Christopher Ward C11 MSL Vintage

The C11 was Christopher Ward’s second square watch, following in the footsteps of 2008’s C13/C15 Henley models - C13 being the quartz model and C15 being the auto. Rather than being designed as dress watches like the C13/15, the C11 came in aviation, dive and even motorsport styles.

The aviation style C11 MSL (mean sea level) first surfaced in 2011 with the PVD-coated-case ‘black manta’, with its white markers and original CW logo. In 2012, at the same time as the CHR. WARD logo’s introduction, the C11 range exploded with silver and black case MSLs, Vintage marker MSLs, a quartz chronograph and the popular C11 Makaira dive range.

The watch in this listing is a C11 MSL Vintage in black. That means the case has a black PVD (physical vapor deposition) coating, there are vintage style hands and markers and it has a self-winding automatic heart. These watches were available from CW between 2012 and 2015… however, in Jan 2018, CW sold a handful of watches they’d built up from spare parts, making the watch for sale in this listing (and around 15 others sold the same day) one of the very last C11s ever sold by CW.

Condition
The watch head is in almost new condition. It is used, so there may be blemishes visible under magnified inspection, but to my naked eye, it’s a minter!

It’s keeping great time at approx. +10sec per day - comfortably inside the +/-20sec specified by CW. It’s in perfect working order with no sign of any issues.

It’s fitted with a genuine CW Tiber leather strap. The strap is in good used condition, with plenty of life left in it.

The watch comes with everything it left CW Towers with: original presentation case, covering letter, unused polishing cloth, Certificate of Authenticity and another letter explaining it’s an historic model so the user books were out of print. That letter directs you to the PDF version mentioned below.

Specifications

• Case size: 42mm

• Lug width: 22mm

• Height: 10.8mm

• Waterproof: 50m

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

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/dw7acbc0b2/pdfs/Aviation/c11_manual.pdf

Final Notes

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

• Having followed CW for many years, I’ve observed a few of instances of crowns being pulled out/off. So it’s advised to take care when pulling the crown out to the time-adjusting position three.