Blue is the colour of the moment in the watchmaking industry, perhaps as a tribute to Eiffel 65’s famous club favourite about the colour, or maybe just a reflection of changes in fashion tastes. Either way, this is Carl F. Bucherer’s entry into the sea of blue watches, and it’s quite a complicated one at that.
The Patravi Travel Tech in Petrol Blue sports three complications: a chronograph, a GMT function and a date window as well. The dial makes for quite complicated reading since it has two GMT bezels inside the case itself. One of those can be moved via the pusher at 10 O’clock while the other stays fixed. This makes remembering the home time even easier. Remember, a classic GMT watch like a Rolex GMT Master II requires the user to do a bit of mental maths to work out the time in different time zones. However, with the Patravi Travel Tech, all you need to know is the difference in hours between the home and away times thanks to the helpful East/West print on the dial above the Carl F. Bucherer logo.
This does make the chronograph a little harder to read. Despite this watch measuring in at a hefty 46.6mm in diameter, the dial is still crowded. Silvery outlines surround the chronograph subdials and the running seconds subdial and feature pointy hands. Meanwhile, the date is squeezed in at 04:30 but has been magnified to make it easier to read. The elegant and lumed sword hands for the main dial make the watch feel less cluttered.
Inside the large case is the automatic calibre 1901.1 which was developed by the Carl F.Bucherer owned Techniques Horlogères Appliquées, and the movement itself is running on a base 2892 which has been modified for purpose. One particular modification of note is the addition of a vertical clutch which allows the watch to run all the time and negate any forms of damage associated with long run times. It’s also COSC certified and has a 4Hz beat rate, which is the industry standard.
Although this watch looks more rugged than Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables, the blue bezel beastie is only water-resistant to 50 meters, though it comes on a nice blue rubber strap. The price for this one is $10,900.
Visit Carl F. Bucherer here.
