Christopher Ward (London), founded by Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis in 2004, is a British watch company. It was the first online-only watch retailer selling timepieces directly to the consumer.
The Telegraph, 2014. Christopher Ward watches are designed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and manufactured in Switzerland.English Design Meets Swiss Mechanics
Noah Williams, 2015. In 2015,

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

ranked Christopher Ward as 77th in the SME Export Track 100;The SME Export Track 100
, The Sunday Times, 2015. the only watch company on the list. In January 2020, it was announced that co-founder Christopher Ward had left the business. His involvement in a new watch brand, TRIBUS, was announced in September 2020. TRIBUS ceased operations and filed for insolvency in the summer of 2022.

History

Christopher Ward was founded by Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis on a boat on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

in 2004.Small Business Spotlight Christopher Ward
The Guardian, 2013 Christopher Ward released their first watch in 2005. By December of that year, influential watch bloggers were writing more about Christopher Ward than

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

on the site TimeZone. The company was announced as the official timing partner of the Bluebird speed record team in 2012.Partner with Bluebird
The Watch Review Site, 2012 For the company's 10th anniversary in 2014, it merged with Swiss manufacturing partners Synergies Horlogères SA to create Christopher Ward London Holdings Ltd.Time Flies for Christopher Ward
Time Flies for Christopher Ward, 2014 This culminated in the launch of Christopher Ward's first in-house movement, Calibre SH21, in July 2014.GQ Magazine
GQ, 2014 Conceived and designed over four years by Christopher Ward's watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke, the SH21 is entirely Swiss made.New State Independence
Robb Report, 2014 This release was said to be "probably the most important development by a British watch brand in the past 50 years." Christopher Ward London was the only watch company to rank in The Sunday Times SME Export Track 100, ranking 77th in 2015. In January 2020, it was announced that Christopher Ward had left the brand. He was later announced as a director of TRIBUS, a new watch brand he had founded alongside his three sons, Jonathon, James and Jake.

Business Model

From its launch in 2004, the company was established as the "world's first exclusively online luxury watch brand." Christopher Ward cut out retailers by selling directly to consumers.CW Rolex of the Internet
Pocket Lint, 2014 Due to the saving of traditional marketing and distribution costs, Christopher Ward watches are sold with lower margins for a more transparent price according to the company. The brand combines technical quality and value.Path To Success
Sales Initiative, 2012 In addition to using the internet for sales, Christopher Ward handles customer service requests through an online form. Once service requirements are determined, the watch is sent to technicians at Christopher Ward. A differentiating factor of Christopher Ward is their "60, 60 guarantee." This plan entails a 60-day free return and a 60-month movement guarantee on watches purchased on their site. In the year ended March 31, 2020, the company claimed a 19% growth in revenue to reach approximately £10 million, with an annual production of roughly 20,000 watches. For 2020 total, the company stated sales of "about £15m" for an increase of 30% over the previous year.

Showrooms

Christopher Ward watches are only available online, via telephone and from the company's showroom in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, Berkshire. A showroom in

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester. Along with Manchester, it is a seat of New Hampshire's most populous ...

(USA) was closed in March 2016.Retail showroom in the United States closed
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The CW Challenger Programme

While Christopher Ward does not sponsor sports teams, the company has set up the Christopher Ward Challenger programme to support young talent with world class potential. The programme started when a team of recent graduates asked for help with their plan to climb a new peak in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

. The peak has been named after the company and is now known as Mount Christopher Ward.Mountain named after Christopher Ward
, Watch Pro, 2013 Since then, the Challenger programme has been expanded and now includes; Amber Hill, Britain's youngest and highest performing talent in women's

Skeet shooting Skeet shooting is a recreational and competitive activity where participants use shotguns to attempt to break clay targets which two fixed stations mechanically fling into the air at high speed and at a variety of angles. Skeet is one of the ...

, European champion 2015;Amber Hill
Kavanagh Communications, 2014 Sam Brearey, GB yachtsman and Fireball class world champion

Will Satch William Spencer Satch (born 9 June 1989) is a British rower and Olympic gold medallist. Rowing career Satch was educated at Shiplake College near Henley-on-Thames in southeast Oxfordshire. His rowing coach was New Zealand gold medallist Sh ...

Will Satch
Kavanagh Communications, 2015 Olympic medallist GB rower; Samantha Kinghorn, Paralympic athlete in the T35 class; and filmmaker Chris Loizou.Chris Loizou
imdb, 2015

Infringement allegations

On 16 September 2018, it was reported that

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the thi ...

would take Christopher Ward to court over alleged trademark infringement.

References

External links

*{{Official website, www.christopherward.co.uk/ * http://wornandwound.com/2014/07/03/introducing-christopher-ward-sh21-game-changer/ * https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/festival-of-business/11057329/British-watchmaker-launches-movement-against-Swiss-monopoly.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20141010200323/http://www.watchpro.com/16634-christopher-ward-marks-10-years-with-sh21-calibre/
Christopher Ward Watch Reviews

Watch Ya Gonna Do About It Christopher Ward Watch Reviews
Watch manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 2004 Manufacturing companies established in 2004 Watch brands