Building Trust

By-line: By Pancham Bhardwaj

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With a history that goes back over 300 years, Carl F. Bucherer is one of the few brands that have boldly shaped the tradition of watchmaking into what we know of it today. One of the legacy practices it still encourages is that of creating limited-edition watches to celebrate various gentlemen's sports and values. One such unique yet universally appealing timepiece is the Patravi ScubaTec Black Manta Edition, made in the honour of the brand's work with the Manta Trust, a UK-based charity, for the last than seven years to help conserve the oceans and the habitats of manta rays. The new special edition is the second timepiece inspired by this cause. While the rugged yet distinctive look gives it away for the diver’s watch that it is, its COSC-certification certainly demonstrates how serious the brand is about the functionality of this timepiece.

The Black Manta edition unites an elegant sporty aesthetic with robustness, with water-resistance of up to 500 m. It’s 44.6 mm titanium case boasts a DLC coating whose black hue contrasts with the case’s bronze-coloured elements, evoking the theme of diving helmets. Super-LumiNova adorns the indices and hands, which frame the silhouettes of two manta rays on the black dial, making it glow in the night. The unidirectional rotating ceramic bezel enables the wearer to set the dive time, which helps you stay safe underwater, along with the automatic helium release valve. The back gets a similar titanium treatment which further highlights the detailed engraving of a black manta ray. The watch is powered by a CFB 1950.1 calibre automatic movement, with a power reserve of 38 hours. Even the simple-looking strap is unique as it is composed entirely of recycled bottles recovered from the Mediterranean Sea. All of these elements come together in an unassuming design which belies it's worth, which comes around to 5,32,400.