Christopher Ward Slims Down

Christopher Ward is a name that is well known to the site.  My favorite watch that I own is a C11, I am pretty sure Patrick has at least one CW, and a friend of mine recently picked up a dress quartz from the company.  With direct sales, quality products, and a broad design appeal, they are a company that I can easy recommend to anyone looking for a watch.  Right now, they are accepting pre-orders for the C5 Malvern Slimline, due to ship at the end of June.

The watch is an update to the first watch they produced 10 years ago, a wee bit bigger, but also thinner, with a hand wound Swiss movement.  In fact, the watch is Swiss Made, as are all the CW watches, with the ETA 2801-2 movement, a change from the automatic offered in the original C5.  The case is 2mm larger at 40mm, but the height is a stingy 8.7mm.  There are 6 options in total, with your choice of a black or brown Italian leather strap embossed with an alligator pattern mated to a blue, black or white dial finished with a sun-ray effect.  The case has both polished and brushed stainless facets, is water resistant to 30 meters, and has a sapphire crystal.  The Swiss Made designation is also engraved on the case back, along with the watch’s serial number.

The watch is a simple, elegant package.  It would look at home in the board room or at the symphony, but could also be paired with jeans on the back deck (Father’s Day or graduation present perhaps).  Since I have more automatic watches than watch winders, I am used to daily hand winding a few watches that are waiting to be worn.  I like that connection between the watch and the owner.  But the lack of a date window here makes life a lot simpler for when you do let the instrument wind itself down.  No more worrying about setting the date and getting AM/PM right, or even worrying about setting the date during the time window when you shouldn’t be mucking about with the date.   With this design, set the time, wind the watch, and go.  christopherward-usa.com

Watch Overview