While GMTs are the de facto travellers’ watch, for my money nothing quite beats a worldtimer. The first watch I ever bought myself was a handsome Longines worldtimer number from their Master Collection and I still wear it regularly. It’s clean, sleek and has a less-is-more, blue-and-silver look I love. So where does the Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Worldtimer stack up?
The problem is, more watchmakers than not take a maximalist approach to worldtimers. Atlas dials rendered in exquisite detail, globe motifs everywhere, they really take the ‘world’ in worldtime and run with it – to exhaustion. There’s heritage there (Patek Philippe jumps to mind) but for me, simplicity is key to rendering 24 timezones in a coherent way.
The Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Worldtimer is about as clean and legible as they come. No detailed map, no details that look like they’re stripped from airline branding, just a stunning, pure silver dial.
I’m a huge fan of monochrome anyway, it oozes 1950s chic like nothing else and on a travellers’ complication has that ‘golden age of air travel’ glamour to it. It makes me feel like the jetsetter I always know I’ve been. That’s doubly the case here, with a mix of a matte rhodium city ring, a matt silver 24-hour ring and sunray brushed inner dial. Each has a very subtle distinction, but it’s there if you look. I don’t want to say it’s a watch for connoisseurs… but it kind of is.
The city ring itself takes up quite a large portion of the dial, perhaps a touch too much. It makes sense, with a solid double layer of cities to make sure they’re still readably large. There would be no point having a worldtimer with lettering too small to pick out, and the all-silver look gets away with it more than other watches. But a slimmer city ring would make the entire thing feel a bit more elegant.
There are multiple versions of the Heritage Worldtimer, of course. There’s a black dialled version that, honestly, just doesn’t have the cache of the silver. The silver though is available in a steel or rose gold (and limited edition) case, the former of which we have here. I can’t say for sure which I prefer. The gold is certainly more glamorous, and pairs with those lovely rose gold indexes, but the steel amps up the monochrome. If I had to come down on one side, it would likely be the steel – if only because that’s more in my price range.
Speaking of the cases, they measure in at 39mm, with a height of 10.25. For me, that’s goldilocks territory, although on the wrist it feels a touch larger if only because of the amount of stuff on the dial. It feels nice, the lugs are slightly curved, and it is indeed nicely readable without having to crane your neck over your wrist to peer closely at the time in Tokyo.
It’s not just easy to read, but easy to operate too. In case you’ve been wondering this whole time what that funky nine o’clock crown was all about, that’s to quick-change the city disc. It’s ripped straight from the 1950s heritage number this is based on and is something I’d like to see in more worldtimers. With my Longines, for example, you need to change the minute hand until the 24-hour ring syncs up, then jump the hour to the correct local time. Not so here. It also makes for a supremely cool rotating dial.
Inside is the CFB A2020 automatic movement. It’s a solid COSC-certified number with a 55-hour power reserve that looks like a manual-wind movement at first glance. That’s because the rotor is peripheral, giving an unobstructed view of the mainplates with plenty of cotes de Geneve, snailing and the balance spring. It’s also part of the reason the watch can maintain that 10.5mm thinness. I’ve been told that peripheral winding can be more efficient than your standard rotors, but I really didn’t have this for long enough to dive that deep. The bottom line is that it makes for a stunning caseback.
For me, Carl F. Bucherer’s is a phenomenal template for a worldtimer. Is there more they could do with it? Absolutely. After all, this is a more streamlined take on their previous Heritage Worldtimer, so there’s always room for improvement. I’d love to see it with a bit of guilloche on that central dial, or a slimmer city ring, a few things like that. On its own merits however – the all-silver, ‘50s glamour, the cool peripheral rotor, the sheer readability of the complication – it’s a fantastic traveller’s watch from a brand I think too many people are sleeping on.
The Carl F. Bucherer Heritage Worldtimer is also priced well for what it is at £6,600. There are cheaper worldtimers out there; there are more expensive. And I think it’s a fair price for what is a great watch.
Price and Specs:
More details at Carl F. Bucherer.
Great review by Sam.
I can glean from his choice of words that he is a fan of vintage watches (or at least their style). I too have a preference for vintage. I think the understated elegance is the key to that, very little bling but oozing coolness before that term was even coined.
I have a few watches from the early 60’s that I wear at different times and with different clothing choices and events (a dress watch with a suit is essential unless you are emulating James Bond).
The Bucherer watch that Sam has reviewed, is for me, the modern day epitome if that earlier period, and, if I had the odd £7k to spare, that would be the watch that I would buy to add to my collection and the one watch that I would be prepared to wear with a suit.