Christopher Ward Brand?

[Judahbeats]

What up TRF

Came across a beautiful watch by Christopher Ward. Anyone have any experience with the brand and thier watches?

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks

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[tamiya]

Originally Posted by Judahbeats

Came across a beautiful watch by Christopher Ward. Anyone have any experience with the brand and thier watches?

Sorry can't be any help, have zero idea - never see Chris Ward in shops & no shop wants to talk about them

But I'm wrong guy to ask, I generally only find interest in companies which have been around longer than me or the piece on my wrist ... today i grabbed a 1993 whilst running out the door, so nope Chris Ward still don't make the cutoff.

[Judahbeats]

Lol @ no shop wants to talk about them

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[yessir69]

Ordered one last year. Got here from England and I didn't like it so sent it back. Very nice watch for what you pay. Wish you could try it on before buying, but the return was no hassle.

[mui.richard]

Not bad, if you're not hung up on the brand-name/prestige thing.





Both watches' timekeeping were off COSC spec when they arrived despite the what the COSC certificates said. Guess that lousy packaging didn't help. But after regulation they are both running with great accuracy...especially the 5-day power reserve SH21 one. In the last month it lost 0.7 sec total so I'd say that's pretty good so far.

Casework/dial/hands is what it is, not particularly great but given their price point I'm not exactly expecting perfection.

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[Judahbeats]

Originally Posted by mui.richard

Not bad, if you're not hung up on the brand-name/prestige thing.





Both watches' timekeeping were off COSC spec when they arrived despite the what the COSC certificates said. Guess that lousy packaging didn't help. But after regulation they are both running with great accuracy...especially the 5-day power reserve SH21 one. In the last month it lost 0.7 sec total so I'd say that's pretty good so far.

Casework/dial/hands is what it is, not particularly great but given their price point I'm not exactly expecting perfection.

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Thanks for the info. I'm in the market for a black dial, ss case, brown strap watch and the when I saw the CW watch on Watchville I was like hmmmmmmm. I don't know about the $1k price point tho.

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[Judahbeats]

Originally Posted by yessir69

Ordered one last year. Got here from England and I didn't like it so sent it back. Very nice watch for what you pay. Wish you could try it on before buying, but the return was no hassle.

Thanks for the info. Which one did you order and return?

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[yessir69]

Originally Posted by Judahbeats

Thanks for the info. Which one did you order and return?

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C5 Malvern Slimline. It's now discontinued and marked 50% off.

[TG3N]

There's been a few threads on here about the brand - if you can search, you should find them for more info.

My personal thoughts are below - as an owner of their C60 Trident Pro 600 diver, and member of their excellent (and independently-operated) Forum (note: I'm not a 'fan boy' - I've only ever owned one of their watches, but I like their company ethos).

Great, young brand - English owned, but with Swiss manufacturing, assembly, research & design facilities. In the last few years, a merger with their Swiss 'Synergies Horologeres' partner means that as well as being entitled to the coveted 'Swiss Made' appellation, they have developed their own in-house SH21 movement - something that's quite rare at the price point (see below).

Major selling points are offering excellent value for money and superior customer service. Openly state they sell their watches for a reasonable 3x cost price, and offer a terrific '60:60' Warranty which means you can buy from their website in confidence (unworn watches can be returned, no quibbles, within 60 days of purchase, and a 60 month Warranty - quite unusual).

Because they sell direct to consumer, and don't really advertise, their watches are great value. As an example, the Trident diver I own uses the exact same movement & construction as the TAG Heuer Aquaracer, but when you take-off the latter's huge marketing budget and circa 30-40% Authorised Dealer profit margin, you begin to realize how solid a CW is as a value proposition, at 1/3 the price.

I bought one of their C60 Mk2 Trident dive watches in 2015 - superb value for money: Swiss Made; Sellita or ETA movement; sapphire crystal; 120-click ceramic bezel; 600m depth rated; great micro-adjust clasp (think of a much less sophisticated alternative to the Rolex 'Glidelock'), all solid bracelet, deep-engraved case back, signed Crown, and rock-solid build (comes in at a monster 190 grams on bracelet). All for circa GBP £670 / USD $835.

Very ambitious also - launched their own 'in-house' movement (well, its perhaps not 100% manufactured in-house - they outsource some manufacture to various suppliers and design/assemble) a while back, and newer models show off 5-day power reserves, monopusher chronographs, Moonphases, and other notable complications. Seem to be trying to transition their brand upwards recently, so their prices are creeping up a bit, but they still offer huge 'bang for buck', one to watch.

If I were to be critical, some of their (many) models are of niche interest, and can be a bit, well, ugly to my taste. They have frustratingly changed their logo/design ethos twice in the past five or so years, which continues to divide opinion and is a 'love it or hate it' point, especially recently with their 'left of centre' logo placement (Google it!). However, some aspects work very well (e.g. their clever motif of the combined Swiss & English flags) and they have won awards for the re-branding, so I guess it's down to personal preference. Also, they anecdotally seem to be having a little more bother with Quality Control issues than in the past, especially with the more cutting-edge movements, packaging deficiency, and basic despatch errors, but that 60:60 Warranty adds huge confidence and they tend to see buyers right (it's a bit of a pain to return a watch for repair if you live outside Europe though). The issues are valid, but do bear in mind also that - just like in any aspect of life - you rarely hear about the 99% of happy customers, whereas it's the 1% of disgruntled buyers who make the loudest noise.

Be careful re buying at full price - they regularly have sales, especially in the run-up to Christmas, Fathers' Day etc. and offer 'nearly new' discounted models for sale (virtually brand-new watches returned by customers under the 60:60 warranty, or ex-show models), so wait and get 15% or so off. I have some current discount voucher codes valid until sometime in October if you want them (GBP £50 off purchases under GBP £500; £100 off orders over £500).

Check out their own Christopher Ward Forum - it's packed with useful resource, photos, advice and you don't need to register to view it. You will get a good feel for the brand.