Christopher Ward is a brand that has made a name for themselves created nicely styled (and technically appointed) watches coming in at affordable price points. As of late, they’ve been stretching their legs a bit, and have been creating some higher-end pieces. While they still represent a nice value for the money, these pieces represent the upper end of their lineup.
Their latest to join the CW Elite, as it were, is the C1000 Typhoon, inspired in part by the Typhoon FGR4 airplane. This is a high-tech plane, and CW has done their best to make some innovations of their own not seen in their prior models. Most prominent would be the 42mm ceramic case, which is pressure-fit to an interior case made of titanium. Between those two materials, you have a strong, scratch resistant, and somewhat lighter (than if a steel inner was used) case in a lovely matte black.
The use of titanium is also carried forward with the handset, which are inspired from what would appear on a traditional airplane dial (apparently the modern Typhoon relies completely on LED displays – no dials!) Furthering the aerospace inspiration, the chronograph registers (at 12 o’clock and 6 o’clock) are intended to be reminiscent of the afterburner nozzles on the jet; one variation even carries the RAF roundel at the 6 o’clock register.
The main dial itself also brings along inspiration from the plane – the white numerals are rendered in the same font that the Typhoon (the plane, that is) utilizes in its heads-up display. Unsurprisingly, these numerals, along with the blue indices (and the hands) are luminous, which helps it all to stand out against that dark dial, whether it’s day or night.
Around back, the caseback carries the most prominent reference to the jet – you have a full top-down rendition of the delta-wing plane, which is stamped into the caseback as to create a raised, 3D sort of an effect. I think it’s a great little detail, especially for those who may not be familiar with the plane – if someone asks what the plane looks like after seeing the watch, well, you can show them. For those who may prefer to wear their watches on the tighter side, well, you’ll get to have that jet showing up on your wrist as well, I suppose.
That about covers all of the visible components. What about the internals? Well, in keeping with the higher-end theme, Christoper Ward has opted to place the popular ETA Valjoux 7750 inside, keeping track of your time and chronograph needs. CW lists this movement as being modified, but I’m not quite certain what changes they’ve made – especially since there’s no exhibition caseback.
Rounding out the hard specs on the piece, you’ll find a sapphire crystal up front (AR coated on both sides), and it comes on either a leather or woven webbing strap; you’ll probably want to opt for that webbed strap if you intend to make use of the 50m water resistance rating very often.
It’s worth noting the different layout of the chronograph registers – the 12 and 6 layout is decidedly less-common than 9 and 3, so it does give a bit of a different look than we’d normally see in a chronograph. Coming in at a price of $2,060, this is not as instantly affordable as we normally see from Christopher Ward. For a watch containing a 7750, though, I think it’s appropriately priced, and would be a perfect piece for someone who’s a bit of an aerospace enthusiast.
