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Zach Weiss
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When Christopher Ward first announced the C9 5-Day SS Chronometer (SS for small seconds), I was immediately very excited. It took their awesome in-house 5-day chronometer movement, the SH21, modified it to be hand wound and feature small seconds at 6, put it in a modestly sized case, and styled it in the classic aesthetic of Marine Chronometers. In doing so, it combined a bunch of things I really liked into a very aesthetically pleasing package. To make things even more appealing, they gave it a very compelling price point of $1,780. Not cheap, but a solid value for what the watch offers. After all, no one else is offering anything close to a 5-day COSC movement at this price.
The watch is also was a bit of an interesting departure for the brand. While they’ve had the C9 line going for some time, the Marine Chronometer aesthetic is a change, but a very welcome one that makes a lot of sense for the brand. Other C9 watches are almost Art Deco in styling, but this watch speaks to a British heritage dating to John Harrison, who invented the Marine Chronometer in the first place. Thus, it sort of celebrates their own achievement with the SH21 as a milestone for the brand. No matter how you see it, it’s a very nice time piece, so lets take a closer look.
Christopher Ward C9 5-Day SS Chronometer Review
Case: Steel
Movement: SH21
Dial: White
Lume: NA
Lens: Sapphire w/ AR
Strap: Leather
Water Res.: 50 m
Dimensions: 40 x 48 mm
Thickness: 12.5 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Crown: 7 x 3.5 mm
Warranty: 60|60 Guarantee
Price: $1,780
Case
The C9 5-day SS Chronometer features the same case design as other watches in the C9x line. This is actually the 5th one we’ve reviewed, but it’s the first time we’ve seen the 40mm version. The previous models we discussed had a hefty 43mm case. While still very handsome, it simply was too large for some people, and kept the watches from being svelte dress pieces. While 40 x 48 x 12.5mm is not exactly svelte either, it’s a much more subdued and comfortable size. More over, it made me appreciate the lines and finishing of the case more.
The design is very attractive. It’s masculine but elegant, with broad lugs and sharp lines. The gentle curve of the lugs softens them just enough to prevent any harshness as they transition to the slab sides. The rounded bezel and lug top surfaces are mirror polished, while the case side has satin brushing. The quality of the brushing is very good, with enough grain to have texture, but still a clean look overall. The edges where the lugs transition to the sides are all precise and clear, exactly what you want to see.
Off of three is a 7 x 3.5mm crown with a cylinder shape. It matches the case well being equally simple but well executed. It features coining along its edge and a CW logo on the end. Since this is a manual wound watch you’re going to be using the crown a lot. Luckily the design feels good between your fingers and is easy to grasp.
Flipping the watch over, you have a massive display window showing off the equally massive SH21 movement. I’ll talk more about it later, but it’s very enjoyable to get to see it here, especially as the manual wound version has no rotor blocking the view. Around the edge of the window you have a few watch details. The one to note is the “COSC Certified Chronometer” indicating that this watch has indeed been certified.
Dial
The dial of the C9 5-day SS is clean and classical, drawing from the Marine Chronometer style. Simply put, if you like that style, you’re going to love this dial, if not, you might want to look away. C Ward played it very true to the concept here, keeping things traditional and not adding much in the way of twists. For me, that works, for others, it might be too old-school.
The dial surface is pure, matte white with perhaps the slightest egg shell texture. On it, you have an hour index of large black Roman numerals, surrounded by a rail-road type minute index. That’s basically it for the main dial, making all of the little details count. Details like the typeface of the numerals, which is thin and graceful, yet highly legible. And the slight increase in line width on the minute index every 5 minutes… just enough to make them stand out more, but not too bold either.
At 6 you have a nicely proportioned sub-second dial; a necessity on a Marine Chronometer. It’s slightly depressed into the dial and features a very simple index of black lines which are longer at intervals of 5. It breaks up the dial well, but doesn’t distract either. At 3 is a date window, which does break up the hour index. The date is displayed in a serif typeface in black on a white background. While it does break the symmetry of the dial, and create a bit of hole, the positioning lines up well with the Roman numerals, thus integrating better with the dial. At first, the window annoyed me a bit, but I got use to it after wearing the watch for a bit. That said, I would love to see a no-date option offered as well.
The hands C Ward went with were a great choice. Rather than the Breguet hands often found on dials this style, they chose thin leaf hands in blue steel for the hours and minutes. Perhaps a bit less bold or masculine, the leaf hands work very well playing off of the Roman numeral typeface. The sub-seconds hand is then a thin stick with a counter weight. I like the contrast here of the seconds to the hour/minute. The seconds hand feels more like part of an instrument or tool, which Chronometers essentially were.
Movement: SH21
The SH21 is no small achievement for the brand, and with this watch, they are beginning to show its versatility. With the massive 5-day/120-hour power reserve, I always felt that making it hand wound would make the most sense. After all, it’s not like you need to constantly wind it with the concern it will die. A good winding once every 5 (perhaps 4.5 to be safe) days and you should be good to go. So, I was very happy to see this watch was made with a manual version, as well as with a small seconds.
The post Christopher Ward C9 5-Day SS Chronometer Review appeared first on worn&wound.
Continue reading...
Let us know your thoughts and impressions.
