Nope, nothing else, not today.

I was hoping for a “crowd goes wild”, which means a personal best, or “great finish” which means that the last km was the fastest.

Oh well.

I stop looking at it and enter my house.

Running is a funny business. It is the most simple and easy of sports to take up; all you need is a pair of shoes (and these days there is a whole barefoot running clique who claim you don’t need even those) and yet, and yet, never in my life have I run more than 100 meters. Not that I was shy of sports; fencing, martial arts, marital arts – you name it. However, my first day’s attempt to run down to the gym was a disaster once those 100 had passed. My body simply stopped me flat and demanded to know what I thought I was doing, was I being chased by a hungry lion? Or avoiding an imminent meteor strike? No? Then why the hell are you doing this to us? It asked, gasping.

In the past such stern questioning, not to mention the following sensation of aching lungs, were enough to stop me. But, not today because I had caught a bug.

A Nike bug.

I have always been a fan of the colourful US brand. When I was a child, Nike was the coolest thing in the world; both ridiculously expensive and stylish. Unobtainable. Since then they have gone through a bit of a sea change themselves, upping the quality levels, creating some great equipment and yet keeping that cool label, that newness. Even when they come late to the party and a little underpowered in the features department even then they make a splash with their style and their enthusiasm.
It is that enthusiasm that is the key feature of this watch.

My early morning conversation in the “pro-running” shop near London Bridge highlights what “proper” running people think of that fact. (Imagine the scene in Point-Break where Keanu Reeves buys his first surfboard…)

“Good morning, sir,” said the thin and fit looking shop girl from behind her achingly cool piercings.

I guess I did look like a fish a bit out of water, in a running shop at this time in the morning; she looked like a 20 mile run was a daily occurrence before breakfast. Dressed for work, I guess I have the look of a geek with a love of good quality gadgets.

“I’m looking for a running watch with a heart strap,” I said.

“The Garmin” she said, pointing into a small glass fronted cabinet next to me.

I looked at the watch in question; it was a phenomenally ugly and boxy device like one of those stop-watches PE teachers carry that had been welded to a watch strap. Next to it stood the Nike GPS. To say that the Nike looked better is an understatement. I realised that I could wear that watch all day, even at work.

“The Nike’s nice,” I said hopefully.

The girl gave me an appraising look, followed by a pause as she mentally switched records in her head.

“Yes, sir, they are very popular, they have similar features to the Garmin but they are not as good.”

Even I know that’s code for, “she wouldn’t be seen dead in one”. However, Given that she has trouble walking through metal detectors or passing large magnets, I wasn’t swayed by the opinion her expression was trying oh so hard to hide. I realised that I was entering a new world with two groups, the sort of people who run every day for miles and miles and miles, and the sort of people who run a couple of times a week for around 30k total.

Journeymen and Beginners.

Experts and hobbyists.

The élite and the, well, not so élite.

I knew which group I was in, so I decided to change the metric the girl and I were using to judge the value of watches,

“how much is the Garmin?” I asked.

“£350” she answered, clearly of the opinion that mere price was an irrelevant point.

“And the Nike?”

“£170 and £50 for the belt”

I looked again at the choice. There was nothing more to say. If I turned up at home with a £350 watch I would be strung up by Cesca and rightly so. I did a mental calculation in my head as I was going to have to sell a beloved Christopher Ward watch to pay for it.

“I’ll take the Nike please”

Unwrapping.

Apple has indelibly changed the definition of what is cool in packaging when it released the iPhone. Since then many manufacturers have copied their approach. For example, my Samsung phone came in a box almost identical to the iPhone (and the phone is so similar that Apple is suing). Nike, who is surely BFF with Apple, has also followed Apple’s philosophy. The box containing the Nike watch is small and very well designed while at the same time evoking the spirit of the sort of boxes high-end watches come in. Everything is compactly slotted in. Compared to the competitions simple blister packs this speaks volumes. Once its secrets are open the following items are found within.

Another thing Nike has learned from Apple is to have no truck with anything but complete brand loyalty in a passive aggressive way. This is displayed perfectly with the lack of any way to attach the Shoe Pod to anything but a Nike shoe (which has a special hole for the nugget like device in the sole). I would have despaired had I not expected it and ordered a small pouch from amazon that attached to my laces. This little fella is cleverly designed and extremely snug – so it holds the Pod perfectly.

I followed the simple instructions and charged the watch up while signing up to download the sync software from Nike’s web site. (We will come to the website in-depth in a moment).

