Christopher Ward – C1 Bel Canto Automatic Edition

Christopher Ward – Limited C1 Bel Canto Titanium Automatic Edition 2022

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The art of sound
C1 Bel Canto: the chime is now

Creating a chiming watch is one of the greatest challenges in watchmaking – and one that Christopher Ward has passed with the limited-edition C1 Bel Canto.

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Meet the extraordinary C1 Bel Canto.

Limited to just 300 pieces, it marks the debut of a brand new in-house calibre, FS01. In the metal, it feels utterly alive, marking each hour with its cheerful, reassuring internal chime. And it sees CW assert its horological ambitions like never before.

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Christopher Ward has always pushed the creative envelope. It’s this philosophy that produced in-house movement Calibre SH21, and was responsible for the legendary JJ calibres (named after our first master watchmaker Johannes Jahnke) – unique modules piggybacking on existing movements.

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Today, the key to the C1 Bel Canto is FS01, a new chiming movement named after current technical director Frank Stelzer. In all horological history, little has tested the watchmaker like creating sound, so it’s no wonder Bel Canto took three years of tortuous development.

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Bel Canto is what’s called an hour chime, or – more romantically – a Sonnerie au Passage complication, which translates as ‘Passage of Time’.

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“Bel Canto is an extrapolation of the C60 Concept, in that we’re taking the best hand-finished components and putting them within reach of many,” says Jörg Bader Junior, head of product at CW’s Biel atelier. “But in terms of technological challenge, it’s taken us into uncharted territory. We had to figure everything out for ourselves.”

The layered dial plays host to a floating time-telling sundial

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With each JJ calibre, the desire wasn’t just to produce a complication, but to do it in a fresh, efficient way. Ten years ago, JJ01 was designed to offer the most accurate jumping-hour function possible and, by spreading the load over an entire hour, Johannes managed it. This success became one of the starting points for FS01.

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It’s a little known fact that Christopher Ward creates watches for Meistersinger, the German specialist in single-hand timepieces. A few years ago Frank made a new model for them, the Bell Hora, a Sonnerie au Passage. Would it be possible to do something similar for Christopher Ward?

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“The Bell Hora was a stepping stone,” says CEO and co-founder Mike France. “But with Bel Canto we wanted to bring the striking mechanism to the front, so the wearer could watch it in action. The question became: could we make a chiming watch both look and sound beautiful at the same time?”

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“Finding a way to split out the components so they felt balanced across the entire face, took years,” says CW watch designer Will Brackfield. “Each time we moved one piece, it had a knock-on effect on the others. The platine – the blue module plate behind the important elements – would have a gorgeous sunray finish, so we needed to find a way to hide minor components behind that too.”

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Frank began with a Sellita SW200-1 automatic base movement paired with JJ01, which charges incrementally over an hour to then make a single movement. But his modifications would eventually involve the creation of 50 new components, and become a race against time once an on-sale date of Autumn 2022 was confirmed.

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“One of the great challenges was striking the right balance between note and loudness,” says CW’s head of product design, Adrian Buchmann. “We soon learned that the case would have to be made of Grade 5 titanium, a material we’d never used before, with lots of empty space and resonance points. It’s a very dense metal – and creates a sound cage with the best possible vibrations.”

So, what exactly does the chime sound like? “Elegant,” says Mike. “Luxurious,” says Will. “A long, high-pitched note,” says Adrian.

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No one can quite define it – it is more like a xylophone, or a hotel bell? – but all agree that it’s delightful. Technically, it turns out to be a D, also known as Re (“a drop of golden sun”) on the fixed do solfège system, familiar from The Sound Of Music.

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“One thing everyone comments on is how the bridge structure towards the bottom looks like a bird,” Mike says. “The red ‘beak’ is actually the on-off mechanism, controlled by a pusher at 4 o’clock, and moves to indicate whether the chime is on or off, while the hammer is its tail. Bel Canto means ‘beautiful singing’, so there’s whimsical humour going on which seems very Christopher Ward.”

