Christopher Ward’s C1 Bel Canto has always had a faint connection to the opera because it is named after an Italian operatic style, the bel canto. Yet none of the many variations of the watch that have been produced since it made headlines with its debut in 2022 have doubled down on that operatic connection – until now. For their second collaboration together, Christopher Ward and Mr Jones Watches present the C1 Bel Canto Lucia, inspired by the bel canto opera Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti.
In the synopsis of the opera, the titular Lucia secretly marries her love Edgardo but then is forced to also marry another man whom she kills on their wedding day, leading her to go mad. This culminates in a famous ‘mad scene’ in which the soprano playing Lucia sings a song full of trills and runs like a bird’s song. This is translated onto the C1 Bel Canto Lucia by turning the chiming mechanism at 6 o’clock into an actual bird – making use of Mr Jones Watches’ signature playful designs.
The face that the chiming mechanism looks like a bird with the on/off indicator looking like a beak while the hammer looks like a spread of tail feathers is one of the happiest coincidences in the design of the Bel Canto. It was not intentional, but CW and the community have leant into it with bespoke models being commissioned that reimagine it as a phoenix. This is the first time though that a bird artwork has been applied directly to the mechanism.
Producing the bird is a multi-stage process. First the stamped brass plates are produced and then sent to Mr Jones’ workshop where the intricate colours are applied using a pad printing process. After that, the framework of the bird is gold-plated, giving it a faux-cloisonné appearance that looks great. The components are then aligned and laminated together then returned to Christopher Ward’s workshop in Biel for final assembly onto the watch.
Completing the image, the rest of the display features a lush bush with white-petalled flowers. There’s also a small rotating bug that is connected to the pusher at 4 o’clock, relating to the on/off indicator. For the timekeeping dial at 12 o’clock, they’ve opted for a rich orange based on the setting sun – a potential metaphor for Lucia’s descent to madness and approaching demise. All told, the image is thoroughly beautiful and utterly, utterly depressing, but that’s what you get for basing your watch on a tragic opera.
Powering the watch is the Sellita SW200-2 Power+ calibre with FS01 chiming module, which chimes on the hour when the mechanism is activated. Using the Power+ movement is a significant upgrade over previous versions of the Bel Canto, improving the power reserve to 65-hours instead of 38. It’s housed in a 41mm x 14.31mm titanium case with box sapphire crystal and custom caseback engraving.
Unlike Christopher Ward and Mr Jones Watches’ first collaboration, the Celestial, which was a limited edition of 300 pieces, the Bel Canto Lucia is an open-series production. It’s priced at £3,995 on leather strap. I think it’s really cool to see an opera themed watch that expresses an artistic vision of the original text in this way. On a personal note, my parents took me to the theatre from a very young age (I saw my first RSC Shakespeare production at 12) but now that I am older, I am increasingly interested in the other classical forms like ballet and opera, and researching Lucia for this watch has only heightened that interest. To me, that’s a sign of a good watch, it gets you excited.
Price and Specs:
More details at Christopher Ward.