The watch has a thin USB adaptor hidden under the flap at the end of the strap. This clicks open and can go straight into a computer USB socket or via the short and branded extension cable given away in the box (presumably since some people still have under desk computers and not laptops). Once socketed the watch displays a charging message.

One of the most interesting features of this watch is its display. The LCD is in negative mode meaning that the screen is dark and the numbers and lettering are in blocks of “turned off” colour.

It has a large-size font choice meaning that the time display is split over two lines, which looks great and a close-up of the LCD shows it to be of very high “resolution”, the fonts curving smoothly and not blocky at all. There is no doubt that this display could show graphics with ease if it wanted to. The boldness of that display puts it firmly in the extroverted cool realm and the bright yellow on the reverse of the band (visible only in flashes and glimpses when on the wrist) follows this.

Next to the time, at a 90 degree angle, sits the day and date information along with the battery meter. This is the battery meter for the running part of the watch not the clock part. Once charged, which took about an hour (so it must be part-charged out of the box) the watch is ready to go. An “up down” rocker is on the left hand side above a bright yellow button. The rocker moves the watch through its menu system and the yellow button acts as an “enter” selector.

After using some serious gym watches in the past I was very presently surprised with the purposeful simplicity of the Nike. Some watches have a mind mangling choice of menus and settings for every sport. Nike has opted to throw most of these out and focus on the core experience, again following Apple’s lead. The watch menu has only four options, all visible on the first menu:

“Clock” This returns you to the clock mode.

“Run” Start a new activity.

“History” The last 50 activities.

“Records” This shows a rotating display of:

Total distance
Fastest mile
Fastest km
Fastest 5k
Fastest 10k

Notice there are no settings to be configured. Rather all the settings, apart from the registering of new sensors, is performed in the computer software upon attaching the watch via USB. This configuration software enables you to change lots of features, such as the default screen display while running; settings for laps, whether the watch will bug you to go for a run or even what your weight is for the calorie calculations.

On the wrist the watch stands quite tall and with its nice curved glass screen is just waiting to get smashed. Never the less I wear it every day. It goes well with my work clothes in that it is in a way a totem. Wearing a running watch to work, especially this running watch, is making a statement. That statement says that you are a member of the “club”. Not a geek member totally obsessed with statistics; no you are a “cool” member. This is a watch design for enthusiasts to meet other enthusiasts. I get a lot of interested questions regarding it, as many as I got for my other watches and this is all to the good as it provides motivation. Balancing the design of something is nearly as hard as wearing it if it makes a statement. All too often that statement is perhaps not the one intended. Consider the 50+ guy with his Jag car, or oversized Tag watch. Most of the time such a person’s statement is “I’m a berk with too much money and a lack of inner success”.

This watch simply sidesteps that. Anyone who challenges your “right” to wear it can be simply provided with the “Records” section to check your bonafides in seconds.

As long as you have them that is. When all is said and done, you must run the miles yourself; the watch will not do that for you!

It is not heavy at all and doesn’t bother me on the wrist. One thing to note is that the strap is integrated and therefore cannot be changed in any way. This may not be an issue unless the watch doesn’t fit. I have heard of people with very small wrists not managing to get the watch flush to their skin. For me, I run the risk of the opposite problem; my wrists are too big! I have the watch on the largest setting and it is snug and not loose. Of course having a watch this tight sometime means I can accidentally press a button. This has only happened in the gym once when lifting a 55kg bar weight above my head; my hand was pushed back enough that the back of it pushed a button. After stopping and pulling the watch up my arm the problem was solved.

Running in the watch.

The first thing one has to do when running for the first time is pair the sensors with the watch. I have the heart belt and shoe pod and I found that on first attempt at pairing (standing in the gym) the watch picked up too many sensors in range. Standing, briefly, outside solved this issue and I have not had it happen again as the watch remembers the pods, etc. it knows.

When deciding to do some recorded exercise you select the “run” menu and then turn on or off the sensors. So, if you are working out in the gym on weights, you turn off all but the heart rate belt and it will record your time, heart and calories. On the other hand, running outside (the watch’s primary use) will involve all the sensors and after turning their options to on, and selecting “continue”, the watch will announce that it is “linking sensors”. If you have wetted the Heart belt and moved the shoe pod within the last minute then it will pick these up in a few seconds. However, I have had the GPS take up to a minute (which feels longer when you are staring at the screen). Nike claim that the watch gets better at pinpointing the satellites in each use, and indeed I have seen the text “Updating satellite data” in the computer GUI as I sync it with Nike website. However, the watch also features the ability to start your run before the satellite has a fix, known as “quickstart”. This option is clearly there because the GPS lock takes so long (sometimes!). Of course, you wait. Eventually the link works and you get a little set of beeps that you are ready to go. A touch of the “start” menu option and you can head off!

