CHRISTOPHER WARD C7 RAPIDE AUTOMATIC

Introduction

With the exception of a few military specials, the Christopher Ward C7 (and C70) range has always been home to their sport/motorsport inspired watches. The C7 Rapide first arrived in 2008 as a quartz chronograph and that battery chrono theme continued with the launch of the Mk2 in 2012, which was essentially a Mk1 case with some new face designs.

It wasn’t until 2017, when the C7 Rapide range got a complete overhaul, that an automatic movement became available in a C7 for the first time. The watch for sale in this listing is one of those ‘Mk3’ C7 autos - although CW never officially called it the Mk3.

Apart from the name and the fact that it’s a 42mm watch, the Mk3 (2017-on) C7 Rapide range has very little in common with the previous C7 models. The standout feature of the automatic watch has to be the multi-part case construction with its contrasting case/ring colours and its hollowed out lugs. Both those made it a pretty expensive watch to manufacture and pretty unique to look at.

I’m a huge fan of this design, the applied indices and textured dial means that it is an absolute winner for me - such a shame that they discontinued it.

I particularly like this one - the black DLC case with the red case insert looks superb and is one of the rarer versions. The commoner stainless case has a black case insert.

Condition

It’s in good, used condition with some light marks on the bezel and case as shown on the photos.

It’s running at +3spd on the timegrapher, so keeping excellent time.

Comes complete with box and manual/certificate of authenticity.

Strap options

It comes on its original red motorsport leather strap which is in reasonably well used condition.

If you’d rather, I’ll swap it out for either a CW black hybrid or brown vintage oak leather strap for an extra £25, or do it head only for a discount of £20.

Warranty

It comes with a three month Ward Hoard warranty

Specs:

• Diameter: 42mm

• Height: 11.15mm

• Calibre: Sellita SW200

• Water resistance: 10ATM (100m)

• Strap lugs: 22mm

• Lug-to-lug: 48mm

Owner’s Handbook

A PDF of the owner’s book is available on the CW website: https://www.christopherward.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-cw-library/default/dw543007a4/pdfs/Motorsport/c7-rapide-auto.pdf

Final Notes:
Note the first pic is a library shot. The rest show the actual watch and package.