Christopher Ward - thoughts?

[BrassMan]

Has anyone encountered Christopher Ward watches? I was cruising around google last night when the C61 Trident caught my eye. Wiki says that they were founded in 2004 and sell directly over the internet only, so there isn't much information out there.

As a humble lab monkey with thin wrists and milestones approaching this is probably the upper limit of what I could wear day-to-day. Any thoughts?

[Oily Nails]

Nice watches and a good company moving forward.
Getting more expensive, but then again the brand is gaining status.
But there are regular sales and some good deals
I have a C15 and love it.

I have my eye on the silver face Harrison C9 GMT

[yeti]

As above, relatively new and getting a higher profile. Expect them to be £2k+ in a few years!

Steinhart, Damasko, there are many other options to take your pick from.

How a browse on the Page & Cooper site for alternatives.

[GC8]

Id consider Time Factors too. Watches are highly regarded even if Eddie gets some stick for his Northern ways.

[SVS]

yeti said:

... Damasko, there are many other options to take your pick from.

How a browse on the Page & Cooper site for alternatives.

^ this. Check out Damasko and the other brands on Page & Cooper.

Cheaper alternatives than Damasko would be Steinhard and Davosa. Quality-wise, Damasko would be considerably higher quality than Christopher Ward. Whereas Steinhart, Davosa and Christopher Ward would all be around the same quality.

HTH

[rich85uk]

personally i feel they are trying to edge away from being a great value midrange brand and are trying to become a higher end brand. everything new they have been released has been over 1k! however i think this is a stunning dress watch:

http://www.christopherward.co.uk/men/view-all-mens...

There entry level quartz watches are pretty good value, but i suspect they will soon be dropped

Sadly anything under the £1000 mark is no longer good value that they sell, iirc they increased prices by 17% and are now in most cases several hundred pounds more expensive than Steinhart who are very similar to CW and some will argue make slightly better watches

the cheapest 7750 movement watch they make is £900 where Steinhart is around £700, the latest 7750 movement watch is £1500!! you could get a pretty good Sinn at that price with the same movement.. they now sell a quartz watch for £1950.....

Good luck to them

[BrassMan]

Thanks for the advice and pointers. I suppose the move up market is inevitable. There can't be many more people spending £500 on a watch than £1000, so they will follow the money.

Unfortunately there's too much choice out there. If Steinhart or Time Factors weren't so wedded to mat black faces, I'd have probably ordered by now

Unfortunately, I can't get drunk in case I wake to find I've ordered a Raven/Armida/Helson/Precista/whatever.

[PJ S]

https://www.chrono24.com/en/seiko/5-sports-divers-...
https://www.chrono24.com/en/seiko/submariner-5-spo...
https://www.chrono24.com/en/seiko/sports-5--id2528...
https://www.chrono24.com/en/seiko/superior-automat...
https://www.chrono24.com/en/seiko/5-automatik-skz3...
https://www.chrono24.com/en/seiko/seiko-prospex-su...

[SVS]

Those Seikos are nice. (Though perhaps the 44mm diver is too big for the OP's wrist.)

[Paul Drawmer]

I've got a few CWs, some bought direct, some 2nd hand.

This is worth reading:
http://www.christopherward.co.uk/cw360care.html

Whilst their prices have crept up Wards, their returns policy and warranty is pretty damn fine.
So, if it isn't what you thought when you get it; you can send it back. If you buy second hand, the movement warranty is good (provided the paperwork is there).

[PJ S]

SVS said:

Those Seikos are nice. (Though perhaps the 44mm diver is too big for the OP's wrist.)

Perhaps, and yes they are.
The OP's previous post indicated he was getting the impression he should or needs to think of spending even more than initially planned, which hopefully those models linked, will show him that's not always the case.

[CAPP0]

rich85uk said:

personally i feel they are trying to edge away from being a great value midrange brand

I think that either they said this at the start, or someone else did - and indeed this is where they are trying to position themselves now. I have one CW watch which was c.£300, I think it's c.£450 now. I probably won't buy from them again, but principally because I really dislike the fairly blatant copying of styles & styling cues which they now seem to have started with several watches.

[jimmyslr]

I bought the Trident GMT in one of their promotional periods for c£450. I use it for travelling and as my holiday watch in the sea etc. At that price I'm very happy with it.

[BrassMan]

PJ S said:

SVS said:

Those Seikos are nice. (Though perhaps the 44mm diver is too big for the OP's wrist.)

Perhaps, and yes they are.
The OP's previous post indicated he was getting the impression he should or needs to think of spending even more than initially planned, which hopefully those models linked, will show him that's not always the case.

That's just man maths talking I had an Orient blue Mako (dropped it and smashed the glass It's getting assessed) so I know that nice watches needn't cost hundreds.

Edited by BrassMan on Saturday 2nd November 18:57

[SVS]

I love the Orient Blue Mako. Very tempting. Orient quality is excellent (quite aside from being astonishing value). And the Blue Mako is a real classic.

[Warwick67]

I bought a C70 DBR1, been very happy with it. The buying experience was good....

[Paul Drawmer]

CAPP0 said:

... I probably won't buy from them again, but principally because I really dislike the fairly blatant copying of styles & styling cues which they now seem to have started with several watches.

I'm not very knowledgeable on all watches, so I miss many of the styling cues they have copied.

I thought their Harrison mono pusher, Typhoon, World timer, and Regulator were all pretty much their own design?

There are very few watches that aren't like someone else's somewhere, but I don't think CW set out to blag other maker's designs.

[celticpilgrim]

Mrs CP is offeringto get me a CW, as she has had the £50 voucher sent to her. NOw, I like them, but have been following them long enough to know the prices have shot up as they try to go upmarket.

Now, If I were to get a CW watch it would be a divers. The question is, is there a better watch for the money?

[Ilikebeaver]

I have purchased 4 CW watches over the past few years.

2 for gifts and 2 for myself.


I have used their engraving service too.

Overall, I think the service is excellent. The products have all been good value for money and I really like the brand.

Mainly because you can't buy them in Ernest Jones.

I have my eye on the next one

[pete a]

Mrs pete a is going to get me one of these (with my switch card) for Christmas this year, trident pro.
Really looking forward to it.