While running the watch displays your selected options and occasionally beeps if you have turned on to have laps. During a lap moment the watch displays some quick data on the lap. You can have automatic laps or manual ones, which requires a tap on the case here:

Not a touch of the screen mind, you have to tap the top of the case front. Coincidentally, tapping this while in “clock” mode turns on the backlight for a brief moment. You can also have intervals as programmed again by the computer GUI. This means your speed work training will benefit from the watch telling you the splits and assisting you in not cheating.

Using the up and down rocker buttons you can switch the upper part of the screens display to show various metrics such as km, time, km average, heart rate, etc. All are easy to read when on the move. Tapping the yellow button pauses the action, something I use only when crossing a busy road or my phone rings or I come across a giant queen bumble bee (all of which has happened on my runs). Once you have finished your run, the watch displays a little congratulations message dependent on your performance and plays a little tune on a personal best time.

This is very cute in action and I find myself quite looking forwards to it. Then the watch displays the stats for the run all on one screen.

You can also use the watch to only record workouts on the HRM. In this mode the watch turns off the GPS and foot pod. I use the watch in like this every other day and it performs its functions well. The BPM is the useful metric when lifting as it enables you to properly manage your between sets and recovery times. So, while the watch doesn’t offer and specialist mode for lifting, it is just as good as any other HRM.

On the elliptical and other machines the HRM is often compatible and the machine will show that rate rather than that of the “grip” sensors. I often note that the watch is one or two calories different from the elliptical machine, something that is probably to do with the method of calculation.

Uploading

The Nike watch is designed to synchronise with the Nike Running website and is one of the largest features of the system.

Upon placing the watch in the USB it uploads to Nike and then boots their website.

Nike present a very high end website built in flash. However, the flash programming is terrible. I often find that the flash fails to load in sections of the site. For example, I have logged in to the “home” screen and selected “goals”. Blank. Nadda. So I select “home”. Now that’s blank. So I log out and back in. Now my profile is missing. So I select “all runs”. Blank. This isn’t my version of flash or my browser choice; this is simply a bad website. The choice of flash is bizarre, as Apple mobile devices cannot display flash and so you have the situation where your iPhone can upload a run, but can’t show the run in Safari mobile.

It’s not as if Nike can’t program great websites. Consider this one, which invented a completely new method of coding using parallax techniques and is written in fantastically quick and smooth HTML5.

When the site works, it is very good indeed. But, it is a very inconsistent experience. I emailed Nike regarding this and got a slightly glib reply. Hopefully, they are going to ditch it, but until then it is an issue. This is what I sometimes see:

Some of the features provided in the website are excellent. There is the runs themselves and each will show a map of the distance covered on a mapping system. This system is improving all the time and now you can use it to plan a run as well as review one. This is very helpful if you need to find a 5 or 10km route around your town.

Also great is the “goals” section that assists you in tracking progress. I find that having a goal that is within a few weeks’ reach is much more motivating than the long term goal of “getting fit”. Humans as a species tend to be terrible in focussing on longer term goals compared with immediate sensations (hunger for example). When you upload runs (and only runs – it doesn’t count workouts) they are automatically counted towards your targets. I have found that this has motivated me much better than I thought it would. It is the feature I love the most.

Above all this there are also “challenges”, which are like goals mixed with online clubs. Anyone can create a challenge and have people sign up to join you in it. Some are silly, some are charity based, some are mega hard and the website helps filter them based on your “Nike Level”.

This simple metric grades your progress as a runner using colours. Upon going up a level you get a small movie of some runner congratulating you and a new set of challenges to run against. It’s clever and motivational. I am now half way to the third category and I find myself considering running more often to speed up my progress. That’s a great design influencing my motivation. Nike certainly has that aspect of the experience nailed. The site also links in to Facebook and Twitter and when you upload a run it posts it to the social networks as well as when you set a new goal. This enables your friends to comment on it and motivate you even more. I have even found that friends have read my constant Facebook posts and taken up gym’ing themselves. However, for some stupid reason the system only posts your last run, so if you upload them in batches like me (as I run to the gym, gym, and run back) then the others are not Facebooked. This is slightly annoying as the final run of my routine is always the slowest as I am tired from lifting.

Are there any other problems with the watch and experience?

