- 27/10/14
- 4,775
- 98
- 48
The week before last I saw that Christopher Ward were having a sale on their quartz watches. I had admired CW watches for some time so thought it was a good opportunity to try them out. As it happens, I was on the lookout for a blue divers watch so, who'd have thought it, Christopher Ward had one that fitted the bill perfectly!
Before I describe the watch, I thought I'd give a some background info on Christopher Ward - I've taken these excerpts from their website - it made refreshing reading...
QUOTE
The Christopher Ward luxury watch company was founded on a boat on the River Thames in 2004 by Mike France, Chris Ward and Peter Ellis. Right from the start the business purpose has always been about finding a way for everyone to enjoy the truly visceral pleasure derived from owning and wearing a premium quality Swiss made watch, especially one where the value for money is without question.
Having learned from insiders in the Swiss watch industry just how the industry pricing model works with much of the purchase price of a typical luxury Swiss watch being made up of marketing overheads, celebrity endorsements, sponsorships and a pre-internet age distribution model, the three friends set out on a mission to turn the industry on its head and create a revolution in watchmaking.
We had a single, simple aim: To put premium grade watches within the reach of everyone.
We turned the traditional luxury watch distribution model on its head by deciding to handle the direct selling of our own watches, rather than relying on third party retailers. By launching online with no cost of running stores we were able to immediately halve the selling prices of our watches compared to other luxury watch brands. However, we didn’t stop there.
This means a watch of the same quality and cost as a Christopher Ward, but from a brand using the traditional wholesale model, will usually be sold to you at between 7 and 12 times the cost price compared to our x3.
UNQUOTE
I'd encourage you to read the full narrative on their business model here:-
http://www.christoph...topherward.html
Anyway, on to the watch!
The model is the C60 Trident 300 42mm with Swizz quartz Ronda 515 movement (hacking secs), has aluminium bezel insert, sapphire crystal, screw-down crown, 300m/1000ft water rating, unique engraved serial number, SuperLuminova and bracelet with divers extension.
The watch came in a rather nice soft-touch presentation box, with hard outer box, watch manual, stamped guarantee and microfibre cloth - all very nice and I'd say better quality than Steinhart.
The watch was perfect upon arrival with no visible marks or issues. The quality appears to be top-notch - the watch feels and looks far more expensive than it actually was (just over £300). The bracelet was tricky to size as it uses the same system that the original Omega Planet Oceans used (pin and collar) so you need to use the correct size pin pusher and take your time (I once destroyed a PO bracelet so I was slightly nervous...!).
The screw-down crown is smooth and easy to open and close, and the bezel turns firmly with very positive clicks. Lume is very good on the hands, pearl and outer lume dots, however, the main hour markers are rather poor, which is strange. It doesn't matter though since the time can be easily read in the dark by using the hands, pearl and lume dots.
So, all in all, I'm very impressed. I love the blue colour of the bezel and the wavy Guilloche on the dial - looks great in person.
Hope you like the pics.
Before I describe the watch, I thought I'd give a some background info on Christopher Ward - I've taken these excerpts from their website - it made refreshing reading...
QUOTE
The Christopher Ward luxury watch company was founded on a boat on the River Thames in 2004 by Mike France, Chris Ward and Peter Ellis. Right from the start the business purpose has always been about finding a way for everyone to enjoy the truly visceral pleasure derived from owning and wearing a premium quality Swiss made watch, especially one where the value for money is without question.
Having learned from insiders in the Swiss watch industry just how the industry pricing model works with much of the purchase price of a typical luxury Swiss watch being made up of marketing overheads, celebrity endorsements, sponsorships and a pre-internet age distribution model, the three friends set out on a mission to turn the industry on its head and create a revolution in watchmaking.
We had a single, simple aim: To put premium grade watches within the reach of everyone.
We turned the traditional luxury watch distribution model on its head by deciding to handle the direct selling of our own watches, rather than relying on third party retailers. By launching online with no cost of running stores we were able to immediately halve the selling prices of our watches compared to other luxury watch brands. However, we didn’t stop there.
This means a watch of the same quality and cost as a Christopher Ward, but from a brand using the traditional wholesale model, will usually be sold to you at between 7 and 12 times the cost price compared to our x3.
UNQUOTE
I'd encourage you to read the full narrative on their business model here:-
http://www.christoph...topherward.html
Anyway, on to the watch!
The model is the C60 Trident 300 42mm with Swizz quartz Ronda 515 movement (hacking secs), has aluminium bezel insert, sapphire crystal, screw-down crown, 300m/1000ft water rating, unique engraved serial number, SuperLuminova and bracelet with divers extension.
The watch came in a rather nice soft-touch presentation box, with hard outer box, watch manual, stamped guarantee and microfibre cloth - all very nice and I'd say better quality than Steinhart.
The watch was perfect upon arrival with no visible marks or issues. The quality appears to be top-notch - the watch feels and looks far more expensive than it actually was (just over £300). The bracelet was tricky to size as it uses the same system that the original Omega Planet Oceans used (pin and collar) so you need to use the correct size pin pusher and take your time (I once destroyed a PO bracelet so I was slightly nervous...!).
The screw-down crown is smooth and easy to open and close, and the bezel turns firmly with very positive clicks. Lume is very good on the hands, pearl and outer lume dots, however, the main hour markers are rather poor, which is strange. It doesn't matter though since the time can be easily read in the dark by using the hands, pearl and lume dots.
So, all in all, I'm very impressed. I love the blue colour of the bezel and the wavy Guilloche on the dial - looks great in person.
Hope you like the pics.
