Discover what makes Christopher Ward’s unique watches sell out within hours
One of very few Anglo-Swiss independent watch brands, Christopher Ward was launched in 2004 to occupy a different position within the world of luxury watches, which is largely ruled by the Swiss. The Swiss have a well-deserved heritage within the luxury watch industry, and it is there that tradition and watchmaking quality have long resided. But Christopher Ward’s founders, Mike France and Peter Ellis, had a different vision: a watch brand that was accessible, inclusive and democratic.
“One of the things they quickly realized about the watch industry was that some large markups were being applied, and that did not seem right,” begins Sarah Baumann, COO. “Christopher Ward was launched with the mission of making high-quality, well-designed luxury watches available to as many people as possible. At the core of that is a transparent pricing model where we only ever charge three times what the watches cost to make. Today, our range spans from around £600 up to £5000, with the same pricing transparency running throughout. What catapulted us to success is the quality of our product, designs and engineering, made possible through our supply chain and our partnerships with global suppliers. The Anglo-Swiss element is equally important to us, as we combine English design, flair and a certain lightness of touch with the high precision, quality and trust of Swiss-made engineering.”
Guided by that legacy, balancing top quality with affordability sits at the heart of Christopher Ward’s approach to research and development. Working within a price parameter is not always straightforward, but for the team, that constraint drives creative thinking. The company employs various approaches from the first stages of movement development and prototyping, working with different suppliers and techniques to achieve quality in non-traditional ways. “Innovation and an understanding of the value and finish we want to create are a core part of the design brief from day one. If someone within our design team comes in with an incredible watch that would exceed our three-times markup principle, it goes back to the drawing board,” Sarah clarifies.
Paul Wright, Merchandising and Supply Chain Director, elaborates on how that commercial and creative thinking work together. “It takes a combination of commercial awareness, an understanding of manufacturing processes and a constant question of what we can do within those processes to deliver what the consumer wants. Equally, we strive to create something for our consumers that has not been thought of or tried before. Bringing those two elements as close together as possible is where the real opportunity to innovate lies. It is always about finding where the value is to the consumer and directing the manufacturing spend to the right place.”
Bel Canto Classic
For Christopher Ward, innovation extends to process as much as product. A compelling example is Christopher Ward’s use of the guilloche technique on its Bel Canto Classic watch. Traditionally a hand-cut craft associated with the most expensive watches in the world, the company worked with a Swiss partner to develop a laser-cut finish that replicates the result at a fraction of the cost and labor. “The result is not a hand-cut dial, but something that is visually near-identical at considerably better value. It also means we can produce these watches at a commercial volume, which hand-cutting one dial at a time would simply not allow,” Paul informs.
Sarah tells us more about the Bel Canto watch itself, highlighting its most distinguishing features. “The Bel Canto changed everything in many respects. When we launched it as a limited edition in 2022, all 300 pieces sold out in eight hours. Due to high demand, we then went live with the second color of the Bel Canto six months ahead of schedule, and that sold out in two hours. The challenge for Paul and his team was in building a supply chain capable of producing that volume at an exceptionally high level of finishing. The guilloche dial on the Bel Canto Classic is not just laser cut, it uses femto lasers, the kind traditionally used in the manufacturing of medical equipment because of their extraordinary accuracy. It is a perfect example of thinking laterally about different uses of technology and applying it to watchmaking in a way that would not have been considered before. We were completely transparent and open about our adaptation of the guilloche technique, which resulted in absolutely astonishing watches that remained accessible.”
Despite the fact that a couple of centuries earlier British watchmaking was a strong tradition, when Christopher Ward launched, there were few British watch brands to speak of. The luxury watch market was dominated by the Swiss, with strong competition emerging from Japan through brands like Grand Seiko and Citizen. By around 2020, Christopher Ward’s founders had noticed a growing groundswell of change and micro-brands began to pop up across the industry. In conversation with Roger Smith, one of the most celebrated watchmakers alive today, Christopher Ward CEO Mike France co-founded the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, a trade body to represent and unite these emerging brands. The result is a community where brands can compete while also supporting one another. Every March, the Alliance runs British Watchmakers’ Day, an event that attracts queues around the block and sells out within hours.
It is from those relationships that some of Christopher Ward’s most exciting collaborations have come to be. The Celestial, developed in partnership with Mr. Jones Watches, is one such example, with all 300 pieces sold out within 48 hours. Paul tells us more about the distinctive features of this unique product. “The crystal and the dial were truly artisanal; hand finished in the UK and then assembled in Switzerland. The Moonphase watch was based on a module we developed to sit on a standard movement, combining our engineering expertise with not just design, but genuine artistry and artisanal production. Naturally, the process presented some challenges, but we enjoy taking on challenges and if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. We love working with people who are as obsessed with watches as we are and trying to do things that have not been done before. There is a constant thread running through everything we do; a drive to create watches that are truly innovative and groundbreaking; to think differently and to bring things to market that watch enthusiasts just adore.”
Bringing those products to life and making them available for customers to experience their quality and comfort in person is essential, making it the final piece of the puzzle for Christopher Ward. As such, it is something the company has invested in deliberately. Sarah explains the thinking behind the brand’s growing showroom presence. “We have three showrooms in the UK, including a beautiful showroom space at our headquarters in Maidenhead, which was our very first showroom. Other showrooms include 53° North in Everton’s Hill-Dickinson stadium in Liverpool, one in Mayfair on Mill Street in London, along with another three in the US. Our American showrooms are in Dallas, Virginia and New York, and we have just opened our latest in Chicago.
“Showrooms are an important part of our growth strategy and our commitment to providing a great customer experience as a direct-to-consumer brand. Our brand has been built through our global community, which we have fostered over the years by attending events and having spaces for people to come and try on the watches and feel them in person. They look fantastic on the website and on social media, but the comfort, wearability, weight and proportion only truly come to life when our customers get to see and feel them on their wrist. That is why investing in showrooms matters so much to us,” she concludes.
Christopher Ward has spent over two decades proving that luxury and accessibility are not mutually exclusive. In an industry built on exclusivity and significant markups, the company has taken a different path, which has resulted in watches selling out within hours, a growing global showroom presence and a community of customers who feel genuinely invested in the brand. Moreover, Christopher Ward’s commitment to value has never come at the expense of ambition, as evidenced by its use of femto laser guilloche dials, its collaborative limited editions and establishment of the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers. Clearly, the company refuses to play it safe, and this strategy is proving to be a winner.