Nikes forums are full of people complaining about problems with their watches. The main one seems to be that the GPS is not super accurate. I have not found this myself. Reviewing my runs on the maps shows that the system has correctly picked up my journey. Perhaps it is to do with the satellites overhead?

I have noticed the system downloading GPS data:

Others have complained that the website doesn’t show enough detail of the runs for post analysis. I think this is an issue for those in the “elite” group. Nike hasn’t got all the detail recorded in the run on the site, but I understand they are considering it. Recently I received a questionnaire about the Nike site and it asked my preference for detail. I said that I always wanted as a much as possible.

Hopefully they are listening to the criticisms of those shouting. As is often the case on the web, the loud, angry minority make much more noise than those happy with their product and experience. I personally am very happy with the watch itself and unhappy with the website. However, I am content to give Nike a chance to repair or replace the online portion of the system. Such an action would not hurt their brand in the slightest, as flash is dead. No one in their right mind programs flash anymore and to block out Apple device users is a stupid direction given their popularity.

Key Features & Benefits

• GPS by TomTom + Shoe Sensor: GPS functions in tandem with the Nike+ Sensor to optimize seamless data tracking during runs (e.g. when running through an urban canyon, where GPS connection may not be available).
• Tap Interface: Users simply tap the display to activate the backlight and to mark laps during their run.
• Direct Connect: USB contacts are molded into the watch strap allowing the user to plug the watch directly into a USB port to upload run data and recharge the battery.
• Run Reminders: Users get automatic reminders from the watch when a run has not been logged in the past five days.
• Attaboys: Users receive recognition for achieving personal records, such as fastest mile, longest run, fastest 10K and fastest marathon.
• Nikeplus.com: Run data is saved to Nikeplus.com where runners can map their runs, find new routes, track their goals, receive coaching tips, challenge their friends, share their progress through Facebook and Twitter and more.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Ease of use
• Great Design
• Waterproof
• Nike+ website is great for motivation
• Easy to configure and install

Cons:

• Glass screen can be knocked
• HRM only workouts dont count towards your “goals” grrr
• Nike centric – no data coming out to other websites
• Problems with Nike Running Website – Flash (yuk!)

Final Verdict

For its motivational components, great design, high end experience I give the watch an 9/10. It is a simple and well-made device that I have a great affinity for. I am wearing it now on the train into London.

For the online portion of the experience I can only award Nike 7/10 with a note that when the site works well its potential is manifest. However, this is not all the time and so they “must try harder”!

Regards

Basho

You can buy a Nike watch from their store here:

Please note our affiliates policy

I wore this band all through my trip and eventually tried to work out how to make one myself.  Then I came across this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Woven-paracord-braceletwatchband/

On arrival back home my splendid rubber watch strap broke (it had been through hell and back; chemicals, salt, sand and god knows what) and so I needed another. Well, I just so happened to have 20ft of paracord laying around and therefore got to work.  This is a trial run.  I am now going to buy some high quality paracord and make a really good one, but it worked!  (Done!)

The Christopher Ward Kingfisher is a brilliant watch, I have blogged at length about the quality of this watch maker and you can find my opinion on the link in the sidebar.  I don’t just review this watch I have worn his brand for 4 years.

Check this:

Version 1:

UPDATE with Version 2!

Today, I rebuilt the strap using some higher quality Paracord and a proper clip.  Here is the result:

The Tactical Man Watch is born!

Regards,

Basho

Firstly though, what makes a man’s watch?  It seems to me that the big names in male watches are struggling to sell their brands.  Unfortunately this has led to truly hideous watches that have all the hallmarks of a marketing department struggling with not only reality, but also a sense of the times.

The times are hard.

For some, and perhaps this is you – I hope not, the response to hard times is to not only ignore them, but to spend more.  After all this is what the government wants you to do to help the economy out of recession.  For that reason, modern watches are more expensive than ever.  Companies are pushing celebrity endorsements down everyone’s throat under the belief that we, as watch buying men, don’t know that said celebrity was given (or even paid to wear) such-and-such a brand.

I hate celebrity endorsements.  Take this one:

All that I get from these adverts is that Tiger Woods needs more roughage in his diet.  I mean why the “look”?  That, “I have a big wallet and no muesli,” look that is supposed to say, “Success, I have it – you want it.” Sure, Tiger is a good golfer, but do we really think that his watch defines that? This sort of thing is the advertisers pulling the wool over our eyes to fool our heads.  Is the product any good? Will I look like a berk when wearing it? Lets have an actual look at the watch in question:

I am actually amazed that Lewis Hamilton can tell the time on that over-designed lump on his wrist!  I mean, presumably, he has to check his watch in a hurry while driving 200 miles per hour.  If I was in that situation I would want a watch that was easy to read.