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Other details are equally as ambitious. The dial consists of intriguingly stacked layers, rising from the platine through the bridges to the time-telling subdial and finally the twin-flags logo, printed on the lower surface of the sapphire crystal, while the 41mm Light-catcher™case has been given a subtle sporty makeover.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO Of course, CW couldn’t do this alone, and the C1 Bel Canto is also a tribute to many brilliant suppliers and partners, all noted specialists in their fields. Perhaps the most famous is Armin Strom, maker of high-end open worked watches, which contributed the platine, but Chronode (the bridges, hammer and gong) and Viquo Deco (the special wheels required) were also crucial.

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It goes without saying that the C1Bel Canto is far more affordable than any comparable watch. Chopard’s LUC Strike One costs £54,000 for a similar mechanism and finish, while others are twice that or more. And Bel Canto? On a leather strap it’s £2,995 | $3,595 | €3,895 and on the titanium bracelet, £3,305 | $3,975 | €4,295.

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Quite simply, no brand anywhere has made the art of sound so accessible, or opened up the possibility of owning such high horological art to so many. Hearing really is believing.

#ChristopherWard #C1BelCanto  

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Model: C1 Bel Canto Automatic Edition

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Case
    Material: Grade 5 Titanium
    Size: 41mm
    Dial Colour: Rhodium
    Platine Colour: Azzuro blue
    Height: 13.0mm
    Lug-to-Lug: 48.0mm
    Case Weight: 53g
    Water Resistance: 3 ATM (30m)
Movement
    Calibre FS01
    Power Reserve: 38 hours
    No of Jewels: 29
    Complication Type: Passing chime
    Vibrations: 28,800 p/hr (4Hz)
    Timing Tolerance: +/-20 sec p/day
    Lume: SLNC1X1BL
Strap
    Size: 22mm
    Material: Italian leather and Titanium bracelet
    Leather Strap Colour: blue or camel

Features

•     Swiss made
•     Limited Edition of 300 pieces
•     Self-winding 29 jewel movement with FS01 module that chimes on the hour
•     Floating time display with fully visible mechanism
•     Hand finished bridges, gong and hammer
•     On/Off pusher at 4 o’clock with red on/off indicator
•     38-hour power reserve
•     Brushed and polished case in titanium grade 5
•     Deep stamped caseback with soundwave motif
•     Push-down crown with twin flag motif
•     Anti-reflective domed sapphire crystal
•     Raised and polished indexes
•     Eco-friendly luxury presentation case and owner’s handbook 

Limited to 300 pieces

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Press releases - 2022
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Cooper Jacoby x UR-102 “Reloaded” Unique Edition

URWERK – UR-SATELLITE UR-102 “Reloaded” One-of-a-kind Creation by COOPER JACOBY Unique Edition

 URWERK And Contemporary Artist Cooper Jacoby
Join Forces In Supporting The Swiss Institute

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"It represents the starting point for URWERK. The one that kicked it all off. It is celebrating its 25th birthday this year, just as URWERK itself is toasting its quarter-century of existence”, said Felix Baumgartner and Martin Frei. It stems from their very first collaboration, the UR-102 – definitely one of the models that triggers the most nostalgia and cravings among URWERK collectors. "It was a watch reserved for our first circle, our friends, our family members. Those who were the first ones to believe in us, so it is a highly emotional piece.”

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The good news is that it will once again be in the spotlight on 10 December 2022, this time in a “reloaded” version. A unique piece, #1 of the UR-102 « reloaded » series. 

 On 10 December 2022, in support of the emerging art scene, URWERK will dedicate a one-of-a-kind creation – the #1 of the UR-102 "reloaded" – to the Swiss Institute of New York. 

