Christopher Ward debuts GMT movement after three-year wait

Christopher Ward has debuted its COSC-certified Calibre CW-002 movement with the unveiling of its new flagship, the C63 Sealander True GMT.

This watershed moment for the British brand marks the end of a three-year journey to develop a proprietary GMT movement.

“With off-the-shelf, Swiss, True GMT movements unavailable to us, it became clear that developing a new in-house movement was the smoothest way forward — or so we thought,” said CEO and co-founder, Mike France.

“This watch has been a labour of pain, not a labour of love,” he continued. “Three years after announcing in Loupe 28 that ‘all will be revealed in late Autumn 2023,’ we’ve finally made it. And the watch is worth the wait.”

The rhodium-plated CW-002 is visible through an exhibition caseback and allows the local hour hand to be adjusted independently in one-hour increments without stopping the watch.

There is a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock and a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock, while the indices and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova® Grade X1 BL C1 to light up in dark conditions.

“Creating a solution that uses as few parts as possible, while achieving the accuracy we expect, was incredibly challenging,” technical director Frank Stelzer said.

There are two different colour combinations for the C63 Sealander True GMT — silver with orange accents, and black with light blue accents.

Water resistant to 100 metres, the rubber straps option is priced at £2,895 / $4,200, and the bracelet option is £2,995 / $4,350.