How many times have you had a discussion with a friend about starting a business venture together? Chances are, quite a few. How many have actually come to fruition? That number may be lower or even nil. However, this was not the case with Christopher Ward, Mike France, and Peter Ellis, who figured they could establish a watch brand based on their mutual love for horology, all while sitting on a boat on the River Thames in May 2004. Soon after, in the same year, they started the British premium watch brand Christopher Ward—the trio had decided on the name that sounded most ‘British’.
A converted chicken shed on a farm in Berkshire served as their first office, from where they launched their website on June 2, 2005, with just two watches—the C5 Malvern (C5 MK1) Automatic, a dress watch, and the C3 Malvern Chronograph. Shortly, through an advertisement in an independent newspaper in the UK, the watches got people’s attention.
Though starting off as a microbrand, today Christopher Ward is not just a larger independent brand, but also has the distinction of being the first online-only high watchmaking brand that sells directly to customers through their website. It is dedicated to not selling beyond three times its manufacturing price, and keeping its high horology timepieces affordable by not denting its budget with celebrity endorsements. Their motto—‘the cheapest most expensive watches in the world’—continues to serve them even after 20-plus years. Theirs is a combination of innovation, strong design, Swiss-made timepieces, equipped with Swiss Sellita or quartz movement, or in-house movements as well. Add to that personalisation, and a 60|60 offering—60-day returns window and a 60-month warranty. “Unlike other brands that produce highly complicated watches in small batches, we scale up quickly while maintaining exceptional quality. This meant adapting our production capabilities and finding new solutions to meet demand,” says Jorg Bader Jr, Product Director, Christopher Ward.
This is exemplified by the brand’s latest novelty, the diver’s watch C60 Sapphire Edge (Ref. C60-42ADA31S0BB3-RBW), released in March. It is the brand’s most advanced sapphire dive watch. Priced at just Rs94,000 (approx.), the watch features an ultra-thin sapphire dial that lets you see the movement inside, and a pure sapphire crystal blue countdown bezel, inspired by the brand’s Aquitaine retro-dive watches. The dial is topped with a 0.6mm precision machined lab-grown sapphire crystal. With this watch, the brand also introduced its first luminous Aquaflex rubber strap, using lume-coated, ultra-tough FKM fluorocarbon rubber, which glows in low visibility. Its 42mm, 10.7mm slim light-catcherTM stainless-steel case is designed to reflect light off its brushed and polished surfaces. The timepiece is water resistant to 300 metres and its Sellita SW300-1 automatic calibre gives it a power reserve of about 56 hours.
Thanks to developments like these now and in the past, Christopher Ward has been able to make a mark for itself in watchmaking. This was fuelled in a strong way in 2008 when the brand started working exclusively with Synergies Horlogères, a Swiss movement maker, to create its base JJ Calibre, named after and designed by master watchmaker Johannes Jahnke. Using this, the brand produced the C9 Jumping Hour series equipped with Calibre JJ001, featuring an oversized trapezium hour window at 12, and the C900 Single Pusher, a monopusher chronograph that had the JJ02 beating inside.
At the 10-year mark, Synergies Horlogères and Christopher Ward officially joined hands to develop the brand’s first in-house movement, Calibre SH21, which opened doors for more innovation. Following the Baukasten (German for "construction set") system design approach, which provided scope for modification and therefore more flexibility in customisation, the Calibre SH21 marked the first commercially successful mechanical movement from a British watch brand in over 50 years. A COSC-certified, hand-wound movement, thanks to its twin-barrel construction, the calibre offered 120 hours of autonomy and -4/+6 seconds per day accuracy.
Calibre SH21 went on to beat inside the brand’s prominent watches like the C60 Abyss SH21, the brand’s 42mm monochrome diver’s watch with 300 metres of water resistance; in three C1 Morgan 3 Wheeler Chronometers, 40.5mm watches inspired by the Morgan vintage sport cars dashboards; and the C63 SH21 Blue Marine, part of the brand’s Sealander sports watch collection. The other remarkable watch with Calibre SH21 is the C63 SH21 Snow Leopard, a 41mm 150-piece limited-edition Sealander whose textured dial draws inspiration from a leopard’s coat. It is also in the C9 5-Day Small Second Chronometers and dress watches in the C9 line.
Christopher Ward’s watches have also been nominated for the GPHG awards several times. Released in November 2022, the C1 Bel Canto (Ref. C01-41APT1-T00B0-VB) won in the ‘Petite Aiguille’ category at GPHG 2023. Limited to 300 pieces, the 41mm titanium piece with a 3D sunburst Azzurro blue dial sold out within a few hours of its launch (eight hours to be exact). As the brand’s first chiming watch, the highlight was its affordability. Beating inside was the FS01 chiming movement with the Sellita SW200-1 base movement, providing 38 hours of power reserve. It was priced at Rs3,30,000 (approx.), substantially lesser than the other mechanical watches offering a chiming functionality. A huge success among watch collectors and aficionados, more iterations of the Bel Canto were added to the product portfolio including the latest C1 Bel Canto Classic line.
“The C1 Bel Canto was a game-changer for Christopher Ward, redefining both the brand’s internal ambitions and external perception. It introduced a level of mechanical complexity, hand-finishing, and value that had never been seen before. Beyond driving significant sales, its success gave us the confidence to push boundaries even further. The Bel Canto allowed us to refine our craftsmanship, focusing on greater attention to detail and heightened complexity. One of the key takeaways was realising that customers are eager for accessible high-end watchmaking. They’re willing to invest a few thousand dollars (or the equivalent in any currency) in a highly refined, mechanically sophisticated timepiece from Christopher Ward. This shift in mindset has paved the way for even more ambitious projects in the future,” said Jorg Bader Jr.
The brand’s growth after Bel Canto was significant and the result was reflected in their position among the world’s top watch brands. “Christopher Ward is among the top 50 brands in terms of revenue. When focused on brands producing hand-polished/high-end watches—those with the complexity and craftsmanship of the Bel Canto—the brand ranks in the top 10. This proves that our mission to bring high-end watchmaking within reach of more people is resonating with the market and it fuels our ambition to keep pushing forward,” adds Bader Jr.
In 2024, the brand’s C1 Moonphase (Ref. C01-40AMP2-S00B0-MB) was also nominated in GPHG’s ‘Challenge’ category. A 40.5mm watch with a striking and minimal aventurine dial, it featured a perpetual moonphase complication accurate to 128 years, thanks to the Calibre JJ04 with a base movement Sellita SW220-1.
Christopher Ward’s interests lie beyond watchmaking as well. Through ‘The Christopher Ward Challenger Programme’, the brand supports athletes, explorers, musicians, and special talents to achieve their goals with financial help. So far it has helped four world champions—wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn, professional boxer George Foreman, race driver Jody Fannin, and yacht-racer Sam Breary—and one Olympic gold medallist: Will Satch, who won a rowing gold at Rio 2016. The brand also donates 2 per cent of its sales to Blue Marine Foundation, which helps restore the ocean’s health, as well as donates to local Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice Service, to support families of children with life-limiting conditions. A watchmaker with a British soul and a Swiss heart.
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