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The motivation behind this project is crystal clear. Martin Frei, chief designer and co-founder of URWERK expresses it best: "After graduating from the University of Arts and Applied Sciences in Lucerne, I started my creative journey in New York. With a few friends, we created the U.S.A. association (United Swiss Artists), an anchor point far from home, a point of fall or rather of support in difficult times. It is the same philosophy that I find in the approach of the Swiss Institute. Our involvement in this project was therefore self-evident»

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The #1 UR-102 « reloaded » will be auctioned under the auspices of 👉Phillips. This single-piece edition stems from a collaboration with Cooper Jacoby, an American contemporary artist who reinterprets one of the most emblematic and decisive URWERK creations: the UR-102 in its new “reloaded” version. Jacoby is an up-and-coming artist who draws attention to the functionality of the systems governing our lives. Using innovative treatments of materials such as nickel, copper, rubber and silicon, the artist creates electrifying sculptures, transforming what is often left invisible into striking and vibrant perceptions.

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In this instance, Jacoby revisits the notion of graduation. This first UR-102 "reloaded" displays a wandering hour that counts down time in both analog and digital formats. On the dial of this one-of-a-kind watch, Jacoby uses thermochromic pigments to embody one of the body's most essential regulatory systems: temperature. The dial of this UR-102 is thus transformed through a range of infinitely variable color tones, interacting with and changing in response to thermal variations. A ‘reloaded’ UR-102 immersed in a state of regular flux.

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Engaged in a process of perpetual renewal, the Jacoby and URWERK creation marries the systemic precision of chronometry with the harmony of human biology.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection: UR-SATELLITE

Model:  UR-102 “Reloaded” One-of-a-kind Creation Unique Edition 

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• Based on the historical UR-102
• Original design by Martin Frei
• Mechanism development and assembly by Felix Baumgartner
• Case design and hand machining by Thomas Baumgartner

Movement
Calibre   2.02  Self-winding
Finishing    Satin-brushed and rhodium-plated
Frequency    28,800 vph
Jewels        25
Power reserve    48 hours
Indications    
Wandering hours appearing on engraved discs
Thermal colour index
Case
Case middle and lugs in anodised titanium
Screw-down caseback in circular satin-brushed titanium   
Diameter: 41mm; thickness 11.3mm; lugs 17mm
Glass    Special-shaped sapphire crystal
Water resistance  Tested at 30m (3atm)
Strap
Baltimora fabric strap
Pin buckle in sandblasted titanium

LIMITED EDITION    1 watches - Unique Piece

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COOPER JACOBY
Cooper Jacoby (b.1989, Princeton) is an artist based in Los Angeles, USA. Recently, he has had solo exhibitions at Mathew, Berlin, and High Art, Paris, and has been included in group shows at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen; Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angeles; and White Flag Projects, St. Louis.

TIME FOR ART
In December 2022, Swiss Institute introduces TimeForArt – the first-ever benefit watch auction to support contemporary art and artists. TimeForArt is a curated benefit auction of exceptional timepieces from the world’s greatest watchmakers, with 100% of the proceeds directly enabling today’s most visionary artists, through Swiss Institute’s exhibitions, public programs, education & community engagement workshops – all free of charge.

SWISS INSTITUTE
Swiss Institute (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art institution dedicated to promoting forward-thinking and experimental art making through innovative exhibitions, education, and programs. Committed to the highest standards of curatorial and educational excellence, SI serves as a platform for emerging artists, catalyzes new perspectives on celebrated work, and fosters appreciation for under-recognized positions. SI is committed to being an organization that is diverse, equitable, and accessible in its work, structure, and programming. Open to the public free-of-charge, Swiss Institute seeks to explore how a Swiss context can be the starting point for international conversations in the fields of visual and performing arts, design, and architecture.

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Press Release - 2022
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Media contact:
Ms Yacine Sar
Telephone: +41 22 900 2027
Mobile : +41 79 834 46 65 

press@urwerk.com 

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