Christopher Ward C8 Pilot

[flyskate]

The Stated goal of Christopher ward is to build "the cheapest most expensive watch in the world." A goal I believe he has done. I recently purchased the CW C8 pilot a couple of weeks ago, and the experience from first ordering the watch, to the communicatiion with the folks at CW, to finally receiving the watch was great. The first thing I noticed was the quality and presentation of the watch. It arrived in a leather bound wooden case, with a letter personally addressed to me and signed by Christopher Ward himself, also included was a certificate of authenticity and a polishing cloth. The quality of the packaging exceeded my expectations for a watch at this price.


The watch itself is Designed in England by Christopher Ward, and hand made in Switzerland. All CW watches have a unique serial number, and each watch is built only after it is ordered. This watch exudes quality, and attention to detail.
Some specs are:
Swiss ETA 2824-2 movement 28,800 bpm
Incabloc anti shock system
anti-magnetic inner case and dial
316L Stainless steel case
Super luminova on hands and 12 o clock marker
Anti reflective Saphire crystal
5 ATM water resistant
Calfskin band with butterfly deployment.
44mm diameter case.





One of the more interestion features is the case back on this watch... Being a British design, CW incorporated a homage to the WW2 Spitfire fighter.




Also in keeping with the spitfire theme, on the second hand is the British wing insignia. (inner red circle,surrounded by a blue circle)



The watch is comfortable to wear and because of its height , only 9.7mm, it easily slips under your shirt sleeve despite its 44mm size. Its been running +4 seconds a day, and I expect it will settle in a bit as it "breaks in".

Overall, my expectations have been exceeded, and I now question the value of some of my more expensive purchases, as they are not as exclusive, (at least for now), and don't exceed the quality of the CW watch. There will definatly be other Christopher ward watches in my future......
It is certainly the "cheapest most expensive watch" I own...

[bsmith13]

Thanks for posting your review. I really like the way this watch looks, and I am tempted to acquire one. My only concern is that the hands look rather narrow. Do you have trouble reading the time at all?

[flyskate]

Thanks for posting your review. I really like the way this watch looks, and I am tempted to acquire one. My only concern is that the hands look rather narrow. Do you have trouble reading the time at all?

No problem whatsoever.... Very legible...

[stuffler,mike]

Anti-magnetic inner case ? And a display back. A bit of t contra-productive effects right ? A/m ?

[flyskate]

The anti-magnetic inner case completely surrounds the movement, except for the small port window.... The dial is anti-magnetic as well......I'm sure there is still benifit of having it, even with the small port window.

[stuffler,mike]

The anti-magnetic inner case completely surrounds the movement, except for the small port window.... The dial is anti-magnetic as well......I'm sure there is still benifit of having it, even with the small port window.

Well, I doubt there is a benefit. The owner's manual does say "Soft iron anti-magnetic inner casing" but obviously there is no complete inner case which does not make sense.
What about A/m ? Is it 4.800 (which is nothing more than DIN/ISO norm) or 80.000 A/m (like IWC, Danasko and some Sinn feature) ?

[flyskate]

I have no idea what the A/M is, I just really like the watch and thought I'd share my impressions with the folks here.... If the a/m is that important, visit the christopher ward web site, there is a link to email cristopher ward directly.... I'm sure he can more intelligently answer your concern regarding the a/m properties of the watch........Me, I just think it's a great watch at a great price....

regards,

Steve

[2manywatchez]

Thanks for posting. Have wondered about CW for some time. It's on the list.

[stuffler,mike]

.... If the a/m is that important, visit the christopher ward web site, there is a link to email cristopher ward directly.... I'm sure he can more intelligently answer your concern regarding the a/m properties of the watch........

Done, e-mail sent.

[bsmith13]

Another question for you - how's the lume on the C8?