into An Overlooked Mainstay

Yes, that's deeply nerdy of me and no, it's probably not the best entrée into an article – or even argument for a brand really – so let me roll things back a bit and try this again.

What do you look for when you're buying a watch? Overall aesthetics draw the average buyer in, certainly. Same with a brand name. Sure, you compare against all the options on the market. But whether you're building a collection or looking at watches for review, at some point I think most of us eventually start to think about what a single watch we might buy says about the brand we're supporting. I want to know not only if the watch good, but if the entire lineup is cohesive. Is the watch emblematic of that cohesion? These are the things that make a watch at least worth considering, to me. 

If there's one thing that Carl F. Bucherer really has going for it, it's cohesion. The brand long ago committed to that bit of nerdy watchmaking I mentioned, peripheral winding. It didn't invent the neat horological trick of putting the winding rotor at the edge (periphery) of the movement, nor is it the only one to do it, but it certainly is the brand that has done the best job at integrating it into its lineup and bringing it to the masses, both in thenumber of watches and the price. Case in point: the newest Manero Peripheral watches that were released earlier this year.

The watches are essentially new dial variations of previously existing watches in the lineup but with a little more character. In fact, we covered the introduction of the caliber A2050 movement way back in 2016 but in a more traditional case metal and dial combination for what felt like something positioned as a dressier watch.

It made sense to take that traditional approach. The benefits of a peripheral rotor means that you can appreciate the movement finishing unobscured by a centrally-pivoting rotor while getting more efficient winding than a micro-rotor. But with a subsidiary seconds layout, the movement seemed to just be dressier. It also ran into a sea of other quasi-dress watches on the market.

So while the movement remains the same – a COSC-certified chronometer, 4Hz movement, with 55h power reserve – it's a solid foundation and I think Carl F. Bucherer has finally found a way to shake the watch up enough visually so that the Manero Peripheral has a stronger voice in the modern landscape.

If you've read some of my other stories you've probably seen that somehow, against all odds, I've become enamored with what color can do for a watch. I also look back at the last 10 years of watches we've covered at Hodinkee and I wonder if we're in the midst of a color renaissance right now because more colorful watches seem to be entering the market than at any other time in recent memory. And with the introduction of six colors (or absence of color depending on your view of black in terms of art or physics), it's enough reason to take a look at the watches again.

The design of a peripheral rotor has some drawbacks, mainly that it can often mess up the balance on the dial side of the watch. With the rotor taking up the edge of the movement, the watch either needs to naturally be larger in diameter or the layout of the gear train is impacted. If the center post is, well, central, the fourth wheel can sometimes end up in no-mans land – closer to the center post than it is to the edge of the dial. It's something that's hard to ignore once you notice it. A number of vintage and new watches alike are just ever-so-slightly off-balance in a way that leaves me unsure if I'd love them enough to buy them.

Here, Carl F. Bucherer has done a few smart things to either draw attention away from that imbalance or potentially turn it into a design trait. Most of the watches have a colorful dial with a circular brushing that shines and shifts color in the light. The sub-seconds dial at six o'clock is sunken but instead of hiding it, the brand has added contrast with a black finish that matches the black date window. It adds tension between the two in a way that moves your eye back and forth instead of focusing on the subdial placement. 

Then there's the wedge indexes (rhodium-plated on most of the dials) that feel either a bit longer or a bit bolder than I think most brands would use. Maybe its the contrast against the subdial. These draw your eye toward the center of the dial and balance it well. It's a clever solution that shows that the dial design went further than just choosing a few colors.

The case remains largely the same, now in stainless steel across the board and measuring 40.6mm in diameter and 11.2mm tall. That's a bit thicker than my gut says a watch like this should be, leaving it hanging a bit in an inelegant balance that doesn't seem to mesh with the thoughtfulness of the rest of the watch. But the case is well designed, with a nice shape, subtle bevels on the lugs, a mix of high polish and brushed surfaces, and even a slight bit of protrusion to the case around the lugs. It stops short of being crown guards but shows that the designer was at least trying to do something different and adds to the overall design.

While I get Carl F. Bucherer's urge to show the movement technology with the sapphire caseback, the new visual language of the watch trends sporty which makes the 30m water resistance a real head-scratcher. This is a watch that telegraphs wanting to be used in a sporty way, even if it isn't a sports watch. Maybe it's the fact that the dial-to-case proportion makes it look larger than 40.6mm, maybe it's the colorful nature the brand is pushing with the lineup, but I feel strongly that 30m is a miss.

There are certainly other options in the Carl F. Bucherer lineup if you want a sportier or dressier watch. But I think the water resistance issue is frustrating because this watch would be a nearly perfect option to bridge the gap in the brand's stable if it just had even 20m more water resistance. And even within the Manero Peripheral offerings, Carl F. Bucherer seems to imply that it knows the watch can't quite do all things but it's covering its bases as much as possible. 

Case in point: the "tuxedo twins" as I just decided to call them. The panda and reverse panda dials (with a touch of rose gold for the hands and indices) seem like answers for people who miss a dressier version of the Manero Peripheral that was released back in 2016. In steel, they're a more approachable price – $7,900, same as all the others – than the previous rose gold option and could be a good tuxedo watch, especially if you have shirts with a bit of cuff allowance. But I took it as a sign that Carl F. Bucherer is positioning these watches dead center in a middle ground where they're not necessarily one thing or another.

A few months after the watches were originally announced earlier this year, Carl F. Bucherer doubled down on the visual sportiness of the Manero Peripheral with the introduction of stainless steel bracelets for an extra $500, bringing the all-in price to $8,400. And for the first time in my life, I'm going to say that if these watches are your speed, stick to a colored dial on a strap. They wear well on the rubber strap and feel cohesive enough already.

Still, I think this redesign was a smart move on the part of Carl F. Bucherer. It had a good thing going with its Manero Peripheral but it was a watch that I imagine struggled to find traction on the market. Now I'm sure it'll turn heads far more often.

Carl F. Bucherer Manero Peripheral, 40.6mm diameter x 11.2mm height stainless steel case, brushed and polished. Circular brushed in silver white, black, blue, salmon, brown, or green with black or silver sub-dial and rhodium- or rose-gold-plated wedge indexes and hands. 30m water resistance. Manufacture automatic caliber CFB A2050, COSC-certified chronometer with peripheral rotor. A 30.6mm x 5.3mm, 33 jewels, 4Hz frequency movement with 55h power reserve and hours, minutes, small seconds, date. Black hybrid rubber strap with "groove" texture and quick-change system OR stainless steel bracelet. Price: $7,900 on rubber strap or $8,400 on stainless steel bracelet.