CHRISTOPHER WARD C5 MALVERN AUTOMATIC MKI

This is the watch. This is the one that put Christopher Ward on the map. Without this watch (and Dave Malone’s timezone.com review) things might have been very different for CW - and not necessarily in a good way! You can read the story in Mike France’s own words here.

For sale here is a C5 Malvern Automatic Mk1. It was launched in 2005 (at a cost of just £199 on a leather strap 😮!) alongside its C3 Chronograph brother, as CW’s first two watches. We’re used to new models, revisions and special editions coming and going like busses these days, so it’s kind of hard to believe that this C5 Mk1 remained on sale for a full seven years before it was eventually replaced by the Mk2 version in 2012 - by which time the cost of the bracelet model had increased to £400.

This particular watch was sold in July 2012, one of the last ones.

Warranty

It comes with a three month Ward Hoard warranty.

Strap

The original leather crocodile style strap with Bader clasp is in fabulous condition.

Condition

These watches have highly polished cases and they’re around 10-15 years old now, so it’s pretty common to see them covered in marks or polished to death in an attempt to remove said marks! This one is very original and is in fantastic condition. It has been worn, so there are various light marks and blemishes, but nothing really worthy of specific note.

I bought it from the original owner (along with six others) who has obviously looked after it extremely well and only worn on special occasions.

Keeping very good time at +9 seconds per day on the timegrapher.

Offered with manual complete with Certificate of Authenticity and the original polishing cloth, the original box and outer box (don’t see many of those in this condition) and the original invoice for the princely sum of £197.50.

Overall, it’s a mint condition, original C5 extremely rare to come in this condition, particularly in this colour.

Specifications

• Case size: 38mm

• Lug width: 18mm

• Height: 10.8mm

• Waterproof: 50m

• Movement: ETA 2824-2 or Sellita SW200-1

User Manual
A PDF version of the owner’s manual is available on the CW website: https://www.christopherward.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-cw-library/default/dw14bedcc6/pdfs/Dress/c5auto_manual.pdf

Final Notes

• The first photo is a library shot, the rest all show the actual watch and package.