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 December 2011, making it one of the younger Mk1s you’re likely to find. One pretty nice touch is the bracelet. I’ve bought and sold a few of these over the years and they’ve always been on leather straps - this is the first one I’ve had on a bracelet.

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 extremely good condition. It has been worn, so there are various light marks and blemishes, but nothing really worthy of specific note.

Offered as an (almost) full set in its original case with covering letter, owner’s book (with Certificate of Authenticity) and the spare link which has been removed from the bracelet - the only thing it’s missing is the polishing cloth! Overall, it’s a great condition, original C5 which would be pretty tricky to replace like-for-like.

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.