CHRISTOPHER WARD W7 RAPIDE CHRONOGRAPH Mk1

Christopher Ward entered the ladies’ watch market in 2007 and created 21 different models over the years, before announcing in 2014 they intended to exit the women’s field. By 2015 all remaining stock was sold off so they could concentrate on the better-selling models intended for men. That’s not to say that women can’t wear Chris Ward watches now though - my misses loves her 38mm bronze C60! Because the ladies watches never really sold in great numbers when they were new, they’re now even harder to come by - I’d say maybe one or two a month come up in the various outlets that I monitor.

The watch for sale in this listing is a Mk1 W7 Rapide Chgronograph - essentially a scaled-down, 36mm version of the men’s 42mm C7 Rapide Chrono. It was introduced in 2008 and was an active model for one year before being replaced by the MkII in mid 2009. With this being a July 2009 watch, it’s one of the youngest W7 Mk1s.

The Mk1 W7 Chrono range was made up of seven (!) different colours, with the straps and numbers on the face changing for each edition. They were available in: pink, white, green, blue, brown, black and the red you see here.

The Mk1 W7s originally came with croc-imprinted leather straps. But with this model being sold right on the crossover between Mk1 and Mk2, it was supplied with two smooth leather Mk2 straps - one deployant strap in red and one tang strao in white. Both have quick-release pins, so switching between them is relatively simple.

Condition
Having a highly polished case and bezel makes many CW women’s watches magnets for blemishes, so it’s common to see ladies watches in seemingly battered condition. This particular watch has only seen limited wrist time over the last 13 years though, so it’s actually one of the best I’ve seen in a while. There are are various light blemishes here and there, so it’s not mint, but there’s nothing really worthy of specific note. I will say it’s one of those watches that looks much better in the metal than it does in photographs (my LED photo cube combined with pictures which are far larger than actual size tends to make blemishes look far worse than they actually are).

The original CW red leather strap with its quick-release pins and butterfly deployant clasp is in great condition with lots of life left in it. The additional white strap is in even better condition than the red.

Supplied as an almost full set including CW case, covering letter and user book with Certificate of Authenticity. It’s just missing its polishing cloth!

Specifications

• Case size: 36mm

• Lug width: 19mm

• Height: 11mm

• Waterproof: 100m

• Movement: ETA G15.211

User Manual

Christopher Ward have a PDF version for the W7 Mk2 owner’s manual on their website. It’s visually slightly different to the Mk1, but the operation is the same. https://www.christopherward.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-cw-library/default/dw2f1e0a23/pdfs/Women/w7_manual.pdf

Final notes

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