Following from the award-winning success of the C60 Trident Lumière, Christopher Ward are expanding their lume focussed Lumière sub-collection to include models from more of their watch families. Rather than keep things tame with a Sealander or the like, they’ve jumped straight for the big guns with the release of the C1 Bel Canto Lumière, which I’ve had on the wrist for a couple of days around the office.
The big news here is the luminescent display. The hour and minute dial at 12 o’clock has once again been completely reimagined. Instead of the original style with bar indexes, Roman numeral edition for British Watchmakers’ Day or Art Deco styling of the Worn & Wound collab, it’s made from a globolight ring around a smoked sapphire disc with matching globolight hands. For the uninitiated, globolight is made from a composition of ceramic and Super-LumiNova, creating a solid material that emits a luminescent glow in low light conditions.
That’s not the only luminescent quality though as the entire dial has been printed with lines of Super-LumiNova in a radial pattern centred on the dial. The inner most layer of lume has a green emission below the globolight (which in the press images provided by CW looks blue but in reality seems more green) while the outer portions around the signature chiming complication is blue. Even when you’re not in dark conditions the watch seems to catch the eye more than a traditional display with the almost magic eye illusion of the thin lines of lume – sometimes you focus on the white lume stripes and sometimes on the sunray brushed green backdrop.
But wait, there’s more. The C1 Bel Canto Lumière is presented on a white, aquaflex rubber strap with a glow in the dark lining, adding yet more lume to the piece. I must admit that I annoyed my colleagues by constantly turning off the office lights to admire the glow, but it really is intoxicating. It feels modern and futuristic in a way that feels fun and interesting without straying into the realms of childishness or being toy-like.
It is unquestionably a novelty timepiece that won’t appeal to everyone but for the right person it would look epic. It feels like an accessory you’d see at a hype DJ set worn by a Daft Punk, Deadmau5 or Marshmello (I guess just any DJ with a helmet it would seem). It would actually be kind of awesome to see it in a couple of other nightclub-inspired colourways such as pink and orange vaporwave or a rich midnight purple.
In terms of the watch more broadly, it’s the same C1 Bel Canto we’re familiar with. A 41mm titanium case with a thickness of 13.65mm feels big on the wrist without being excessive, allowing you to admire the exposed workings of the chiming complication. That complication comes courtesy of the FS01 chiming module, an adapted version of the JJ01 jump hour module fitted to the Sellita SW200-1 base. When the Bel Canto was released back in 2022 it caused a mighty stir for being the first accessible alternative to the ultra-high end chiming complications such as minute repeaters and grande sonneries.
The C1 Bel Canto Lumière is priced at £3,495 on aquaflex strap, £3,745 on Bader bracelet or £3,815 on Consort bracelet. That’s the same pricing as the Bel Canto Classic, which is the guilloché edition. It’s the type of watch that you want to show to people and feel excited about and there’s a simple joy to that that’s irresistible. The confidence to be bright and loud (even more so than the already bright and loud original Bel Canto), be yourself regardless of any critics. Forget them. You know what’s cool.
Price and Specs:
More details at Christopher Ward.
