Christopher Ward Watches

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To be honest, we had never heard of the luxury watchmaker, Christopher Ward, until we saw the cheeky advert in the Financial Times. The headline stands out in a sea of white – “Contrarian”. The sub-headline goes on to define a contrarian as “someone who buys bronze when others are piling into gold”. And the body copy starts “Market sentiments favour flashier watches. The contrarian, unswayed by sentiment, judges the assets underlying value”. We were intrigued enough to research this brash advertisement of understatement. Our verdict: CW watches are for gents confident enough not to have to flash their luxury timepieces.

CW Latest Release: The C65 Trident Diver

$1,120 – $1,200 (N481, 793 – N481, 793)

Browse the new Trident model collection.

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This is a vintage-inspired diver, featuring an automatic hand-wound movement, unlike the mechanical hand-wound movement in the old model. It also features a new design of dials and bezels, adding to its unique identity. An electrifying blue dial, an elegant narrow rotating bezel and the trident-shaped counterweight of the second-hand makes the watch so attractive on first look.

The Inspiration

The Christopher Ward brand was founded in 2004 by three friends: Mike France, Peter Ellis, and Christopher Ward. According to Christopher, their aim was “to make the cheapest, most-expensive watches in the world”; thereby giving many people the pleasure of owning a fine watch. They have kept the prices of the watches lower than comparable high-quality brands by selling online.

The Launch

On 2nd June 2005, their first watches, the C5 Malvern Automatic and the C3 Malvern Chronograph, were launched via their website and a full–page in The Independent newspaper to unsuspecting luxury watch aficionados.

Helping Hands

Two people were significant in the exponential growth of the CW brand. The first is Dave Malone, an influential member of the forum on Timezone.com, the leading global luxury watches website. He had concluded that Christopher Ward’s C5 Malvern was a scam; a luxury watch so competitively priced could not be powered by a genuine ETA 2824–2 movement (a critical engine component). He ordered the C5 Malvern so he could expose the scam. Everything about the watch turned out to be as advertised! Malone went on to write a positive review for Timezone.com. The post generated huge buzz so much that within 6 months, Christopher Ward became the most discussed brand on big watch forums.

The Dutchman, Hans Van Hoogstrate, took things further. Convinced that the flood of positive reviews on Timezone.com was orchestrated by the brand, the website banned reviews of Christopher Ward watches. Hans spoke to Christopher Ward about creating a forum dedicated to CW watches. Within nine years, the forum’s membership grew to 10,000! Who needs Timezone.com?

The five Christopher Ward collections:

Dress Watches: According to CW, the dress watches are your go-to timepiece for weddings, job interviews, and those after-dark occasions. Under this category, we have the C5 Malvern Automatic MK III and C3 Malvern Chronograph MK III.

$1,245 (N499,860)

Use the link to view the dress watch collection.

2. Dive Watches: This curated collection features watches for divers looking for the highest specification or versatile good looks.

$995 (N399,486)

Use this link to view the Dive Watch collection.

Also Read: Virgil Abloh’s Patek Philippe Is Unlike Any Other on the Planet

3. Aviation Watches: According to CW, “our watches draw their inspiration from the Smiths MK II clock the spitfire, a symbol of defiance and hope in British aeronautic history”.

$1290 (N517,927)

Use this link to view the Aviation Watch collection.

4. Motorsport Watches: This category was inspired by the prestige and glamour of Motorsport.

C7 Rapide Automatic
$870 – $950 (N349,300 – N381,419)
Use this link to view the Motorsport Watch Collection.
Morgan and Christopher Ward Collection: Morgan, the owner of Morgan motors and Christopher Ward, partnered to release a collection of 5 uniquely-designed watches to celebrate Morgan’s motor cars; the Chronographer, the 3-Wheeler, the Classic Roadster, the Aero 8 and the Plus 8.