Reply With Quote
It seems to work for Bremont. Indeed, I can't help feeling that CW have seen that it works well for Bremont and want some of that market.
New Christopher Ward (available for pre-order at only £3,495 - hurry, hurry!)
"...a watch that contains a piece of original Duralumin from the only remaining airworthy Spitfire to have flown in the battle - P7350. P7350 (P7) is today part of the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) and it was during their 2008 restoration that our historic metal partner, TMBArtMetal, was able to directly acquire the metal."
Much as I like and admire CW, I can't help feeling that this is a step too far, both pricewise and in stepping into Bremont's put-some-meaningless-piece-of-crap-in-the-case-and-call-it-a-special-edition marketing arena.
It seems to work for Bremont. Indeed, I can't help feeling that CW have seen that it works well for Bremont and want some of that market.
I went to have a look at the C600 GMT today but was put off by two things.
1: the price was just a tad above what I was expecting
2: the lume pip on the bezel was mismatched in color to the dial/hands and looked like cheap $10 aftermarket bezel insert for a Rolex.
Is it a homage to a Smiths design?
What a spectacular shark jump that was.
I think a step too far is pairing shoes with a watch in the latest CW magazine...
Jeez Cw watches seem to be going up in price more and more, surely the steinharts are a better bargain? In general that is - appreciate this is a "special edition"
I still have it in my head that Christopher Ward watches are about £300 and sold via colour supplements. What a genuinely stupid product. 'It has got bits if broken aeroplane in it'. Mind you I'm clearly out of touch. I saw a bremont Wright flyer in the window of a local AD and thought to myself 'at £1200 the bix is a bit extravagant' before I realised it was £12,000. Bland looking watches from meaningless brands with bits of broken aeroplane in them, whatever next? My neighbour showed me the little Audi TT he bought for his wife as a runaround this morning, great condition and £3500. Puts thus kind of tat into perspective?!
Lol I have an Audi TT
While I agree with Philips comment you raise a good point and CW can also claim to remain true to their origins and state "We are offering a similar product at a fraction of the price of Bremont"Originally Posted by markrlondon
Agreed, and this kind of special edition tat is even more cause for concern. Unlike some on this forum, I don't have a problem with CW; I own a couple of their watches and the C60 Trident GMT has been my travel beater of choice for a while. It's rugged and reliable and I have a very soft spot for it. I've always thought of CW as a decent proposition. You know what you're getting; slightly derivative designs, perhaps, but good value, service and reliability. If they're going down the Bremont road of 12 special editions and tenuous brand partnerships a year, I'll be very disappointed.
SGR
It's an homage to the MKIIA.
I have a MKIID, similar but not quite as nice:
Smiths 8-Day MkIID 6A/1275 by Noodlefish, on Flickr
The CW is more like an inverted Time of Trip clock.
Last edited by Broussard; 25th April 2015 at 18:51.
I see this as a backward step for CW and as far as I am concerned it damages their reputation. A "Franklin Mint" watch is not what I'm after.
I actually really like that, but 3 and a half K ? A giraffe is being had surely .
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Sometimes the more expensive something is, then the more value they attach to it. Probably a fancy word for that which I cannot spell.
vebilen?
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
come on lets just admit both brands are an expensive and less expensive option of a joke
Christopher Ward is commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Britain with the creation of a limited edition chronometer that contains a fragment of a Supermarine Spitfire that flew in the campaign.
Only 75 pieces of the C8 P7350 Chronometer are being sold to mark the 75th anniversary. P7350 refers to the registration of the oldest, most original and historically significant airworthy Spitfire to have flown in the battle.
A piece of Dualumin aluminium was recovered from the plane during a recent restoration and is incorporated into the design of each watch.“We have had a long-established obsession to create an authentic, fitting and original commemorative Aviation watch linking to the Battle of Britain and to the Spitfire in particular, said Mike France, co-founder of Christopher Ward.
“Working with our partner TMBMArtMetal is always something of an adventure and we were delighted with the discovery that the P7350, a true veteran of the Battle of Britain, was made available during the 2008 restoration. It’s a rare privilege to find an opportunity to use history in this way,” he added.
The design of the 44mm C8 Chronometer is based on the Smith Mk IIA clock that was used in P7’s cockpit, including a careful matching of the original index fonts and colours and the black, anti-reflective case.
The reverse of the watch reveals a piece of metal from the P7’s cockpit protected by highly scratch-resistant, museum-grade sapphire crystal. A silhouette of the plane’s plan has been precision-cut into the metal, showing the registration and elliptical wing.
The watches use a small-second, hand-wound version of Christopher Ward’s in-house movement, Calibre SH21.
Pre-orders are being taken now priced at £3495.
Reproduced from WatchPro Magazine online
The video below is 5 minutes long, and is much more impressive than what Bremont put out for their Wright Flyer announcement.
I'm saving up the bits of the Dakota that crashed into my house - they'll be worth a fortune I tell you!