I choose another path and it is this I want to speak to you about.

• The path I choose is one of forming a relationship with your watch maker that goes beyond the financial.
• The path I choose is one where you are wearing a quality watch that is worth more than any celebrity.
• The path I choose is one of the very best quality at the optimum price.
• The path I choose is where people ask me about my watch and immediately go and buy one for themselves.
• Turning heads matters to me, I am a manly-man and I want a man’s watch.  However, I don’t want any part of the “pretender” watch culture.

I therefore turned to Christopher Ward London Limited.
 
 

 
 
His website makes his “mission” clear:

We are a new watchmaker with a simple aim.

We want to put high quality luxury watches within the reach of everyone.

To achieve this we have inverted the usual business model used by brands such as Rolex, Cartier and Omega. Instead of their extremely high margin requirements and the myriad of middlemen and retailers in the equation, we take a small but fair margin and have the ultimate direct business with not a single middleman and no retailer other than ourselves.

We can’t begin to match the hundreds of millions spent on advertising campaigns, sponsorships and “A” list celebrities of our better known competitors. Instead, we concentrate our efforts on designing beautiful timepieces and relying on delighted customers to recommend the brand to family, friends and colleagues on our behalf.

So, when I was looking for a timepiece to go around the world with I knew which company I wanted to use.  I passed on the faceless mega-brands, and instead went quintessentially for quality. My travels will include diving, caving, many many flights; buses; trains, and even bungy jumping 140meters.  I needed a watch that didn’t quit on me. I eventually selected the The Kingfisher Diver-Pro.  It is described by Christopher himself  in these terms:

I am a fanatical scuba-diver as is Philip our Swiss trained manufacturing partner so you can imagine how important an addition to the CWL collection is our first divers watch. The brief was quite simple: Create the ultimate professional divers watch that marries extreme condition functionality with exquisite good looks.

The quality of this watch will be understood by all those familiar with all good things hierological (the Swiss Ronda calibre 715 movement, the additional thickness of the sapphire glass, the screw-down case back with the engraved No Decompression Table – perhaps a world first, the 2-piece uni-directional bezel and Super-luminova markings, etc) which means the Kingfisher is water resistant to an astonishing 30 atmospheres/1000 feet, but to understand its beauty as well, just look at it. It’s enough to make a grown man dive!

I sent in the order to include two straps; leather and rubber.  I have a large wrist and so needed to make sure that I could swap the straps if needed.

Features

• Swiss made
• 5 Jewel Ronda quartz movement
• 2 Piece uni-directional bezel
• Screw-in crown and back plate
• 30 atm (1000 feet) water resistant case
• 4.5mm Sapphire crystal
• Adjustable strap with easy opening butterfly clasp
• Highly luminescent indices bezel marker and hands
• Unique engraved serial number and No Decompression Limit table

You can also upgrade to a automatic movement version (ETA 2824-2), which winds on the wrist.  After a short wait it arrived (Shown here with the leather strap):

Metal strap option:

The box:

One of the best features about using Christopher Ward, no matter the model you go for, is that the customer service is second to none.  I had called and checked the status of the order on numerous occasions and every time had received a full and helpful reply.  Moreover the packaging included a welcome letter signed by Mr Ward himself, this wasn’t so much a purchase as a relationship.

The Watch

So lets have a closer look:

Once I had the watch in my hands it felt quite heavy, but it slipped into the wrist very easily.  The sides of the case curve to match the wrist well.  Movement wise the automatic movement (ETA 2824-2) of the upgraded watch is top notch and of a quality far above the price point.  The basic movement is the ever reliable Ronda Quartz movement (pdf here) and forum posts and online reviews attest to its reliability over time. The backing of the watch face is a cobalt blue that is a little darker than this photo suggests and the hands are highly luminescent. The dial of the Kingfisher is available in the colours black, white, yellow, orange and blue.  The bezel aligns well and twists with a good click that makes time marking simple and easy to use. The straps I ordered with the watch are only two of the four options available.  I now only use the rubber strap.

The back of the watch includes a dive table.  This is, of course, not something to bet your life on under the water, but it is a nice addition.

The rubber strap is stamped with a Christopher Ward logo and the clasp is a firm click to set.

More images:

Review

So, how did it perform in the “real world”?

