Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere Tackles Sports Luxe Design with Princely Flair

Carl Suchy & Söhne are best known for their Waltz collection, which combines a high degree of elegance with interesting aesthetic twists, perhaps best exemplified by models like the Day & Night. Now though, they’re launching a brand new collection named after a famous Viennese palace, the Belvedere.

Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere Day

What the Belvedere brings to the Carl Suchy & Söhne range on an aesthetic level is interesting. It’s not a total move away from their signature style and elegance and instead it’s more of a lateral move towards sports luxe design. The case and lug designs are bulkier and it has a large, flat bezel that’s reminiscent of that iconic Genta style seen in watches like the Patek Philippe Nautilus. Despite its bulkier appearance it’s still a relatively slim timepiece with a diameter of 40.8mm in stainless steel.

Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere Danube

The dial is available in three colours, white, black or blue, and debuts some unique features. First and foremost among those is the rotating inner dial where the central guilloché disc rotates slightly every 24 hours. The effect of this is twofold, primarily it means that the date window, which forms part of the central disc, is not static and moves around the face of the watch as the disc moves each day. Secondly, the angle of the guilloché lines change too, giving the watch a fresh appearance every day.

Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere Night

Another element of stylisation across the dial can be seen in the hour markers. They have bath tub shapes from 1-5 o’clock and 7-11 with twin circles at 12 and 6, stacked horizontally and vertically respectively. They’re all coated with a layer of SuperLuminova for low light legibility. Separating each index are yet more areas of guilloché.

Calibre CSS201

Powering the Belvedere is the CSS201 automatic calibre, which is based on the Dubois Dépraz DD90000 and has a 42-hour power reserve. The movement’s rotor is presented with gold plating and has a micro-engraving of Belvedere palace. It’s visible through the model’s sapphire exhibition caseback.

The reason behind this watch’s association with Belvedere, beyond just the Vienna connection, is that the palace was once home to Prince Eugene of Savoy. Eugene was a famous Holy Roman Field Marshal known for his love of Belvedere’s Baroque gardens, in touch with both his militaristic and aesthetic sides. This correlates on a horological level to the watch being sports luxe, combining function with beauty.

As for pricing and availability, the Carl Suchy & Söhne Belvedere is a limited edition of 100 pieces and is priced at €6,400 (approx. £5,660). I must admit that I have trouble discerning whether I like the Belvedere or if I just like Carl Suchy & Söhne. Part of me thinks that if this watch was presented in a Waltz No°1 style case I would love it even more.

But I also have to acknowledge that the reason I do like this watch is because it fits within the framework of conventional sports luxe design while putting a little twist on it, which is what the brand is so good at doing. This is the kind of watch Carl Suchy & Söhne should be making in order to expand and diversify.