(Photo credit: Carl F. Bucherer)
As Rolex winds down the Carl F. Bucherer’s manufacture, streamlining its focus to just Rolex and Tudor, the real question is what it plans to do with Bucherer’s five patents and four in-house movements. Rolex now holds a set of innovations that could shake up its designs — or left to disappear into the archives.
One patent, for example, features a peripheral rotor that keeps the movement unobstructed, with the oscillating weight rotating around the caliber instead of covering it. With Rolex finally embracing display casebacks, this technology could elevate the experience, putting its movements on full display like never before.
Another patent centers on a floating tourbillon, held peripherally by three ceramic ball bearings, enabling a thinner movement and an elegant visual effect that could be unique to Rolex.
While Rolex has never produced a tourbillon, the complication could find a place in its nascent Perpetual 1908 collection. With Carl F. Bucherer’s expertise in tourbillons spanning over a decade, Rolex now holds the option to integrate this technology — or leave it on the shelf.