Seiko Champion

A few months ago I vented a bit about watch makers who brand their product with a national identity, when in fact they’re just using generic Swiss movements, and in many cases Asian labour and assembly.

Christopher Ward from all I’ve read is an exception, based in England but being very up front with the components and manufacturing of his watches, as he summarizes in a recent interview:

… I think all too often some manufacturers are afraid to be open and honest about where their components come from. In fact in the luxury goods market, and in this I include perfumes and handbags, there is an awful lot of smoke and mirrors set up to justify high prices.

Christopher Ward London watches take the best of watch-production from around the world. The movements are indeed manufactured in Switzerland – we have relationships, for example, with ETA. The cases are manufactured in the Far East, where most of the watches are also assembled, some are assembled in the UK.

The important point here is to say we’re not afraid to say who we use or where we buy our components from, so long as we source from reputable and ethical suppliers, for example all of our diamond watches adhere to the Kimberley Process, and we have a very close relationship with our production guys at the unit in Hong Kong …

His Malvern Aviator is on my current want list. ETA 2824-2 automatic movement, anti-reflective sapphire crystal, exhibition back, nice clean “flieger” aviator type look, date, deployment clasp, screw-down crown.




True to his above philosophy, it’s a lot less expensive than other watches using similar mechanicals – only sold on the Internet, here in Canada it would be about $330. And, free shipping! And better yet, what he calls a “60/60″ guarantee … return within 60 days for full refund for any reason, and 60 months (5 years) warranty on the movement!

I’m not sure where they actually spend any advertising budget, since the firm is only selling via their web site, but there are enough articles on his watches in the various watch blogs and magazines I read to more than do a good job getting him a lot of WIS traffic.

I did a bit of searching and found Paul Hubbard on his blog Fnorg, has a post here on this watch and what he enjoys about it…

… You can see the perlage, Etachron fine regulator, skeletonized rotor, and just a hint of the Cote du Geneve polish. Gorgeous!The ETA 2824-2 is a nice movement, available in five grades. It’s used everywhere, in watches costing up to five figures. In top grade, its a COSC-certifiable chronometer, and even in Elabore a nice movement. CW wants 165 pounds (appx 270 USD) for it. By way of comparison, a low-end Fortis with the base-grade 2824-2 is $600! …

And a really nice follow up for us Seiko collectors, is Paul’s next post, comparing this watch to a similar cost Seiko, and why he chose this instead.

… Compare that to the Elabore-grade ETA 2824-2 in my Christopher Ward Aviator:

• Elaboré (regulated in three positions Dial up, 6H and 9H)
• Mean daily rate +/- 7 s/d
• Max variation across 5 positions: 20 s
• Isochronism: +/- 15 s/d

Also note that the CW is better finished: Rhodium plating, perlage, blued screws, CdG on the rotor and colored engraving …

… So here’s what it came down to: The CW has a better movement, an IMHO more attractive dial, cost the same, is readable at night and is more legible …>

Precision accuracy isn’t a big thing for me with mechanical watches, but I have to admit if I was in the market for a >$400 non-diver Seiko such as an Alpinist, I agree with Paul, I’d pick up this Christopher Ward Aviator instead. It’s even cheaper!