Christopher Ward has unveiled its C900 Worldtimer, which the English brand says is a new interpretation of the classic GMT timepiece.
The dual time-zone watch has been designed by watchmaker Johannes Jahnke to offer readability, which the brand says can sometimes be challenging in worldtimers.
The Calibre JJ03 is based on an ETA 2893 base movement with a complication that, by engineering the gearing system to enable both the ‘local’ hand and the GMT hand to rotate at the same speed, makes the dial easy to read.
The two hands use the same 24-hour scale instead of the traditional approach – whereby one uses the 12-hour scale and the other the 24-hour one.
The C900 Worldtimer also features a window at 12 o’clock as a location reminder – displaying the selected three-letter airport code appropriate to the chosen time zone. By setting one hand to local time and, via the central crown, setting the second to the chosen global destination, the two times are easily read.
By using the window to display the selected location, the C900 Worldtimer is said to avoid the sometimes-confusing clutter caused by featuring 24 locations on the face of traditional worldtimers.
Instead, the watch’s 24 time zone locations are listed in time sequence on the back-plate, using the zone-appropriate three-letter airport code and city name.
Christopher Ward’s Maidenhead-based design team has created a detailed, multilayered dial with a criss-crossed ‘dimple’ base.
Overlaying this is the silhouette of the world map, with raised meridians of longitude and latitude. A visual touch is added by the use of a red dot on the map to indicate the selected city location – another patent-pending feature of the watch.
The C900 Worldtimer also carries the patent-pending Christopher Ward Bader deployment buckle. Named after Jörg Bader, the head of Christopher Ward’s Swiss operation, which created it, this high-grade clasp is said to be "smaller, neater and much less complicated than the ubiquitous butterfly clasp".
Chris Ward, co-founder of the company, said: “The C900 Worldtimer will enhance the reputation of Christopher Ward internationally and will have the rest of the luxury market watching us even more closely than they do already. It is another huge step in our strategy of bringing technically innovative and striking attractive watches to the market at accessible prices.”
