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Christopher Ward: Your ‘New Luxury’ Watches

For old-school watch aficionados, buying a watch online is a big no-no. For them, the proper way to do it is to go to a watch store and physically weigh in on the pros and cons of buying a particular watch. But Christopher Ward, a British luxury watch company, has changed this notion.

Founded by three friends — Christopher Ward, Mike France, and Peter Ellis in 2004, Christopher Ward was the first online-only luxury watch retailer. Fifteen years after it has introduced its first watches online, Christopher Ward has now grown into a multi-million luxury watch company, manufacturing more than 20,000 watches a year at its own Manufacture in Switzerland.

 At the rate its sales are going, the British watch company is projecting to double or triple its production in the coming years.

Designed in England and manufactured in Switzerland, Christopher Ward has that quintessential British flair combined with Swiss precision. And it’s taking the world of watches by storm.

Christopher Ward History

One fateful day in the Thames in 2004, friends and business partners Mike France and Peter Ellis, who just sold their previous company — a pre-school toy company called Early Learning Centre (ELC) — were enjoying their time on a boat. They were chatting up with the boat skipper, who happened to be Chris Ward, about watches — something that they have a common passion for.

They, too, were old-school watch lovers, but they recognised the looming presence of e-commerce and the inevitable power of the Internet. And together, they saw an opportunity to be able to dabble on something that all of them love — watches. At the same time, take advantage of the rise of the Internet.

At that time, both France and Ellis felt very eager to start a new business endeavour, having just sold ELC. But they both wanted a new business that’s not only lucrative but also gratifying and enjoyable. And manufacturing watches ticked all the necessary boxes.

“The initial motivation to create a watch company was pure boredom,” shared Ellis in an interview with Watch Pro.

“The intention from the start was to do something that was interesting to us, that was fun, and that we could make a profit with. That remains the case today. We are in the business of fun, profit, and doing things we love,” he added.

Christopher Ward’s Early Days

From a re-purposed chicken shack in Berkshire and with less than $100,000 initial capital, the three founders and a small team at Christopher Ward worked hard to be able to produce watches that they called: ‘the cheapest most expensive watches in the world’.

By June of 2005, Christopher Ward, with the help of a full-page advertisement on the Independent, introduced its first two watches to buyers online: the C5 Malvern Automatic and the C3 Malvern Chronograph.

The first few months proved to be very slow, with almost non-existent sales. And then all of a sudden, the brand was getting orders from all over the world. In its first year alone, Christopher Ward sold more than 500 watches from its own online shop.

The Power of The Internet

The brand had Dave Malone from Tasmania, Australia, to thank for its sudden recognition in the watch world. Malone was a watch aficionado and top watch reviewer on the online watch forum TimeZone.

Apparently, Malone saw their advertisement on The Independent and didn’t believe that Christopher Ward could sell a watch with that kind of calibre — a genuine ETA 2842-2 automatic movement — at such a price. He actually planned to expose the brand and post something about it on Timezone.

But as it turned out, when he got the watch and tried and inspected it, he was so impressed by it that he ended up giving a rave review about it on the website. He dubbed the new Christopher Ward watches the “best-value automatic watch in the world”.

Because of Malone’s post, the sales demand for Christopher Ward skyrocketed. And in less than six months after its launch, the brand has become the most discussed watch brand in forums online. The rest, as they say, is history.

The Creation of A Precise Movement

In 2008, Christopher Ward started working with Synergies Horlogères — an independent Swiss watchmaking workshop owned by Jörg Bader — to help them develop their own movement.

Starting with the brand’s first in-house movement, the groundbreaking Christopher Ward Caliber SH21. This iconic movement has a power reserve of 5 days and runs some of Christopher Ward’s best-selling watches, including the Christopher Ward C1 Grand Malvern 5 Day Automatic and the Christopher Ward C60 Trident COSC 600.

In 2014, for their 10th anniversary, they officially launched the Christopher Ward in-house Calibre SH21 movement. And that same day, Christopher Ward also announced that it has merged with its longtime business partner Synergies Horlogères, forming what is now called Christopher Ward Holdings Limited.

Creating Fair Competition in the Watch World

The launch of the new Calibre SH21 movement was a big deal in watchmaking history. For decades, the watch luxury industry has been dominated by a few Swiss watchmaker giants. And for a small, independent company like Christopher Ward to break free from the monotony and create its own in-house movement was a huge groundbreaking feat.

With the launch of its in-house movement, Christopher Ward helped create fair competition in the stiff watchmaking industry.

Today, Christopher Ward is one of the most respected British watch companies with a turnover of around $10 million.

With headquarters and design offices based in the United Kingdom, and its manufacture based in Biel, Switzerland, Christopher Ward enjoys what each country has to offer.

In 2016, Christopher Ward announced a general rebranding, including introducing a new logo, new watches, and a brand new website. From “Chr.Ward” all watches now bear the complete “Christopher Ward” logo, showcasing a simplified typeface.

The watches also now have a singular look and a more coherent design scheme across all collections. According to the brand, re-branding was necessary to attract new buyers. This turned out to be a successful move as more than 50% of all the watches it sells are to new buyers.

Today, Christopher Ward has buyers from 109 countries, with a majority from the UK and North America. In North America alone, the brand is selling about 5,000 watches.

Christopher Ward’s Marketing Philosophy

Shying away from celebrity endorsers and expensive sponsorships, Christopher Ward has stayed true to its fair marketing philosophy of giving watch lovers high-quality Swiss watches through honest and fair pricing.

According to the brand, whatever the cost of the product of the watch, they multiply it by three, including taxes, and that’s the selling price of the watch. And this philosophy has been successfully working for them for the past 15 years now.

They’re able to do it because number one, they don’t engage the services of expensive celebrity endorsers and sponsorships. And number two, they directly sell their watches online to their customers. This removes additional price margins from distributors and expensive retail premises.

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking