Christopher Ward C70 D-Type, Get your motor running

Cars and watches seem to go together, don’t they (Morris Mini/Mini Cooper, Ferrari, Aston Martin, the whole Scuderia catalog…)?  And one of the staff favorite brands, Christopher Ward is making yet another entry into this field.  The Christopher Ward C70 D-Type is set to pay homage to the Le Mans winning Jaguar D-Type from the 1950s.  In line with the previous car/watch pairings (the Ferrari and Aston), the watch is based on the C70 quartz chronograph and color matched to the car.

Now, if you are like me, and were thinking, where is the British Racing Green, then you, like me, don’t know Le Mans (or Jaguar) history.  As CW puts it, it was the “Flag Metallic Blue livery of Scotland’s Ecurie Ecosse team, however, that secured the most famous victory for the car when, driven by Britons Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb, chassis number XKD 606 stormed the race.”  But history aside, the blue is very attractive.  There are three vesions available, with either a perforated leather strap (my choice, top image) or a textured rubber strap (above) gong for $685 and the metal bracelet for $760.

The watch is limited to 500 pieces, with pre-orders running through September 21.  Driving the watch is an 22 jewel ETA 251.272 quartz movement, and the watch features a domed sapphire crystal.  Overall dimensions are 42mm by 11.8mm tall, with lug spacing at 22mm.  The stainless case is highly polished, and the screw down crown features the CW logo.  The screw down case back has a deep engraving of the racing car’s center lock spinner.  Other features that link back to the winning race car are the chassis number printed into the tachymeter and the registration on the side of the case.  The chrono sub-dials are all styles like dashboard instruments, and the chapter numbers for 12:00, 3:00 and 9:00 are all reminiscent of car racing numbers.  christopherward.com

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