Last edited by Neil.C; 27th April 2015 at 15:01.
Cheers,
Neil.
What is "museum-grade" sapphire crystal? I see ChrWard using the phrase a great deal, but no one else uses it (either that, or their SEO is out of this world).
What a load of tosh.
You do have to wonder who would be insane enough to pre-order this 'historic' piece for £3495.
A more fanciful way of saying sapphire crystal with UV blocking and AR coatings applied?
Bremont's £20K price tag, for one of the Wright Flyer versions, didn't stop one member's mother and father buying it for him, as a birthday gift – this is pocket change by comparison!
And there's less of them.
Last edited by PJ S; 27th April 2015 at 16:00.
That is certainly possible, although my Spider Sense starts tingling when I can only find a single source...
It's all rather sad and cynical in my opinion.
$111 gets you close to the same look from China. Aside from about 500 watch obsessed geeks on this forum, will you ever meet anyone who steps on their own tongue when you tell them you have a $5200 CWard? That's what I thought. So why spend that kind of money? If you want a big black watch with boring dial markers, here's your answer. $111.
It'll be $4300 ish to a US buyer (export prices are devoid of our 20% VAT).
I'm no ChrWard apologist, by any stretch of the imagination, and I can't really stand the vast majority of aviation watch designs, but you've spectacularly missed the point!
True, and sixteen grand gets you the same look from IWC, so naff marketing aside, who's to say the Chrward is at one extreme or the other?
...but what do I know; I don't even like watches!
just watched the video what a complete load of bollocks.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
I remember when Christopher Ward first caught my attention - and eye.
Now they are just churning out average looking pieces with no class or distinction. Not a fan of this at all, not a fan of the price either. If this was a non-special edition and was half the price i'd be more accepting.
The fact it's some random special edition that means little to little is purely a ploy to allow them to flog it for double money - imo.
Yeah... but it's got a bit of a Spitfire in it!
I still don't quite get all the bashing of CW on here if I'm honest.
It's a British based company that makes some interesting quality watches at all price points, provides jobs here in the UK and their customer service is indeed as good as everybody says it is.
Yes, the marketing grates sometimes, and I guess is what loses them some fans at times, but they are way past the 'Franklin Mint' or 'Sunday Supplement' watches many here disparagingly compare them too.
I only own one CW, a Titanium and Ceramic C1000 with a 7750 movement that cost £995, which is pretty good value I think. Yes, it's clearly influenced by other brands watches but then that seems to be ok for other brands so why not CW. I have owned a few others over the years including most recently the newly launched C60 'MkII', which was a big step forward in terms of quality over its predecessor and up there with the Oris Aquis IMO.
Re this Spitfire limited edition, whether any of us like it or not there is a market for this sort of thing. It's probably a £1.5k watch (allowances being made for its in house movement) with a £2k bit of metal in it, but it was ever thus with watches with precious stuff shoved into them?
To use the old car analogy thing, CW is Skoda isn't it. Struggling to be taken seriously in some circles as many laugh and wouldn't be seen dead in one, but owners realising what good sense they make and how the reality is far more than some perceptions.
I've given CW a hard time over stuff before, especially the marketing and quality control, but they are a company that listens (you can email the owners quite openly) and they do respond. I think they should be supported rather than constantly derided, and they must be getting a lot right.
Last edited by Tooks; 29th April 2015 at 08:22.
I think the spirit of (a good part of) this thread is not so much CW-bashing as regret that they've gone in this quasi-Bremont direction; in other words that there's quite a lot of admiration and affection for what CW do, but that it shouldn't be this.
What CW are doing with this LE reminds me of that piece of crap Romain Jerome Titanic monstrosity.
Oh dear! £3k !
I am honest believer in one thing in business.
" Do the one thing your good at and stick to it. "
Trying to copy some one else or try to change your market position for the sake of just profit ( I know, that's what your in Business to do. I run my own company and follow my own rule, and I'm always busy! ) Just dilutes your reputation in my view. I am a CW watch person. The core principle of a half decent watch celebrating a mechanical movement rather than a battery. Is brilliant.. so why all the BS and a £3k price tag??????
I'm with you lot on this one... very odd? I'm sat here with my C60 GMT and thinking this watch does 100% what I want it to do. For the money it cost and CW did it well.. I wish they would just stick to that.. but hey what do i know..
Last edited by markuk; 30th April 2015 at 17:49.
CW is an odd one personally - they've genuinely passed me by, and I always assumed they were a franklin mint job - from the ads and general look of them tbh. I don't mean that in a disparaging way, the brand name and designs seem very 'meh' to me, I prefer Eddies and a host of other designs before I'd consider CW - but I haven't owned one so I shouldn't be sniffy. But now they are pricing watches at this level with naff bits of aeroplane they deserve a bit of ribbing!
That video was so cringeworthy, I could scarcely finish watching it.
Posting Permissions
