theemaadhatter wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:36 pm

unforced_error wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:13 pm I like the salmon dial a lot more than the green dial I have reserved. However, with these 4 new colors being "open serial" it definitely makes the Bel Canto seem less special in general. In today's market, rarity equates to price stability, which is something that CW is largely affected by. With "open" production, the more pieces enters the market the lower the price and demand drops.

I understand CW is trying to capitalize on the hype but I think they may see a fair bit of returns which ultimately comes back to haunt them.

CW did make a special watch, but they aren't trying to keep it exclusive, via high price or a very exclusive run. Plenty of other brands are doing that repeatedly. If they only sold the initial 300 in blue then they really wouldn't be making much, if any, money back on the cost that went into the R&D, design, production etc. Their intention is to get a chiming watch on the wrists of as many people who want one. Certainly nothing wrong with them capitalizing on the work done to create the Bel Canto. Even at retail, no matter how many they produce, it's worth the money from a materials, design, complication point of view. Not going to find anything else even close to it or in the same price range. If exclusive is what someone wants, then the blue and green serialized versions exist and won't be produced again. My thoughts on it anyway...

albionphoto wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 10:53 pm I have a Bel Canto, one of the original blue ones. As I don't intend to sell it I have no problem with the second hand value going down. Neither do I agree with the idea that releasing it as an open series is bad form or a slap in the face for buyers of the original limited edition colours. I might be more miffed if they had re-released the blue and green colours as a normal series but they haven't. If I was so desperate to get one that I paid a couple of thousand pounds over MSRP for a second hand one then that's my problem not Christopher Ward's. Caveat emptor and perhaps you'll be a bit more careful in the future.

If the first 600 limited edition watches show CW that they have a route out of value dive watches and into the world of "petit luxury" then great. The 1,000 pound dive watch market can only get fuller, more desperate and harder to swim in. I want the brand to do well and if having ranges in the 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000+ brackets is they do that then the Bel Canto is a harbinger of great things to come.

Christopher Ward need the Bel Canto to be a success. Its original success caught them by surprise. They had a winner and they didn't know it. Good for them. If there is a market for the watch in larger numbers then they should take that opportunity. Looking at the new, open-series colours I'd say the black is the winner.

Noush wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 6:58 am I was SO keen to receive this email with the available colour options for the open series.
And then I saw the colours and I don't want any of them.

Richard D wrote: ↑Tue Dec 20, 2022 9:48 pm When I first saw the Azzurro Bel Canto prototype at the CW showroom I must admit I was somewhat disappointed. It might been a horological masterpiece, BUT what I saw was a ‘mechanical bird’. I remember asking myself, “what’s that all about”???

albionphoto wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 2:51 pm BC 20.jpg

albionphoto wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:48 am The black works very well on the bracelet.

A1soknownas wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:42 pm The new colours are a good idea if they can keep the die hards on side that it was a limited colour rather than watch which MF did say but there was lots of cloudy reference about this been limited and as if it was going to rare generally I believe.

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 3:40 pm

albionphoto wrote: ↑Wed Dec 21, 2022 1:48 am The black works very well on the bracelet.

Is that what you have ordered Mark?

Guy