I have more CWs than any other brand. That has been the case for about the last four years.

I started to keep a record of the watches I wear in July 2018. Since that time a CW has been worn as the main watch of the day about 15% of the time. Compared to my most worn brand approximately 50%.

My most worn CWs are the Bel Canto, C12(40.Ti)-AG and C65 Aquitaine GMT. Those together with the C65SC and C63FLE are watches that I really like to wear, rather than just watches that I am likely to put on, just because I haven’t worn them for months.

In the past 30 days I have worn a CW as my main watch 7 times. In the last 90 days, 25 times. A much higher % than the 6 year 15%, but certainly representative of my wearing habits for the past couple of years.

CW have always been my preferred brand in the price point at which they operate, it is just that they now make what I consider to be much better watches than when I started my CW journey in 2013. This accounts for the increased proportion of wear in recent times.

I don’t divide my collection into beaters and non beaters, by reference to the activity being undertaken.

I usually take three to five watches on holiday and one will typically be a CW, even though I generally end up wearing it less than any Rolex, Tudor or Omega that I take.

Neil

@Amor Vincit Omnia

Catering to the affordable crowd is kind of the problem if CW wants to go up-market. No offense to the affordable crowd but the vast majority of them cannot see a watch past the price. It's almost as if CW making a nicer watch out of their price range is a personal sleight to them and they take every effort to downplay the new hand-finishing, movement architecture, or materials.

Then comes the price comparisons of "well at that price I might as well go buy a Tudor or Omega" as if CW should always be priced below those brands in perpetuity. I swear for the Bel Canto, the most praise has come from collectors who have 6-7 figure collections while the most hate has come from CW collectors who have only ever bought from their old clearance sales.

unforced_error wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2024 4:35 pm No offense to the affordable crowd but the vast majority of them cannot see a watch past the price. It's almost as if CW making a nicer watch out of their price range is a personal sleight to them and they take every effort to downplay the new hand-finishing, movement architecture, or materials.

I think the only “slight” here is the use of the term “affordable crowd”.

There are plenty of people on this forum who enjoy buying, wearing and collecting watches but have a restricted budget.

Equally, there are those (I am one) who could have bought any of CW’s most recent halo creations but just didn’t happen to like them. The Twelve Ti (last purchase) was my style. The Bel Canto and the skeleton watches are not. End of story.

I started with CW, played the field, and have wound up right back where I started. I’ve been through Omega, Rolex, Tudor, and IWC and have never felt like the price difference above CW was ever justified for me (though I do miss my MarkXX). What’s more, I feel a particular affinity for the SH21 which make up half of my terminal collection. It’s one-in-one-out from now on.

SH21s:
C8 Flyer SS
C1 Morgan Aero8
C1 Chronometer
C63 Blue Marine
C63 Snow Leopard
C7 Apex

Sellita CWs:
Glacier Twelve (gift from my wife)
Blumiere (still incoming)

The Others:
Sinn 556a
Nomos Ludwig Datum
Oris Big Crown Pointer Date
Grand Seiko SBGA211 Snowflake

unforced_error wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2024 4:35 pm @Amor Vincit Omnia

Catering to the affordable crowd is kind of the problem if CW wants to go up-market. No offense to the affordable crowd but the vast majority of them cannot see a watch past the price. It's almost as if CW making a nicer watch out of their price range is a personal sleight to them and they take every effort to downplay the new hand-finishing, movement architecture, or materials.

Then comes the price comparisons of "well at that price I might as well go buy a Tudor or Omega" as if CW should always be priced below those brands in perpetuity. I swear for the Bel Canto, the most praise has come from collectors who have 6-7 figure collections while the most hate has come from CW collectors who have only ever bought from their old clearance sales.

I think these are very good points. Generally the price demand curve works by sales dropping as the price increases. Selling new watches such as the BC, and the 12 makes a difference, as I think those watches are different to before.

But the C60s 600m offerings have been replaced substantially by the 300m watches at a higher price point and no vouchers albeit with improved quality, and I imagine that does make it harder for original CW enthusiasts who found a lot of value in the past. Maybe disappointment and frustration more than hate.

No offense to the affordable crowd but the vast majority of them cannot see a watch past the price.

None taken. But some people DO have to consider the price. Or, at the very least, the opportunity cost. I think the Bel Canto is a fine piece of watchmaking. Could I afford it? Yes. Do I want to? No.

There is nothing really in the recent releases that has me thinking "I must own that watch". The new Lumiers does look good, but I can't see past this: https://www.theplasticsoldiercompany.co.uk/.

Now if the original (black) C65 was still in the range ... that's the watch that first attracted me to the brand.

I do not currently have a CW for myself, only three legacy safe queens for now.

I'm waiting for a '300' with the SW300 and in a case size of 40mm or under, at that point it'll sit in my watch box and be worn as much as my other watches.

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2024 4:49 pm I think the only “slight” here is the use of the term “affordable crowd”.

There are plenty of people on this forum who enjoy buying, wearing and collecting watches but have a restricted budget.

Equally, there are those (I am one) who could have bought any of CW’s most recent halo creations but just didn’t happen to like them. The Twelve Ti (last purchase) was my style. The Bel Canto and the skeleton watches are not. End of story.

You are taking affordable in a negative connotation despite originally using the term yourself. My point remains that the affordable crowd are the biggest detractors of new CW releases simply because of the price and nothing else. It's perfectly fine if you didn't like the BC, a lot of people don't, however did you complain about the price or the new complication? I don't see any of those arguments try to price out a custom Chronode striking module with hand polished bevels. It's all "but my Trident has a Sellita too and it was $500 on sale".

