HOW LUCIA TOOK FLIGHT

In the deepest corner of the forest, sits the happy Lucia songbird. Every hour, on the hour, she sings – her song a clear chime. Sightings are rare, but you’ll find her here – feathers and all – in C1 Bel Canto Lucia, a whimsical 19-colour timepiece that brings together the artistry of Mr Jones Watches with the watchmaking prowess of Christopher Ward.

“This is watchmaking as theatre,” says chief operating officer Sarah Baumann. “A once-in-a-lifetime watch built on the creativity of Christopher Ward and Mr Jones, and in which the artwork makes you fall in love.”

Here, the people behind Lucia, including Crispin Jones, founder of Mr Jones, and Christopher Ward’s product director, Jörg Bader, take you through the making of an extraordinary timepiece. 

Take flight into fantasy

A MEETING OF MINDS

When it comes to bringing the whimsical to watchmaking, few do it better than London’s Mr Jones Watches. After the success of Christopher Ward’s first collaboration with MJW – the esoteric, dream-like Celestial Moonphase – we approached Mr Jones with the idea of working together on the GPHG-winning C1 Bel Canto. We had always wanted to bring the Bel Canto songbird to life, and working with Mr Jones felt like the perfect opportunity.

“My background is in fine art, so that informs my approach to watches,” says Crispin Jones, founder of Mr Jones Watches. “The integrity of the artistic concept is what matters most to us.” Combining this ethos with the technical know-how and imagination of Christopher Ward is what makes the Bel Canto Lucia so unique.

ANDY'S WONDERFUL WORLD

The 19-colour, pad-printed dial, designed by illustrator Andy Wilx, takes you into the realm of fantasy and make-believe with William Morris-inspired decorative patterns and opulent colours. And sitting at its heart, surrounded by luscious foliage is the feathered songbird, whose tail – as on the original Bel Canto – strikes a chime on the hour. “I wanted to create a world you could peer into, and with so much space between the mechanism and crystal, I was able to create a design with real depth,” says Andy. “I’m delighted with how the watch turned out, and I hope people get as much joy out of wearing it as I did designing it.”

Watch our short chat with Andy

BLENDING ART WITH HOROLOGY

Building a dial without compromising Andy Wilx’s vision was, as CEO Mike France says, no easy task. “We had a limited amount of space and were determined the dial should be three-dimensional,” he says. “But we got there through the genius of our watchmaking teams in Switzerland.”

Christopher Ward’s product director Jörg Bader says: “From the start, the challenge for us was ensuring the artwork remained integral to the mechanism itself, with the beak and tail delivering genuine mechanical functions. Happily, that’s exactly what we achieved.”

MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE

CEO Mike France says the Bel Canto Lucia comes down to the power of dreams and possibilities of pure imagination. “This is a dream watch in a dreamworld where the exotic flora and fauna of Henri Rousseau blend with the haute horlogerie of the Swiss valleys and the sweet sounds of Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor. I can’t stop looking at it.”