Upon receiving the watch I wore it with the leather strap.  I must say that while it does look hansom in this configuration, I very much prefer it with the rubber strap.  The leather is of a good quality but not as nice as alligator (which is available). Time was at first a few seconds out per day and this is totally normal for a Swiss movement.  After a few weeks it settled down and is now perfectly accurate and consistent. I changed the strap to the rubber one myself.  This was highly unnerving and not something I want to have to do again.  Mainly because without the right tools such a procedure is going to be much harder than it needs to be.  I eventually used my Leatherman to assist.  Once the leather strap was off (the easy part), I cut the rubber to the required length and then proceeded to attach it.  The trick in doing so it to make sure that the pin’s heads are completely pushed into the holes before wearing.  Once this is achieved the strap is very sturdy and has not been any problem in over a year.

I took the watch diving in the Great Barrier Reef:

and the watch performed perfectly.  I dived a total of 14 times in 3 days.  I even took it down to 25 meters and both the timing and the hand’s luminescence (3 seconds torch charged) worked fine. A total success and a few of the dive instructors asked where I had got such a nice watch.

Having successfully tested the watches primary function, I wanted to give it a challenge.

I rode with the watch up Mount John in New Zealand and it worked fine at that height.  I could detect no changes in movement and timing.  Also the strap worked fine on my very sweaty wrist without turning nor moving out of position. Even this was not enough for me.  I wanted to test the watch under the highest stress I could and since I am not a test pilot I had only one choice:

At 250 meters above a river, the Nevis is New Zealand’s highest bungy jump with a fall-distance of 134 meters.  It involves a drop with 8 seconds of free-fall, a mighty snap and having all that momentum suddenly reversed as the bungy reaches its longest point and pulls you back.

I made a video of my experience:

The watch again performed splendidly.  Nothing broke lose and nothing showed any signs of stress.  This is a watch designed for action. I then took the watch into the Jungles of South East Asia.  In such environments any watch will have to put up with coming into contact with all sorts of chemicals. Namely DEET, the active ingredient in anti-mosquito spray, and something we lathered all over skin open to the elements.  The use of DEET was made famous in Desert Storm when the mid strength version (up to 50% concentration) managed to melt the rubber and plastic on the SA80 battle rifle.

I have used DEET up to 90% concentration and have had no problems with the strap melting.  A victory again for the CW brand.

In my travels the watch has drawn looks and admiring comments from a very varied group of people.  While not so outlandish that I become a target for robbers, it is an eye grabber and I have had conversations with dive instructors, Tuk-Tuk drivers, fellow travellers and all sorts of Indian street urchins.  It seems that the brand is not one that elicits derision of spend, nor does it reek of cheapness.  It says quality.

On a train in India, writing this article:

In Mumbai:

On my wrist in Hanoi, Vietnam during Tet:

Clearly, this is a man’s watch.  Clearly, this is a brand to be proud of.  Clearly you should consider Christopher Ward in your next watch purchase.  I will continue to wear mine over the next 6 months of travel and if it fails at all I will post here.

If you are interested in having a Christopher Ward watch please click below to open his website: Christopher Ward watches.

Christopher Ward London Limited

Update!

Chris has now released a very nice GMT version of the watch, click to take a look:

Regards,

Basho

For example, James Bond wears a £1200 Omega watch and has always personified the luxury watch lifestyle, but in the latest Bond film he has his purchase mocked by the love interest as an unfashionable macho attitude (of course he eventually sleeps with her as after all this is Bond we are talking about.)

So, if these “big man”, “look at me”, “I have a big… watch” type watches are out of fashion, what is there left for the modern manly man?

Why does this matter? Beefcake dies a death and good riddance yes? Well, I for one think that it is more important than that. Simply because, for the vast majority of men, their watch is the only jewelry that they wear. It is their only chance to express something about themselves. Hence the watch culture of Rolex and Omega. Much like buying a luxury car such as a Porsche, Omega sells an expression.

Buying into “cool” is everywhere now. I thnk that It has unfortunately become cheapened by this. Remember that FCUK and Burberry started life as high end brands full of expense and luxury. Now they are bog trotting, FHM garbage worn only by Chavs; a social grouping almost universally reviled.

The “Omega-style” watch is going that way. By being able to simply buy class, class loses all meaning as an identifier. David Beckham, X-Factor, Coleen, Paris Hilton, etc have all cheapened the experience of purchasing things as a route to class.

So where now? I found myself stepping into the very deep end of a very large pool that threatened at every turn to leave me with something I would not like.

Everyone takes a stance with their watch, what would mine be?

Consider that even wearing a cheap watch is a stance. I know a man who has a lavish lifestyle of wealth and hard won privilege and his watch is a 99p Casio. Why? Because he is making a statement?

