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A watch is an intricate and complex piece of machinery and its progress from the drawing board to the wrist is a long process that marries high-level aesthetics with precision engineering.
And the creation of Christopher Ward’s C5 Malvern Automatic and C3 Malvern Chronograph watches – the two models with which the business launched through an advertising campaign and on their website in June, 2005 – mirrors the development of the CW ethos and philosophy.
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Working on the basis that ‘less is more’ for both the design development of the watches and of the business model, Chris Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis came up with the idea for their watch company on a boat on the River Thames early in 2004. Chris was the watch aficionado, while Mike and Peter were expert retailers – they had owned specialist store group, Early Learning Centre.
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Pictured above (left to right). Chris Ward and co-founder Mike France discuss progress during the creative process and (right) the inspiration mood boards for the C5 Malvern Automatic are working documents that everyone in the team contributed towards.
Pictured right. One of the very first Advert Campaign Proposals by London-based advertising agency
The One Off.
At this point the business had no name and no products, but it did have a concept – to sell top quality English designed watches made with precision Swiss movements at accessible prices. The trio was determined that the company would focus on elegant, understated English design and styling that would resonate with customers.
So the starting point was looking at quintessentially British traits – from Sir Edward Elgar’s music to the typically English Worcestershire countryside and the rolling gentility of the Malvern Hills.
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Not only did Malvern provide the eventual name for
the first watches, but those very 'rolling hills' led to a design in which every visible element is rounded,
from the date window to the two-piece dials and hour markers.
Chris and Mike also spent happy hours researching ideas for watch design at venues and museums,
such as the Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon in Warwickshire.
Pictured right. Sir Edward Elgar and the 'rolling' Malvern Hills and (below) the very first incarnation of the Christopher Ward Brand Proposition
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It was at Gaydon that the pair first saw the Aston Martin collection, whose dashboards proved significant for the design development of the C3 Malvern Chronograph, and which were the inspirational kernel for the later Grand Prix C70 series concept. It possibly also helped that Mike had just placed an order for an Aston Martin DB9!
By the summer of 2004 they were working out of an office in London’s Soho where the walls were soon covered in a meleé of inspirational mood boards, tear offs and post it notes. From these first design thoughts, rough sketches were created. And at this point they started working with Adam Devey- Smith, founder of the London based consultancy The One Off.
Chris says: “Adam had worked with Bentley, the British Design Council and other well known British brands and we thought it would be great to bring some fresh eyes to English watch design.”
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| The One Off supported the development of both the company ethos and the watch design so that the eventual launch watches actually embodied the company ethos. Over the following three months constant reiterations and refinements were made until the team had two watches developed – an ivory faced automatic analogue with a leather strap and a blacked faced quartz chronograph on a bracelet. This was the start of the C5 and the C3 respectively – The start of what was to be the Malvern Collection. |
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With the final design sketches to hand, the team started to work with component manufacturers on the technical development of the watches, using Swiss made movements from manufacturers such as ETA and Ronda. Technical drawings were made in great detail of every single component that would eventually find itself in the watch.
Pictured right. CAD drawings of the prototype watch, start to give life to the Malvern
Within one to two months, they had a CNC machine made prototype. This was the first time that the watches were seen as a three dimensional product – a real thrill for the team. More refinements followed as the final versions of the C5 and C3 evolved. And it was another two months before the pre-production samples arrived in November 2004.
During the hiatus waiting for the pre-production watch samples, the team worked on the development of the ancillary elements, such as designing boxes, straps, packaging and graphics, plus the development of a simple transactional website. |
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| Meanwhile, the business still did not have a name. A number of diversions were taken and eventually rejected, including MPC – which took in the initials of the founders’ names – and Fennel & Worswick. The latter being the maiden names of Mike’s and Peter’s wives. Peter’s wife, Monica, is actually a distant relative of the famous 18th Century Lancastrian clockmaker Thomas Worswick. |
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In the end, however, the simplicity of using the name of the watchmaker among them, Christopher Ward, was the most obvious route.
As Mike says: “We realised that we did not want or need to hide behind a pseudonym. We wanted to be known for the quality and design of the watches, and were proud to put a name to that.”
With further pre-production samples signed off by January 2005, a name in place, a website designed, and packaging on order, the team gave the go-ahead for production to start in February 2005. In late May the first watches arrived in England and as Chris says: “Summer 2004 to early summer 2005 may seem like quite a short time, but as well as all that inspiration an awful lot of perspiration and graft went into bringing our first watches to market. But there is also the excitement of seeing them develop and change and become watches we all wanted.”
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| Once the watches had arrived, photography and the creation of the advertising took place, again in hand with Adam and his team. And the results, as they say, are history. The Malverns were centre stage in ads in The Independent, Telegraph and Times newspapers that attracted the first customers to the website – and the first watch, a C5SWT was sold to one Mr Clarke on June 5th, 2005. Today, over 5 years later, both the original watches are still going strong and remain in demand. |
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| The C5 Malvern Automatic |
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| The iconic C5 Malvern Automatic is renowned worldwide for its quintessential English design combining a superb customised automatic movement and unrivalled value. |
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Features:
Specification:
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Swiss made
25/26 Jewel customised automatic movement
38 Hour power reserve
Precision etched 2-piece dial
Screw-in crown and back plate
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Hand polished case with exhibition back
Italian Leather with easy opening butterfly clasp
Premium Louisiana alligator strap upgrade available
Unique engraved serial number
Diameter 38mm
Height 10.8mm
Weight 80g
Movement ETA 2824-2/Sellita SW200-1 Our Partners
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| The C3 Malvern Chronograph |
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| Inspired by the dashboard dials of a vintage Aston Martin the C3 Malvern Chronograph enjoys the same timeless classic looks and elan of that famous English sports car. |
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Features:
Specification:
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Swiss made
13 Jewel Ronda quartz movement
Precision etched two-piece dial
Split-seconds/stopwatch function
Luminescent indices and hands
Screw-in crown and back plate
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Italian Leather with easy opening butterfly clasp
Premium Louisiana alligator strap upgrade available
Unique engraved serial number
Diameter 40mm
Height 10.3mm
Weight 80g
Movement Ronda 5040.D Our Partners
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| The C5 Malvern Aviator MKII |
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Christopher Ward is proud to announce the arrival of the C5 Malvern Aviator MKII the watch which is taking the place of the limited edition (1936 pieces) C5 MKI.
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Features:
Specification:
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Swiss made
25/26 Jewel customised automatic movement
Incabloc anti-shock system
38 Hour power reserve
Precision etched 2-piece dial
Screw-in crown and back plate
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Hand finished case with exhibition back
Italian Leather strap with easy opening butterfly clasp
Premium Louisiana alligator strap upgrade available
Diameter 38mm
Height 10.8mm
Weight 80g
Movement ETA 2824-2/Sellita SW200-1Our Partners
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| The C5 Malvern Quartz |
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The C5 Malvern Quartz is the perfect introduction to CW allowing you to experience a piece of precision engineering on your wrist. Put simply, it is probably the most affordable luxury watch in the world.
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Features:
Specification:
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Swiss made
Hand polished 316 stainless steel case
Swiss movement
Precision etched 2-piece dial
Screw-in crown and back plate
Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
Bracelet with easy opening butterfly clasp
Premium Louisiana alligator strap upgrade available
Unique engraved serial number
Diameter 38mm
Height 10.8mm
Weight 80g
Movement Ronda 715 Our Partners
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