The FB 3SPC Chronometer is now well established in the landscape of contemporary haute horlogerie. Launched in 2022, it received the Chronometry Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève the following year. This recognition acknowledged a piece developed around a particularly unusual regulating organ for a wristwatch. For the Geneva Watch Days 2026, the mechanics remain unchanged and Ferdinand Berthoud is focusing its work on the materials, finishes and presence of the watch on the wrist.
A chronometer apart
At the heart of the FB-SPC calibre remains its famous cylindrical hairspring. While the vast majority of wristwatches use a flat hairspring, this one develops vertically, according to a geometry inherited from the precision chronometers of Ferdinand and Louis Berthoud.
Its development required three years of research, particularly around the collet and the two terminal curves that determine its development. This geometry allows the hairspring to develop concentrically in order to promote the isochronism of the oscillator.
The exercise takes on its full meaning in light of the result obtained: the FB 3SPC became the first wristwatch equipped with a cylindrical hairspring to receive official COSC chronometer certification.
To understand in greater detail the role of the terminal curves, the collet and the difficulties inherent in using a cylindrical hairspring on the wrist, we devoted a complete article to it: A cylindrical hairspring like no other.
The novelty first plays out on the exterior. The 42.3 mm case adopts black ceramicized titanium, sandblasted to obtain a matte finish. Lightweight and robust, it is designed to preserve the intensity of its color over time.
A crown guard
The silhouette evolves with the appearance of a crown guard, a first in the FB 3SPC collection. Made from the same ceramicized titanium, it gives the piece greater presence.
Black as the common thread
The crown, crown guard, rehaut and small seconds continue this new dark identity. The hands and certain elements of the movement then create contrasts that prevent the whole from becoming monochromatic.
A window onto the calibre
At 9 o’clock, a lateral sapphire opening reveals the cylindrical hairspring. The eye then naturally moves toward the FB-SPC calibre, whose finishes extend the case’s dark aesthetic inside. Made of maillechort, an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, and then treated with black rhodium, the movement plays on the contrast with its white rhodium plated gears.
Eight decoration techniques
Its finishing employs eight distinct techniques: bevelling, black polishing, circular graining, polishing of the openings of the jewels and screws, sandblasting, satin finishing, smoothing and drawing. All contribute to giving depth to an already highly expressive mechanical architecture.
No pre bevelling
It is particularly in the treatment of the angles that Ferdinand Berthoud pushes the exercise very far. No mechanical pre bevelling is carried out. Each chamfer is raised directly by hand, using a knife. The excess material is then removed, followed by several successive operations of filing, smoothing and polishing using abrasive papers.
A gentian finish
The final stage involves gentian wood sourced from the pastures located near the Manufacture. It allows the final polishing of the angles to be achieved, according to a traditional haute horlogerie method.
117 angles
The calibre totals 102 external angles and 15 internal angles. The six bridges visible on the dial side then receive a vertical satin finish, carried out after the bevelling.
The order of operations is important. The pressure must remain perfectly constant, the strokes must align from one bridge to another and the slightest error could alter the angles that have already been completed.
This new identity is finally extended by a black fabric strap, also new to the collection. A discreet evolution that naturally complements the matte case and the movement’s tones. The FB 3SPC.4-1 thus retains its exceptional chronometric architecture, while adopting a distinctly more contemporary expression.
FAQ
What is Ferdinand Berthoud?
Ferdinand Berthoud is a Swiss haute horlogerie manufacture, part of the Chopard group, named after the 18th-century master chronometer maker Ferdinand Berthoud. It produces highly limited, technically driven wristwatches, including the FB 3SPC Chronometer with its cylindrical hairspring.
What is a cylindrical hairspring?
A cylindrical hairspring is a regulating spring that develops vertically rather than flat, unlike most wristwatch hairsprings. Ferdinand Berthoud revived this geometry, inherited from historic precision chronometers, in the FB 3SPC, the first cylindrical-hairspring wristwatch to earn COSC certification.
What is the Ferdinand Berthoud FB 3SPC.4-1?
The FB 3SPC.4-1 is a new black version of Ferdinand Berthoud's chronometer, in a 42.3mm sandblasted black ceramicized titanium case. It adds the collection's first crown guard and black fabric strap, while keeping the same cylindrical hairspring movement.
What is anglage (hand bevelling) in watchmaking?
Anglage, or hand bevelling, is the traditional finishing of a movement's edges into polished facets, done entirely by hand. On the Ferdinand Berthoud FB 3SPC.4-1, each of its 117 angles is raised with a knife and polished with gentian wood.
How many angles does the Ferdinand Berthoud FB 3SPC.4-1 have?
The Ferdinand Berthoud FB 3SPC.4-1 movement totals 117 hand-finished angles: 102 external and 15 internal. Each is chamfered without mechanical pre-bevelling, then polished by hand using gentian wood, following a traditional haute horlogerie method.
