Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto Classic Best

Chime machine

The Bel Canto Classic is the second open-series version of the remarkable C1 Bel Canto, designed to sit alongside the original, but offering a decidedly different flavour: more intricate, more traditional, more, well, ‘classic’.

Check out the new box sapphire crystal, giving a charming three-dimensional vintage vibe; those elegant Roman numerals on the time-telling sub-dial; and – perhaps most strikingly – the old-school luxury of its guilloché-finished face. The sophisticated period feel continues through a range of subtly improved straps and bracelets, while the feast for your ears is as lovely as ever.

Named after one of the most lyrical styles of opera – it means ‘beautiful song’ in Italian – any Bel Canto is a genuine haute horlogerie piece, and as such boasts a divine level of finishing. But with the Bel Canto Classic, we’ve upped our game yet again. Not only has the remarkable original concept been revamped to feel traditional – thanks to a more classically styled time-telling dial and a simpler, no-lume handset – but the spectacular guilloché finish to the face gives it a whole new level of visual panache. The colours are special, too: for the first time in an open-series Bel Canto, you can enjoy the Azzurro and Verde of the original limited editions, as well as a new Argento and Oro.

From the first, Bel Canto was designed to showcase both visual and aural beauty, a watch that would chime on the hour, every hour, but would also be visually intriguing while doing so. The secret to this was to showcase the striking mechanism across the entire bottom half of the face. Over each hour, the bird tail chiming ‘hammer’ draws almost imperceptibly back, until it’s released to strike the steel spring which curves around the edge of the dial.

This is possible thanks only to the FS01 movement, an in-house calibre created by CW’s technical director Frank Seltzer. Frank adapted our ‘jumping hour’ movement (Calibre JJ01) into a striking mechanism by adding more than 60 new components.

Frank and our design team worked tirelessly to refine both the aesthetics and sound of the watch. For example, over 80 different springs and hammers of different materials, lengths and shapes were tested (and rejected) before the sought-after ‘beautiful singing’ chime in the key of D was achieved.

As with the original Bel Canto, the bridge-and-hammer mechanism on the dial resembles a songbird. Should you wish to silence the chime, a button at 4 o’clock can be set to the ‘on’ or ‘off’ position, while ringing status is indicated by a small black arrow – the songbird’s ‘beak’ – next to the button.

We’re immensely proud of Bel Canto – in its original and Classic iterations, and of the hoops we’ve had to jump through to make it possible. If Christopher Ward’s mission is to make the highest level of watchmaking truly accessible to all, then with the Bel Canto Classic we’ve rarely sung a sweeter song.

FS01 chiming movement

Created by CW’s technical director Frank Seltzer, Calibre FS01 is an ingenious modified movement with Christopher Ward’s DNA in every cog and spring. With an inspired piece of lateral thinking, Frank realised that CW’s ‘jumping hour’ movement could be adapted to create a chiming sound on the hour, every hour. More than 60 new components form the striking mechanism module which sits atop a Sellita SW200-1 base movement which provides the 38-hour power reserve.