C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

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C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Halftime »

I have been lucky enough to receive my C1 Bel Canto and am more than happy with it.

I have however noticed that when manually winding the watch the forward rotation of the crown is quite stiff and noisy (scratchy) whereas the reverse rotation smooth and quiet.

Before I contact CW I just wondered if anyone else has ‘a stiff crown’. 😀
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by tikkathree »

Halftime wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:05 pm I have been lucky enough to receive my C1 Bel Canto and am more than happy with it.

I have however noticed that when manually winding the watch the forward rotation of the crown is quite stiff and noisy (scratchy) whereas the reverse rotation smooth and quiet.

Before I contact CW I just wondered if anyone else has ‘a stiff crown’. 😀
Grannie, sucking eggs and all that but is this your first automatic watch or are you familiar with their operation?
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Halftime »

Lol. No I have had a few over the years.

Daily is a Seiko 5 GMT SSK003K1 which has a much lighter crown ‘feel’ and I have a Submariner which has a lot more ‘resistance’ than the seiko but is a lot smoother and quieter than the Bel Canto.

On the Bel Canto the ‘scratch’ noise drowns out the ‘click’ from the ratchet wheel when winding. Very different to my othe r watches.
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Kielbasa Posse »

If possible I’d take a video or recording of the sound. I myself am not a watch technical expert, but I’m sure there are some smart people around here they could tell you of the noise is normal or not!
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Halftime »

Good point. Here is a video.

https://vimeo.com/809239759
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by jkbarnes »

Halftime wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:57 am Good point. Here is a video.

https://vimeo.com/809239759
That can’t be good!
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Halftime »

jkbarnes wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:59 am
Halftime wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:57 am Good point. Here is a video.

https://vimeo.com/809239759
That can’t be good!
I will email CW and see what they think.
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by nbg »

I have just listened to the clip and it does sound rougher than mine.

Different types of movement will sound different when wound. As well as the Bel Canto I have just put an extra few winds on the other three watches that I currently have wound and set (none fully powered to the point when the clutch slips).

C63 Sealander GMT - very smooth and negligible resistance. This does seem to be a feature of the movement.

Milgauss - very smooth with slightly more resistance. Same/similar movement to the submariner (unless the submariner is the current version).

Seamaster 300 Heritage - still very smooth, but more resistance than the Milgauss.

Neil
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by JasperCat »

That doesn't sound too far from the noise mine makes, but perhaps a tiny bit more "rough" :problem:

Just checking my other SW200 movement based watches... the C65 Cranwell is barely audible when wound, but the C65 Super Compressor sounds very much like my Bel Canto, just a bit quiter.

In all cases, the movement is smooth.

Bear in mind that the Bel Canto case is specifically designed to amplify the chime noise, and so it might also do the same for the movement winding sound.

Either way, I'd send the video clip and description to CW and let them confirm one way or the other... good luck :thumbup:
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by scooter »

JasperCat wrote: Sat Mar 18, 2023 2:11 pm Either way, I'd send the video clip and description to CW and let them confirm one way or the other... good luck
I agree.

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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by angusbon »

tikkathree wrote:
Halftime wrote: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:05 pm I have been lucky enough to receive my C1 Bel Canto and am more than happy with it.

I have however noticed that when manually winding the watch the forward rotation of the crown is quite stiff and noisy (scratchy) whereas the reverse rotation smooth and quiet.

Before I contact CW I just wondered if anyone else has ‘a stiff crown’. Image
Grannie, sucking eggs and all that but is this your first automatic watch or are you familiar with their operation?
What a lovely welcome to a new member.....


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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Halftime »

Just a little update.

I sent the watch to CW as they couldn't comment from the video. The issue was clearly described in the documentation that went with the watch, so I was a little surprised when I got the first response from them stating that they cannot find a fault. After a few emails I could not get to an answer about whether the amount of noise when winding was as expected or not, so I got them to return the watch on the basis that they were happy that there was not a fault with it.

Happy to receive the watch back today after being without it for a month.

Bearing in mind that all they needed to do was wind the watch and listen to the sound it made, I am somewhat dismayed to find that not only are the hands misaligned but the watch chimes at a quarter to the hour.
Not only does this mean that the watch has to go back, but how much faith can I have that the 'watch is OK' if they send a watch back like that.

Disappointed.
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Legore »

Halftime wrote: Wed Apr 19, 2023 11:49 am Just a little update.

I sent the watch to CW as they couldn't comment from the video. The issue was clearly described in the documentation that went with the watch, so I was a little surprised when I got the first response from them stating that they cannot find a fault. After a few emails I could not get to an answer about whether the amount of noise when winding was as expected or not, so I got them to return the watch on the basis that they were happy that there was not a fault with it.

Happy to receive the watch back today after being without it for a month.

Bearing in mind that all they needed to do was wind the watch and listen to the sound it made, I am somewhat dismayed to find that not only are the hands misaligned but the watch chimes at a quarter to the hour.
Not only does this mean that the watch has to go back, but how much faith can I have that the 'watch is OK' if they send a watch back like that.

Disappointed.
Dang dude, I'm sorry to hear about your experience 😔
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Re: C1 Bel Canto ‘scratchy’ noise when winding

Post by Halftime »

To be fair to CW, the customer services team have been good up to now, if a little slow to reply.
The issue is obviously with the service side who didn't read the notes properly and didn't even do basic checks on the watch before returning it.

On the plus side I have already had a call from CW customer services who were not happy with what has happened and are going to collect the watch for a second look, and to fix the new issues.

I can handle mistakes being made. How CW handles it afterwards is what really matters, and so far they seem to be taking this seriously.

I just hope that once this is resolved, and I am confident it will be, that I still love the Bel Canto as much as I did when I first received it.
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