Bucherer Chronograph ref. 805-2, 'Tropical' Silver Dial with Lemaina Cal. 2520

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

Bucherer is perhaps best known today as one of Switzerland’s most prominent luxury watch and jewelry retailers, but the company’s history stretches back more than a century. Founded in 1888 in Lucerne by Carl Friedrich Bucherer and his wife Louise, the firm built its reputation on quality, craftsmanship, and an intimate understanding of Switzerland’s developing watch industry. By the early twentieth century, Bucherer had become an important retailer for many of Switzerland’s leading watchmakers. In 1924, the company established its long-standing relationship with Rolex, becoming one of the brand’s earliest and most important retail partners. Like other prestigious retailers of the era, Bucherer also developed watches under its own name, as well as branded other manufacturers' watches as their own. Eventually, this gave rise to the Carl F. Bucherer brand that we have today. The piece that we have here is dates to circa the 1950s and possesses many of what makes some of the most iconic chronographs from this era great. The case comes in at 35mm in diameter and features gorgeous chamfered lugs, ‘pump’ pushers, a screw-down caseback, and a signed crown. The dial inside, once silver in color, has developed an intense and largely uniform 'copper' patina over the years, making for a completely unique piece. It has minimal script on the top half with Bucherer's logo and name, 'concentric' subsidiary registers, applied rose gold-tone indices that alternate from 'dart’ to 'Arabic' style, and a rose gold-tone 'Alpha' handset typing it all together. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of this watch, however, is the movement inside. Powering this piece is the Lemania Cal. 2520, which is essentially the same movement as the iconic and significant Omega Calibre .321. Chronographs from roughly the 1940s through the 1970s are, for many, thought of as the essence of what makes vintage watches cool. Many of these models and brands have ascended to an unattainable level, making for completely under-the-radar finds like this quite rare. We think it’s awesome, and we’re confident we’re not the only ones.