What will be my statement?

If I wasn’t going to buy into the Bond, fast cars, super high end bullshit where could I go?

/Start Digression

When discussing this article, someone commented to me, “What about your wedding ring?” Firstly, the ring was jointly chosen by my wife and I and matches hers so it is not unique, it is part of a matched pair. Secondly, the ring is not jewelry at all. It is actually a ward; for warning off single women, reminding them that I am taken. Thus, my watch is the only truly individual thing I wear.

/End Digression

For the last few years I have been wearing my beloved Citizen Pro Diver. Beloved for two reasons. Firstly, it was purchased for my by my wife as my wedding engagement present and secondly it is a brilliant watch for diving.

Not that I dive often, but I have qualified for diving and liked wearing it.

However, it was starting to wear heavy on my arm and over the last year or so, I have been working up the impetus to only semi-retire it and only use it for diving. I am much more a London city-man these days and I need a watch that reflects me in 2007.

With the “big man” watches out of the running, I came to consider the other major type of men’s watch; the military models.

I am an avid Airsofter, Fencer and Martial Artist. I am typically considered to be a man’s man and thus I wondered if the military world would offer me what I was looking for.

Military models tend to be low in specification but high in build quality. They have a large practical aspect that corresponds to the military need for ease and speed of use. They also generally have rugged features.

My search immediately hot upon a likely candidate, the Jack Bauer watch called the MTM Blackhawk. This £350 hardcore watch is time pared down to the most basic feature set; the time and the ability to see it. It lacks even a date feature, which is apt when you think about it as why does Jack Bauer need a date marker? Everything always happens in 24 hours!

Jack is a fantastic role model for a real man, as he cares about people and yet is a consummate professional who has amazing courage.

I was very excited about this watch for about a month, and then I took a closer look. It is actually ugly and hard to read. Sure it has a gimmick in that it lights up, but this was not enough for me.

So, distraught, I went searching into the city and eventually into a watch shop near Liverpool St, resigned to dropping over £1k to come out with something I would not be that happy with and my wife would kill me over.

Of course, the man in the shop saw me coming from a mile away. At this time of year the whole city is wallet bulging, spend-crazy and shop-me-happy due to the bonus cheques having come in. The man in the shop tried to sell me an Omega for half a hour, but he did not know my feelings I outlined above and so he failed.

I went back to my office, lost, and started to take a final look around the web…

Then I found it.

Christopher Ward is a watch maker of the old school. He doesn’t believe in high margins, or films stars wearing his watches. He only cares about two things quality and making an honest living,

We are a new watchmaker with a simple aim.

We want to put high quality luxury watches within the reach of everyone.

To achieve this we have inverted the usual business model used by brands such as Rolex, Cartier and Omega. Instead of their extremely high margin requirements and the myriad of middlemen and retailers in the equation, we take a small but fair margin and have the ultimate direct business with not a single middleman and no retailer other than ourselves.

We can’t begin to match the hundreds of millions spent on advertising campaigns, sponsorships and “A” list celebrities of our better known competitors. Instead, we concentrate our efforts on designing beautiful timepieces and relying on delighted customers to recommend the brand to family, friends and colleagues on our behalf.

This was like music to my ears. A watch maker that sells quality, but is still exclusive. That’s how I (like to) see myself. I care about refined quality sure, but I like to be savvy on price and not to buy my way into “cool.” Rather I try to let my own sense of style reflect itself through the watch. They say that the clothes make the man, but I would like to think different. A true man is practical, strong and elegant. Not a Metro-Sexual clothes horse. Like Tyler Durden commented to the narrator in the film fightclub,

The bus is crowded. As Tyler and Jack walk toward the back, the narrator studies the faces of OTHER PASSENGERS.

They hold hand grips. the narrator looks up an ADVERTISEMENT; a CALVIN KLEIN ad featuring a tan, bare-chested MUSCLE STUD.

The Narrator (V.O.)
I felt sorry for the guys packing into gyms, trying to look like Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger said they should.

The Narrator
(indicating the ad)
Is that how a man looks like?

Tyler looks at the C.K. advertisement and laughs.

Will CW have something that speaks in this voice?

Well, his current line up includes many types and it was this model that caught my eye,

The raven black finish that distinguishes the watches in our Corax collection is courtesy of our state of the art IPK ionic plating process that delivers superb looks and a diamond hard finish.

