A week with the Christopher Ward Twelve

I bought into the hype and pulled the trigger on this almost as soon as it came out, thinking it was the answer to all my prayers for an integrated-bracelet steel sports watch that was both sensible and ambitious, showcased the brand's penchant for uncompromising detail-oriented construction and finishing, and be something of a GADA. And you know what, it was!

It holds the integrated-bracelet steel sports watch ethos of transitioning quite well between scenarios, with it looking at ease with both casual and formal wear, inside and outside, hanging out at the park or in front of the classroom. Would probably leave it at home for your next gala, but it works well with my uniform of tailored suits.

The big winner here is the light play. This thing really dazzles, courtesy of all the facets, finishing types, scalloped bezel, and the real star of the show, the textured dial, which is in my opinion more three-dimensional than similar textured dials like that of the Tissot PRX. What I mean is that the literal depth of the texture seems to be greater, giving it much more dynamism. The bracelet's polished edges, though subtle, really catch the light and make for very lively wrist rolls.

Perhaps my biggest point of skepticism was the indices, actually, since I'm usually not a huge fan of lume-filled, truncated triangles (they often remind me of little fangs), but these ended up growing on me, partly given their relatively complexity, with brushed tops and polished sides that make them pop. As far as color, the white dial at least can go from bright white to an almost metallic sheen depending on the light conditions.

Happy to report that on my roughly 6.5" wrist, it wears beautifully, though I would perhaps caution against a wrist substantially smaller than that, particularly on the bracelet (would potentially work with the rubber strap, though from what I understand that also has a butterfly clasp that could be awkward with a much smaller wrist).

The 40mm size has always been a bit hit-or-miss for me depending on the lug-to-lug and downturn. I loved the look of my 40mm Mido Multifort Patrimony but ultimately sold it for having jutting, flat lugs that overhung my wrist (personally, I think it was a crime to make a beautiful midcentury Art Deco-styled watch in that size, but that's a topic for another time).

Here, the short lug-to-lug and sharply angled integrated endlink make the watch eminently wearable despite the case's own relatively flat profile, and the thinness definitely helps.

As I noted in a previous post, the movement is running a touch fast for my liking at about +11/sec per day consistently, but that's certainly not outside of spec and which I can live with, though it's still likely I'll cave and regulate it at some point soon. Other than that, amplitude and beat error look good, and I haven't had any issues. Date changes with no incident and the winding and setting actions are smooth, as you'd expect from a Sellita SW200.

All in all, I'm very impressed, and I think this is the integrated-bracelet steel sports watch (let's just start abbreviating this? Not IBS though...) that I've been waiting for. To my mind, it fits right in that tier between the PRX and the unattainable Czapek Antartique, Zenith Defy, or even something like a Parmigiani Tonda. Reliable, excellent finishing, respected and innovative brand, and all for half a Longines Spirit.

Actually, my most unhinged takeaway from this is that sometimes I found myself looking down at it and thinking idly of an integrated-bracelet watch of a very different type and very different price point: the Vacheron 222, which might be my personal grail, in the sense of an actually unreachable object of yearning that occupies too much brain space.

The scalloped bezel against the flat tonneau-ish case kind of gave me some 222 vibes, and I ended up musing that I would definitely at least consider selling a couple watches and dishing out in the $9-$10k range for a 35-36mm CW Twelve in yellow gold... but that's probably just me, and also something that will definitely never happen (but if you're reading this CW, call me).

Happy weekend to all, and go enjoy some summer watches!