The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by tikkathree »

Mikkei4 wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:41 am
Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 10:13 am
Mikkei4 wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:52 am

:lol: :lol: :thumbup:
O Miseri Homines!

The cut and thrust of intellectual discourse has always been an essential part of the forum. What is different here?
Steve, you are possibly correct - maybe I just got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning as my posts so far today have been, let's say, on the negative side.

"Cut and thrust of intellectual discourse" though is pushing it a bit - Is it cutting and thrusting to continually revive something that is in the past and can't be changed? You may remember that I chipped in frequently about the 9o'clock logo but even I've had enough about the pros and cons of each of the logo and whether any are or aren't on a CW watch. Yes, I get it that it's personal opinion but it's a dead donkey so post some threads that have more intellectual discourse in them.

And just to complete the "O Miseri Homines!" for the EDIT part of my post re the BC - I get the expertise, design courage and value to the watch manufacturing business but there's going to be hundreds of it made and delivered so does this Forum need the "cut and thrust of intellectual discourse" of every purchaser posting the date of the email and potential delivery date way into the latter months of 2023?
Or to put it another way....parry! thrust!.....

"I'm new here, I've just ordered a C1 Belle Cantor, I'd never heard of whatever this brand is called and I look forward to getting my new watch later this year. Does everything take so long? Why? Jeez, some of you guys have been here more than a couple of weeks? I've got nothing else I want to say."
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by tikkathree »

Or put another way, We have a range of watches in a range of styles, in a range of colours at a range of prices and....... drumroll.....................

with a range of logos! BOOM TISH!!

My only observation is that the twin flags relies on the casual observer being sufficiently interested to ask what it is.

Opera Snapshot_2023-01-19_154527_www.christopherward.com copy.jpg
C60 MKI, MKII, MKIII: "some",
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C63 "some",
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by Tonywalker »

The multitude of logo changes/positioning, over the years, may serve to intrigue new entrants into the CW arena and drive further interest in the secondary marketplace. Personally, I still like the original CW logo ( W inside the C), but also agree with many posting here that the swish logo is a killer logo.

For me personally, I would also have the full name, albeit in a smaller font, beneath the swish logo.

Everyone to their own :thumbup:

LOL - apologies for extending the discussion as I know veterans on this forum must be sick to the back teeth of discussing this matter :lol:
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by watchaholic »

NationOfLaws wrote: Thu Jan 19, 2023 9:42 am Oh good, this debate again
And yet it’s like a bad wreck somewhere…I can’t look away. :lol:
Time and money? I’ve spent most of mine on booze and women. The rest I just wasted…
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by magicman »

Discussions on the logo were flagging !

Regards Steve
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by 5oclockhero »

I've stayed away from this topic for as long as I can, but I think its never going to be put to rest.

Christopher Ward as a company seems to be ill at ease with its own name and always has been as far as I can tell. I think this has now been exacerbated by Mr Ward leaving.

It has already been pointed out that many successful companies have continued with their eponymous names long after the founder has moved on, but in this case there seems to be issues, not least from within CW, that seems unable to evolve its branding in a subtle way.

Personally I found the original Chr. Ward script old fashioned and passed over the brand, that's my loss but maybe I'm not the only one and potential sales were lost.

The script incorporating the whole name be it at 9 or 12 seemed coherent to me, if we are all accepting Christopher Ward as a brand name for a watch company.

Whilst I don't dislike the swish logo in itself, I feel it does suit some designs better than others. Eg it looks good to me on the pro 300 models, but incongruous on the aquitaine models. In this respect I feel the OP has a very valid point. Surely CW should be proud enough of their new logo and brand to affix it to their flagship model? I'm no marketing expert but we often see "halo" models from car brands designed to sell in limited numbers to raise brand awareness and perception. Its no use them being anonymous!

I think CW need to get behind a brand identity that encompasses their entire range and ethos, and if that can't be achieved under the current CW name or logo then consider changing it.

As far as I remember, even when Prince was a "squiggle" he was still actually Prince.
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by NationOfLaws »

The thing that makes this debate frustrating is that they have gotten behind their go-forward brand identity. Anything that has old logos on it seems to be old stock. They haven't released new models with competing branding, and they've continued to phase out models with the word mark as stocks deplete in favor of the swish. This is a fait accompli.
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by rkovars »

I think NationOfLaws is right. They brought the old logo back for the C5 and C8 revival which I feel is fair game. I was a little surprised they didn't hide a small twin flags somewhere on the Bel Canto dial like they did on the Concept but I take them at their word that they didn't want anything to take away from the design. I am sure they had mockups and drawings of the flags in various places and if it didn't look right it didn't look right.

The Twin Flags has been front and center all marketing from the point that they released it in 2016.
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by Toph »

I think your opinion is based completely on what you feel rather than hard evidence. 👍
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by tikkathree »

Toph wrote: Fri Jan 20, 2023 2:24 am I think your opinion is based completely on what you feel rather than hard evidence. 👍
And here endeth the lesson, for now at least. :silent: :silent: Not sure? Here's the evidence: :lol: :lol:
Opinion Snapshot_2023-01-20_064510_www.google.com.png
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Some other brands
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Re: The Bel Canto is the final nail in the coffin of the CW rebrand! Critics vindicated?

Post by ralfybaby »

Well i preferred the old CW and Chr. Ward logos.
And the quirky hands on the Trident divers.
Should have bought one then.
Not sure if that proves anything but so there anyway :D
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