News · Ferdinand Berthoud

Ferdinand Berthoud darkens the Chronomètre FB 3SPC

The FB 3SPC.4-1 pairs a ceramised titanium case with a side view of its cylindrical balance spring.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 12 September 2026

• A 42.30mm black ceramised titanium case adds the collection's first crown guard.
• The hand-wound FB-SPC calibre exposes its cylindrical balance spring through a sapphire side window.
• The official product page does not state a price or delivery date and instead directs buyers to an enquiry.

Ferdinand Berthoud introduced the Chronomètre FB 3SPC.4-1 on 1 September 2026, giving its cylindrical-balance-spring watch a black ceramised titanium case, a matching crown guard and a fabric strap. It is the first model in this collection to use a crown guard. The darker treatment does not conceal the mechanism. Most of calibre FB-SPC remains exposed on the front, while a sapphire window in the case band frames its regulating organs from the side.

The escapement gets its own window

The most useful part of the 42.30mm case is the porthole at nine o'clock. It looks directly onto the balance wheel, pallet lever and escape wheel, the three parts that divide the movement's stored energy into measured beats. Ferdinand Berthoud separates those components spatially, so their interaction can be read from the dial and the case flank instead of being buried under a bridge.

That view also exposes the cylindrical balance spring. A conventional flat hairspring develops in one plane, while this one rises in a helix. The hand-wound FB-SPC movement is 6.84mm thick and the complete watch is 9.43mm thick. The brand makes the spring part of the display instead of treating the regulator as a detail to be hidden behind the dial.

The display is spread across the movement rather than printed on a conventional dial. Hours and minutes are central, small seconds sit at six, and the power-reserve indicator occupies the area around two. Smooth black-varnished brass rings carry the grey minute, hour and seconds markings. Sandblasted, open-tipped white-gold hands preserve contrast against the vertically satin-finished bridges and black-rhodium-treated nickel silver.

The smaller indications receive the same material treatment. The seconds hand is sandblasted white gold with an openworked counterweight, while the power-reserve hand uses an arrow profile. On the reverse, anti-reflective sapphire fills the ceramised titanium caseback. These are separate viewing surfaces for the same movement: the dial side explains the display and regulating organ, while the back reveals the winding train and remaining bridge work.

Black without losing the finishing

The ceramised titanium gives the case, crown, guard and back a consistent charcoal-black appearance, while keeping the low mass for which titanium is valued. The case has a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, an exhibition back and 30 metres of water resistance.

The colour is restrained, but the movement is not. Ferdinand Berthoud lists eight finishing methods across calibre FB-SPC: bevelling, black polishing, circular finishing, open polishing of jewel and screw sinks, sandblasting, satin finishing, softening and stretching. Some components are sandblasted before a second finish is applied, creating legible changes in texture even when the palette stays close to black and grey. Blue screws and ruby jewels supply the few bright points.

The front also makes the watch's asymmetry functional. The large barrel sits near 12, the regulating organ occupies nine, and the small-seconds assembly drops to six. None of those elements is arranged merely to imitate a skeleton dial. Their positions describe how the movement is laid out. The crown guard is the one overtly contemporary addition, giving the otherwise rounded case a more technical right-hand profile.

A three-day chronometer

Calibre FB-SPC measures 34mm across, comprises 230 components and uses 47 jewels. It runs at 21,600 vibrations per hour, or 3Hz, and stores 72 hours of power when fully wound. COSC chronometer certification applies to the movement. Winding remains manual, leaving an unobstructed view through the exhibition back.

The black fabric strap continues the case treatment without trying to match its texture. An 18mm titanium pin buckle is standard. Ferdinand Berthoud also offers a titanium folding clasp with a security fastening and adjustable blade on request. The combination leaves the complex front as the visual centre, with none of the warm metal used on earlier FB 3SPC cases.

Because the watch is manually wound, both clasp choices also preserve the close physical interaction that the movement demands every three days.

Price remains private

The supplied Ferdinand Berthoud product and launch pages do not state a retail price, production total or delivery date for the FB 3SPC.4-1. The product page instead directs prospective buyers to an acquisition enquiry. There is therefore no public figure on those pages to convert into Australian dollars.

The result is a material change with a mechanical purpose. The black case makes the white-gold indications easier to pick out, while the side window and open dial keep the cylindrical spring visible from two angles. For collectors already familiar with the FB 3SPC architecture, the crown guard and all-dark treatment are the new information. For everyone else, the porthole offers the clearest route into understanding what this unusual movement is doing.