Continuing their charitable work alongside Charing Golf Tour for the third year, Arsène Lippens is presenting yet another hand-painted dial, this time in the svelte case of their three-handed Classico as a follow-up to the piece unique Visionario chronograph from 2025. With unique motifs hand-painted by Rachel Monard, the Arsène Lippens Classico Serafico is a funky take on the usually quite seriously unserious dials that grace most of the brand’s offering.
What is it?
Focusing on rehabilitation and education for children and young adults with disabilities, the Serafico Institute has been the beneficiary of the partnership between Arsène Lippens and Charing Golf since 2023, with the ethos of “doing good while having fun”. The first two watches that were presented as part of this collaboration came in form of a duo of Visionario chronographs, first with a stark white dial and a custom-engraved caseback, before the splatter-painted follow-up of 2025.
The Classico Serafico follows in those footsteps, taking as inspiration the arts and crafts produced by the young folks of the Serafico Institute, whose work is then rendered on watch dials by artist Rachel Mondard. Specialising in micro-paintings and watch dials, she has worked with renowned industry giants, most notably and extensively with Ulysse Nardin. To make the collaboration even more special, each dial will be painted differently, giving the ultra-sharp features a whimsical backdrop.
Leading from the dial outwards, you’ll find Arsène Lippens’ double-stepped bezel, something they’ve worked hard on adopting as a design signature, flowing into no-nonsense lugs that stretch out to just 45.5mm across. In fact, the entire case is compact, suiting this pseudo-Calatrava style, measuring 37.5mm in diameter and just 9.9mm tall despite sporting a tall, box-domed sapphire crystal. Beneath a solid caseback hides one of the reasons for the Classico’s slimness, which is the manually-wound Sellita SW210. It’s a proven performer, beating at 4Hz and with a power reserve of 48 hours.
First impressions
Unique dials are nothing new for Arsène Lippens, and though their efforts usually involve a novel material (like the recent Artigiano), the Classico Serafico very much fits the modus operandi. The case clearly didn’t need any updates as it’s already among the best in the microbrand space, which makes the charitable angle of this particular release the cherry on top. In the past, their work with Charing Golf has already raised hundreds of thousands of Euros for Serafico di Assisi alongside other charities, and it seems like that amount will get a nice boost over the next couple of days.
Arsène Lippens Classico Serafico Edition pricing and full specifications
The Arsène Lippens Classico Serafico Edition is now available, with the order books open until the 23rd of September at 15:00 CET. CHF 300 (~A$500) from each sale will be donated to support the work of the Serafico di Assisi institute. Price: CHF 1,775 (~A$3,100)
