Christopher Ward Cal.SH21 5 Day Automatic Chronometer c2015

Christopher Ward

Christopher Ward was founded by Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis on a boat on the River Thames in 2004. Christopher Ward released their first watch in 2005. By December of that year, influential watch bloggers were writing more about Christopher Ward than Rolex on the site TimeZone. The company was announced as the official timing partner of the Bluebird speed record team in 2012.

Description

Calibre SH21 is Christopher Ward’s in-house mechanical watch movement. It was launched in 2014 and it is highly significant as it is the first commercially manufactured mechanical movement from a British watch company in 50 years.

Here we have a truly outstanding example of a Christopher Ward automatic, fully original gentleman’s wristwatch from c2015. This incredible watch carries the very high grade SH21, 5 day automatic movement which can be seen through the wonderful addition of the exhibition case back. This watch has a fully original, unrestored and untouched white dial with stunning blue hands.  Complete with the original Christopher Ward presentation box.

The Dial

This dial is beautifully symmetrical, well balanced and proportioned. The dial itself, is fully original, unrestored and untouched in white and contrasts wonderfully with the original, blue ‘needle’ hands and stainless steel case. This remarkable dial carries ‘baton’ hour indices which are swept, as mentioned above, by the original blue ‘needle’ hands, completed with a date wheel at 3. Each of these beautiful aspects make this watch very easy to read when on the wrist.

The dial is correctly signed with ‘Chr.Ward London’ at the very top of the dial, along with ‘5 Day Automatic Chronometer’ on the bottom half of the dial and ‘Swiss Made’ at the very bottom of the dial below 6.

As this dial is in original, unrestored condition, this has been left untouched by our restoration team due to its superb condition. Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however we decided in this case to leave it alone, due to its unusually good condition and to retain its originality and charm for those who prefer this. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored. The hands, likewise, have also been left in their original untouched condition.

The Movement

The original Christophe Ward calibre SH21, 31 Jewel automatic 5 day chronometer movement is of exceptional quality and is original to this watch. The SH21 is an in-house movement, meaning it is designed and manufactured by Christopher Ward themselves. This adds to the exclusivity and uniqueness of their watches.

The watch movement has been fully overhauled and serviced by our watchmaker who reports it to be in excellent condition and we are therefore happy to offer this watch with our 12 months warranty*.

The SH21 movement has a 5-day power reserve, which means it can run for up to 120 hours on a full wind. This is quite impressive for a mechanical movement and allows the watch to be worn for an extended period without needing to be wound.

The movement has been fully overhauled and serviced by our watchmaker. This means it has been fully dismantled to all its component parts, before ultrasonic cleaning, microscope inspection and replacement of parts with new originals where required. Then careful reassembly and oiling ready for final testing and calibration. The watch is now running perfectly having been calibrated and timed at +1 seconds per day, which is truly outstanding for any watch of this age. It is therefore ready for many more years of reliable service.

These movements are very accurate and very reliable, making it completely practical and appropriate for regular everyday use. Our watchmaker has indicated this particular movement is in top condition and with regular servicing every 2 to 3 years, we would fully expect this watch to run very happily for many more decades to come! We are therefore very pleased to offer a 12-month warranty on this watch movement* and servicing in the future, as required.

The movement is correctly signed with ‘Christopher Ward’, the calibre number SH21 and ‘Thirty-One Jewels’.

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the full list price is paid.

The Case

The stainless steel watch case measures a very large 44mm, excluding the correct CW signed winding crown. The heavy Christophe Ward case has a highly sought after exhibition case, meaning the incredible movement can be seen through the case back. It is in excellent condition, having received a very gentle and sympathetic clean and polish, although the watch has obviously been very well cared for, as there are no dings, scratches or marks visible to the naked eye. The case-back is of full thickness and has never been engraved.

The exterior of this case back is correctly signed ‘COSC Certified Chronometer’, ‘SH21’ and the case reference number 0893.

As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Bracelet

The original stainless steel Christopher Ward signed, stainless steel bracelet is very close to perfection. The bracelet has simply been cleaned and lightly polished to bring it back to the condition you see here. This watch will currently fit a wrist size of 19.7cm, there is two extra links included with this watch.

Box and Papers

Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct and indicate the date of manufacture as c2015.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.

This watch comes complete with a green Rolex suede pouch.

Payment and Delivery

If you would like to pay by bank transfer, we will be pleased to assist you with this and pass on a 3% saving to you. Paying by bank transfer for a 3% saving will not affect your 12 months warranty. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.

Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and, unfortunately, out of our control.

We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges; however, attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.

For those who happen to visit London on occasion, we are, of course, more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and hand your watch directly to you there.

As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no-quibble sale or return policy.