Carl F. Bucherer’s Manero collection gains a new and complicated family member in the Manero Flyback.
This elegantly detailed chronograph features a flyback feature, something useful to have when you are timing things (no pun intended) on the fly. A chronograph, of course, is used to time events, to measure a race, the time spent to make a latte, the amount of your conversation spent discussing artisanal woodwork – whatever your little twenty-first century heart may desire. Now, sometimes you have to time things in a hurry, in quick succession. Here’s where the problem comes in – and to be fair, it’s not a problem born of mechanical complications, but of plain, old human limitations. It’s just that we, as people, can only push buttons so fast and no faster, and, well, sometimes we want to time things that move faster than that.
Say you want to time something that’s going by really quickly. (Several jokes come to mind here, but we’re not that kind of magazine, so we’re just going to let them pass.) But say it happens. What do you do? Normally, with a chronograph, you would have to hit Stop, then hit Reset, and then hit Start again. And that can mess with your accuracy, as well as possibly tiring out your hand. So instead, Carl F. Bucherer offers you this wonderful solution, the flyback feature.
When you are using the Manero Flyback to time, say, a race lap, things might be whizzing by so quickly that you don’t have time to Stop, Reset and Start. But the beauty of it is, you don’t have to.
If you hit Reset when the timer is running on the Manero Flyback, then the mechanism is still whirring away, but the hands move – “fly back”– to zero, and stay there until you release the Reset button, and begin the count again. In essence, the motor is revving, but the gear isn’t engaged yet. The timer hands instantly move to where you need them to be to count again, and then when you release the button, off they go. It’s a quick and simple adjustment to life happening at breakneck speed. I said that the problem was not one that born out of mechanical complications, but it may be that mechanical complications can be utilized to solve it.
The functionality of the flyback mechanism on a chronograph is clear to any one, and especially to any sports fan. And also to people who just like timing stuff. But the great thing about this flyback is that it comes in such a beautiful package. Carl F. Bucherer makes excellent timepieces, and they are lovely enough be at home in any company, including a company you happen to own. You could wear the Manero Flyback in any office, store, or formal gathering, and it would be a beauty wherever it was. So you don’t have to be wearing a rugged sports watch to get sports-level precision. Indeed, you could conceivably use the flyback chronograph in any number of fun office situations. (“Let’s see how long it takes Tommy to annoy the head of Marketing.”) Wearing the Manero Flyback, you can play all the office games you want and still look good doing it. Indeed, it may very well get you off the hook. (“Who set Tommy up for ticking off Marketing? I know it wasn’t you, Bob; you are just too dignified for that kind of behavior. I mean, look at that watch. Lovely.”)
And lovely it is, really. The Carl F. Bucherer Manero Flyback comes in a 43mm case, either stainless steel or rose gold, and the finishing and detailing is classic. The Manero collection is a handsome component of the brand’s lineup, and the new flyback chronograph is a good-looking addition. It’s highly functional without being overly cluttered. (The 43mm case size helps; there is plenty of room on the dial for the displays and the tachymeter scale that rings the watch face.) The size also allows for a generous amount of room on the chronograph pushbuttons, making them both comfortable and easy to utilize.
Naturally, the high point of the piece is the flyback function, which is again enhanced by those generous pushbutton sizes. The chronograph subdials will show you the elapsed time, while the flyback mechanism allows you to go to zero at a moment’s notice. All in all, the value of the Manero Flyback is not just that it has beauty in and of itself, but that it performs like a pro at the moment of greatest need. Those moments may not come up very often, but when they do, your Manero Flyback will be there to ensure that you don’t miss a beat.
Readability is also enhanced; the watch uses lance hands for the hours and minutes, in either gold tones or stainless steel to match the watch case. The chronograph displays use baton-style hands, making a nice distinction between the time of day and the chronograph tracking.