When Christopher Ward first announced the C9 5-Day SS Chronometer (SS for small seconds), I was immediately very excited. It took their awesome in-house 5-day chronometer movement, the SH21, modified it to be hand wound and feature small seconds at 6, put it in a modestly sized case, and styled it in the classic aesthetic of Marine Chronometers. In doing so, it combined a bunch of things I really liked into a very aesthetically pleasing package. To make things even more appealing, they gave it a very compelling price point of $1,780. Not cheap, but a solid value for what the watch offers. After all, no one else is offering anything close to a 5-day COSC movement at this price.
The watch is also was a bit of an interesting departure for the brand. While they’ve had the C9 line going for some time, the Marine Chronometer aesthetic is a change, but a very welcome one that makes a lot of sense for the brand. Other C9 watches are almost Art Deco in styling, but this watch speaks to a British heritage dating to John Harrison, who invented the Marine Chronometer in the first place. Thus, it sort of celebrates their own achievement with the SH21 as a milestone for the brand. No matter how you see it, it’s a very nice time piece, so lets take a closer look.
Christopher Ward C9 5-Day SS Chronometer Review
Case: SteelMovement: SH21
Dial: White
Lume: NA
Lens: Sapphire w/ AR
Strap: Leather
Water Res.: 50 m
Dimensions: 40 x 48 mm
Thickness: 12.5 mm
Lug Width: 20 mm
Crown: 7 x 3.5 mm
Warranty: 60|60 Guarantee
Price: $1,780
Case
The C9 5-day SS Chronometer features the same case design as other watches in the C9x line. This is actually the 5th one we’ve reviewed, but it’s the first time we’ve seen the 40mm version. The previous models we discussed had a hefty 43mm case. While still very handsome, it simply was too large for some people, and kept the watches from being svelte dress pieces. While 40 x 48 x 12.5mm is not exactly svelte either, it’s a much more subdued and comfortable size. More over, it made me appreciate the lines and finishing of the case more.
The design is very attractive. It’s masculine but elegant, with broad lugs and sharp lines. The gentle curve of the lugs softens them just enough to prevent any harshness as they transition to the slab sides. The rounded bezel and lug top surfaces are mirror polished, while the case side has satin brushing. The quality of the brushing is very good, with enough grain to have texture, but still a clean look overall. The edges where the lugs transition to the sides are all precise and clear, exactly what you want to see.
Off of three is a 7 x 3.5mm crown with a cylinder shape. It matches the case well being equally simple but well executed. It features coining along its edge and a CW logo on the end. Since this is a manual wound watch you’re going to be using the crown a lot. Luckily the design feels good between your fingers and is easy to grasp.
Flipping the watch over, you have a massive display window showing off the equally massive SH21 movement. I’ll talk more about it later, but it’s very enjoyable to get to see it here, especially as the manual wound version has no rotor blocking the view. Around the edge of the window you have a few watch details. The one to note is the “COSC Certified Chronometer” indicating that this watch has indeed been certified.
Dial
The dial of the C9 5-day SS is clean and classical, drawing from the Marine Chronometer style. Simply put, if you like that style, you’re going to love this dial, if not, you might want to look away. C Ward played it very true to the concept here, keeping things traditional and not adding much in the way of twists. For me, that works, for others, it might be too old-school.
The dial surface is pure, matte white with perhaps the slightest egg shell texture. On it, you have an hour index of large black Roman numerals, surrounded by a rail-road type minute index. That’s basically it for the main dial, making all of the little details count. Details like the typeface of the numerals, which is thin and graceful, yet highly legible. And the slight increase in line width on the minute index every 5 minutes… just enough to make them stand out more, but not too bold either.
At 6 you have a nicely proportioned sub-second dial; a necessity on a Marine Chronometer. It’s slightly depressed into the dial and features a very simple index of black lines which are longer at intervals of 5. It breaks up the dial well, but doesn’t distract either. At 3 is a date window, which does break up the hour index. The date is displayed in a serif typeface in black on a white background. While it does break the symmetry of the dial, and create a bit of hole, the positioning lines up well with the Roman numerals, thus integrating better with the dial. At first, the window annoyed me a bit, but I got use to it after wearing the watch for a bit. That said, I would love to see a no-date option offered as well.
The hands C Ward went with were a great choice. Rather than the Breguet hands often found on dials this style, they chose thin leaf hands in blue steel for the hours and minutes. Perhaps a bit less bold or masculine, the leaf hands work very well playing off of the Roman numeral typeface. The sub-seconds hand is then a thin stick with a counter weight. I like the contrast here of the seconds to the hour/minute. The seconds hand feels more like part of an instrument or tool, which Chronometers essentially were.
Movement: SH21
The SH21 is no small achievement for the brand, and with this watch, they are beginning to show its versatility. With the massive 5-day/120-hour power reserve, I always felt that making it hand wound would make the most sense. After all, it’s not like you need to constantly wind it with the concern it will die. A good winding once every 5 (perhaps 4.5 to be safe) days and you should be good to go. So, I was very happy to see this watch was made with a manual version, as well as with a small seconds.
The post Christopher Ward C9 5-Day SS Chronometer Review appeared first on worn&wound.
Continue reading...
Let us know your thoughts and impressions.