Christopher Ward, a brand we’ve featured here on the WRB on multiple occasions, is expanding on their successful “The Twelve” model with an enthusiast driven sweet zone sizing of 38mm. If I recall correctly their initial launch of The Twelve back in April of 2023 made waves within the watch community. For one it was an unexpected release from Christopher Ward, who have been traditionally known to create rather reserved British watch designs – and secondly the new release touched on many fun design aspects craved by collectors.
This new iteration being released today is the same great watch with minute adjustments that have been demanded by CW’s client base, with many of these interactions being as personal as face to face discussions with collectors at watch events. The Twelve 38 is retaining what many of us already love about the original. It still keeps the exact same Gerald Genta influence with the angled bezel and swooping case to bracelet integration that became famous due to the AP Royal Oak, along side its captivating tessellated pyramid dial now being offered in two retro inspired dial colors of gold and light blue, with another two more traditional hues of a darker navy blue and silver. One very minor change from previous versions is the now color matched date wheel, allowing for a more seamless and cohesive look.
Seeing this new release makes me feel that it should fit on my best watches with integrated bracelets around 10k article, but surprisingly this new watch has a very reasonable $995.00 USD starting price when optioned with the rubber bracelet – it certainly looks much more expensive than it is.
With the price now brought up in discussion, one area that keeps this watch rather accessible is the Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement. A distant yodel from the high end movements found on for example the Santos De Cartier using the caliber 1847 – but this is a trade off I’m sure most of us would accept to have a more affordable option. The Sellita is not a let down so to say, as it still is a very robust and hard wearing movement, it’s mass produced and with that comes easier access to repairs and parts. The small 38 hour power reserve could have you second guessing though. Technicalities of the movement aside, the SW200-1 actually pairs very well with this watch, allowing for a near custom fit inside the watch case making the impressive 9.95mm case thickness a possibility.
Within Chrisopher Ward’s press release of this new 38mm variant they put emphasis on the newly available white rubber strap option, but I personally don’t see the allure. White rubber gets dirty easily, and it contrasts harshly as a backdrop for most of the really gorgeous dial color options. Apparently the demand is there though, so this is now an option if you so wish. This watch is truly outstanding when paired with the integrated metal bracet, and I’d go as far as to say it really makes the watch what it is – one of the best affordable Gerald Genta / Royal Oak tribute watches available today. The bracelet version will net you an additional fee, bumping the total price up to $1225 USD.
Leave a Reply