Feature List:

* Muscular 42mm IPK case and bracelet
* Advanced, Swiss ISA 8154-220 movement
* Uni-directional 60 ratchet bezel
* Engraved, unique serial number
* Risk free 60 day trial

* Ionic plated 316L stainless steel case & bracelet
* 9 Jewel Swiss quartz movement
* 12hr alarm
* Split-seconds / stop watch / tachymeter
* 5 year movement guarantee
* Screw-down case & engraved, unique serial number
* Screw-locked crown
* Cambered sapphire crystal glass
* Water resistant to 50 metres
* Uni-directional 60 ratchet bezel
* Super-Luminova indexes and hands

A fantastic feature set and then I saw the price: £175. That’s right, 1750 pence.

Amazing!

At this price, I can take the plunge and testdrive the watch with no financial worries. Truly CW has broken the mould that says, “you must PAY for entry.”

Checking around the web produced some very good reviews of CW watches, as well as a dedicated fan forum that was full of happy users and some preview content. This started to feel less like a watch purchase and more like a relationship between designer and wearer. Something that a corporation could never offer.

Satisfied and full of eagerness I ordered and two days later the package arrived, here are some mobile phone shots,

The packaging.

The watch clasp.

The watch face.

First impressions,

Wow, what a lovely watch. Smooth, sublime and very clean. Not super heavy, but having a definite weight. The face is very easy to read and well laid out with the small faces not blocking anything else. It is open, wide and the black and silver digit markers contrast fantastically.

The really great thing, at this point, was the strap. My previous strap on the Citizen was very chunky, which made it very hard to wear while typing, something that I do all day. In contrast the Corax sits very neatly against the wrist and is far more comfortable than the Citizen.

Another feature, and one that I was not expecting, was an alarm. The button on the bottom left controls the alarm on/off controls with a small beep/double beep and this was a very welcome addition. The alarm chime is gentile, not enough to wake me, but perfect as a reminder for things.

With a happy feeling I went to wear the watch for a week before writing this article.

Immediately I hit a problem. I wear watches quite low on the arm; right next to the wrist. The basic issue was that the pin that unclips the metal strap was too close to my hand and whenever I moved my hand down past 45 degrees the pin would get tapped and the strap would flick open. This happened every time I put my hands in my pockets, which as you can imagine, is not the time to have a watch muck you around. I am pretty sure that this is a problem personal to me. Many people will wear this watch in a different location, such as higher up the arm, and they will not encounter this issue. Further I am a very large guy, with big hands and thick wrists and I perhaps fall outside the design specifications.

Anyway, it was highly annoying and for me almost a deal breaker. Frustrated, I was about to take advantage of the 60 day, no quibble guarantee, when I spotted and decided to try out a leather strap.

CW sells a leather strap for the generation that the Corax falls into, but it is not designed for this special version. I ordered it wondering if it would do the job at all or even look correct. My fears were put to rest when it arrived. The leather strap is everything that metal ones were not. It hugs the wrist, is much more comfortable and will not come off. I love it, and think that the watch looks very elegant in this configuration.

Realisation struck me that I had been wearing my Citizen as part watch, part bracelet. This perhaps harks back to the jewelry aspect of male watch design, or perhaps to just my chavish upbringing. Nevertheless, The CW watch is all watch and all the better for it.

I have grown even fonder of this timepiece. The features are all easy to use and actually useful to my life. The watch goes with anything that I wear, which the Citizen certainly did not, and the leather strap has an understated elegance and softens the chunk of steel on my wrist.

It speaks the language of real men in the year 2007. We are not quite the aggressive misogamist monsters of the past, but similarly we are not the Metro-Sexual girlyness of David Beckham. We are a new breed. Similar to the ancient Samurai, warriors; yes, but also gentlemen. Poets and artists in everything that we do, our actions must speak for themselves and we would never sell ourselves short by spending obscene amounts to buy our way into a fictional group that exists only in the minds of marketing people.

This is the sort of watch my Granddad would have bought. WWII Airforce pilot and war hero, he would have liked the ease of use, the firm grip of the strap and the lack of pretension and that is more than good enough for me.

Over the Xmas break I have had a lot of comments on the watch and everyone is very impressed with the CW business model.

I am sure that when the future watches come out I will be buying more, as the price level lends itself to collection. There is a diver model in the pipeline that I especially like the look of.

Overall definitely a fine timepiece, one that grows on you and one that you can proud to wear.

Regards, Basho

If you too want a Christopher Ward watch then please click this link: Christopher Ward London Limited

The layout of the face,

Image taken from the manual and owned by CW.

The movement, ISA based:

Images owned as marked