Recently, I've become interested in watches that offer a bit of the experience of high horology at reasonable prices—the M.A.D. 1S provides the wild aesthetic of an MB&F watch, and the Ming 37.07 Mosaic offers a dial unlike anything else I've seen for the price. This interest led me most recently to the Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto.
The Bel Canto not only has a beautiful-sounding hourly chime complication, but the entire mechanism is exposed above its dial. This gives the watch the appearance and functionality of something with an extra digit or two in its price.
Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto First Impressions
The complexity under the crystal is the first thing that you'll notice about the Bel Canto. As cool as it looks in photos, the way that it reflects light and looks at different angles is striking (no pun intended).
In person, the sunray finish on the dial is more pronounced than I expected. The dial (described as Nero) is also a bit lighter than in press photos, taking on a dark gray appearance in most lighting.
Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto Details
The Bel Canto shrinks the time display and moves it to the top of the dial, making space for the chiming mechanism. The hour track and indices appear to float above the dial, supported by a bridge that is secured on either side by polished screws. A set of visible gears transfers the rotation of the hands from the center pinion to the new bridge. It all sits below a domed sapphire with effective AR. When viewed at an angle, this allows a great view of the mechanisms' height.
Wearing the Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto
The Bel Canto is listed as 41mm wide. By my measurement, the widest part of the case is 41.6mm, but it appears wider to me. The thin bezel and large crystal make it look larger, as do the male end links on the bracelet, which stretch the height from 48 to 53.3mm.
It's also just over 13mm thick with the crystal. The sides of the case use polished bevels to attempt to make it look thinner, but if looks as thick as it is.
Luckily, the case and bracelet are titanium, which makes the Bel Canto light and comfortable to wear. The large appearance is just something you'll have to get over, as the mechanism takes up a lot of space. Even if you could shrink it, I wouldn't want to, as it's so enjoyable to look at.
Another concession to form over function is the time display. It's small and lacks contrast, which reduces the Bel Canto's legibility. The polished hands and markers do help by reflecting light, but making them a contrasting color would have helped immensely. Christopher Ward has attempted to improve this on some variants of the newer C1 Bel Canto classic, but that watch also lacks lume.
That might be alright, however, as the lume on the Bel Canto is not particularly useful. The hands and indexes are filled with Super-LumiNova, but the applications are so small that they are difficult to see most of the time.
Bracelet and Replacement Straps for the Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto
Christopher Ward offers the Bel Canto with leather straps in a number of colors or its Bader bracelet, which is shown here. It is an oyster style with male end links. While the brushed and polished watch case is grade 5 titanium, the bracelet is made from grade 2 and is entirely brushed. It features screwed links (including a few half links), and a dramatic taper from 22mm down to 16.5mm. Quick-release spring bars allow quick swaps.
The clasp also features an internal quick micro-adjust mechanism. A button hidden inside the clasp extends it by a few millimeters to fine-tune the fit. The mechanism operates similarly to that of the Trident, which I reviewed a few years ago.
I plan to wear this on the recently released Deployant Sailcloth straps, although the Deployant Rubber straps look great on it, too.
Here is a list of other straps that would fit and look great with this watch. At the end of the article, you'll also find photos of even more strap combos.
-Ridge Rubber
-Premium Sailcloth
-Smooth Rubber
-Rubber and Sailcloth Hybrid Straps
-Vented Rubber
-Epsom Leather
Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto Movement
A Sellita SW200-1 with Christopher Ward's FS01 module powers the C1 Bel Canto. CW took its existing jump hour mechanism and added 60 components to create the hourly chime function. The movement uses 29 jewels (three more than a standard SW200) and has a 38-hour power reserve. It is rated at +/1 20 seconds per day. I appreciate that the brand is straightforward about the fact that a Sellita powers the watch. Developing and installing its own chime module is impressive enough, and there is no reason to hide the entire caliber behind a false model name.
As time advances, a cam mechanism retracts the hammer, getting it ready to chime.
Then, at the top of every hour, the hammer is released, striking the large spring, creating a D-note chime sound. The only other watch that I've owned with a mechanical chiming feature was the Poljot Aviator Alarm. While it was a fun experiment, that chime had a tinny, low-quality sound. The Bel Canto's chime has a pleasing, high-quality sound.
If you prefer not to hear the chime, you can disable it using the pusher at 4. It features a crisp operation with a nice click each time. The resistance is less than most mechanical chronograph pushers. A red arrow indicates the chime's current status.
The visible components of the timing mechanism are hand-finished. Some of the smaller components are simply brushed with sharp edges, but the largest bridges use more intricate finishing with a mixture of brushed and matte finishes and polished bevels.
Because the watch doesn't have a second hand, and the minute displays are so small, it takes some trial and error to set it to chime just at the top of the hour. It is useful to pull the crown out and then hit the chime as the hour changes.
Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto Conclusion
The Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto succeeded in giving me a special experience in a (relatively) affordable watch. The hourly chime is not as useful as something like a GMT or Chronograph, but it is more pleasing. The sound is enjoyable to hear, and it serves as a calm reminder of how much time is passing by. This can be useful when doing a task where you might lose track of time.
Some consider over $4,000 to be a lot of money for a watch from a brand with a typically much lower price point. A Sellita movement still powers it; however, you shouldn't judge a watch only by its movement. Christopher Ward has moved its brand forward significantly in recent years, releasing more interesting styles and complications. The Bel Canto offers an experience that can't be found at the price point, which I really appreciate.
Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto Specifications:
Name: Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto
Reference Number: C01-41APT2-T00K0-B0
MSRP: $4,210
Diameter: 41mm
Height: 48mm
Thickness: 13mm
Lug Width: 22mm
Weight: 113g
Movement: Sellita SW200-1 with FS01 module
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Water Resistance: 30m
Crystal: Domed Sapphire with anti-reflective coating
Crown: Push-pull
Bezel: Fixed, grade 5 titanium
Bracelet: Grade 2 titanium with quick-adjust, screwed links, QR springbars
Shop Replacement Straps for the Christopher Ward C1 Bel Canto
Deployant Sailcloth
Deployant FKM Rubber