JAFO wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2024 7:04 pm I think these are very good points. Generally the price demand curve works by sales dropping as the price increases. Selling new watches such as the BC, and the 12 makes a difference, as I think those watches are different to before.

But the C60s 600m offerings have been replaced substantially by the 300m watches at a higher price point and no vouchers albeit with improved quality, and I imagine that does make it harder for original CW enthusiasts who found a lot of value in the past. Maybe disappointment and frustration more than hate.

The older CWs were criminally underpriced but also didn't have the current level of finishing. My Trident Pro SH21 was $800 on sale ($1.3k retail) with a 5 day in-house chronometer movement which is insane value. At that time, it was the most expensive watch that CW produced. However, it is nowhere close to being as well finished or constructed as the current Tridents with Light-catcher cases. It's a giant super thick steel case with no bevels and very awkward transitions between polished and brush surfaces. The caseback is entirely too thick and combined with too-long lugs, it results in horrendous lug float. On the wrist it rivals my gold watches in weight and is super top-heavy. I absolutely despise wearing it but it's too cheap to sell and I'd like a piece of the original CW design.

Better designs, better quality, and better materials begets a higher price point. IMO, the move of replacing 600M watches with 300M was to reduce the case size especially the thickness and not a reduction in quality.

I’ve been into watches for close to a half century now, admiring my parents’ watches as a young one, to my first LED watch when I was all of 8yo, and I’ve never had fewer than two watches since I was 10. I can be both stingy and cavalier with my watch acquisitions. Having experienced from the digital-quartz of the seventies to the likes of Omega and Rolex mechanical and quartz I have set my sights on CW.

Of my accumulation of watches I’m overweighted in CW as they represent more than half. There are only a handful of brands where I have two or more; there are several CW where I have duplication i.e. multiples of a model just different colors, eg both dial variants of the C9 Harrison GMT, or both the steel Sandstorm and the dlc Blackout. Approximately a third of the CWs I have are second hand. Among the other brands I have, most have been bought new. I wear CW the most, most of the watches I’ve sold were CW, and some I’ve sold multiple times. My first C60, which I still own, is a black GMT. I liked it enough to get a blue one. I’ve since bought and sold a blue C60 GMT a couple of times to realize I don’t like the blue enough to keep one and I’ll just stay with the black.

The value I get from CW exceeds the price I’ve paid for them. I don’t find that so much with higher priced watches I own or admire. I’d prefer a couple of CW over a single lux tier watch. While I appreciate the Bel Canto and the Twelve, I own neither. I’m not much of a dive watch fan yet the C60 is so nice I own a couple of them, including a recent Pro 300. I think I ought to let go some more CW mostly for lack of wear. I appreciate the watches but the quantity has become imprudent and excessive, especially as I like other watches and brands, too.

Lately other microbrand and independent brands have caught my eye. After CW, the brands I have the most multiples of would be Hajime Asaoka’s “entry level” Kurono Tokyo and MING. I feel a bit like a crow going after the shiny objects and these fit the bill. By the end of the year I’ll have a few other preorders arrive and may need to revisit the apportioning among my watches. Or not. I’m slow to sell. And I’m lazy about selling.

CW accounts about a 30% of my watch collection.

I am relatively new to the brand and love almost everything they have out out in the last year. There is always the nagging feeling to "collect" the enthusiast favorite watches, but I seem to find relative comfort in the variety and relative affordability of a brand like CW.

The screenshot attached here says it all. More than half my collection is CW, and more than half the time you’ll find me wearing one. I enjoy wearing the CWs as much as the more expensive Tudor and Omega.

I currently have 6 CWs (my C5 aviator is in dire need of a service so hasn’t been worn this year) and have sold on 6 or 7 more over the years. I will certainly add more in and probably sell some on over the coming years too. I love a lot of what CW does!

unforced_error wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2024 4:35 pm @Amor Vincit Omnia

Catering to the affordable crowd is kind of the problem if CW wants to go up-market. No offense to the affordable crowd but the vast majority of them cannot see a watch past the price. It's almost as if CW making a nicer watch out of their price range is a personal sleight to them and they take every effort to downplay the new hand-finishing, movement architecture, or materials.

Then comes the price comparisons of "well at that price I might as well go buy a Tudor or Omega" as if CW should always be priced below those brands in perpetuity. I swear for the Bel Canto, the most praise has come from collectors who have 6-7 figure collections while the most hate has come from CW collectors who have only ever bought from their old clearance sales.

The CW strategy seems to be to try and hold on to the $1,000 entry level if possible and then build the range higher. As you say this won't be, and from the forum posts, clearly isn't popular. You've hit the nail on the head with the price comparison crowd too. Right now the sub-$1,000 CW is going to be a quartz or a simple 3 hander, in steel, on a strap. The sub-$1,000 crowd may bemoan this but Brexit and what that did to the value of the pound, and inflation have moved watch prices permanently upwards. CW's increasing sophistication and quality haven't helped price either (but have made better watches even if I don't like some of them).

CW have made value the core of the brand. This is clear in the interviews that Mike France does and in the adverts for the watches too. The problem with value is that many people think it means low price (cost). Nope. However the price rise journey is inevitable but difficult. Think of brands like Oris and Seiko and how their price rise journeys have gone.

CW and Oris were my gateways and now CW is like my Torii gate; part of the ongoing journey but not all of it. I don't really mind that they're not all $800 and if I like the expensive ones I'll buy one. Next years open heart watch is likely not going to be on my list of things to buy though.

@albionphoto

I’m broadly in agreement with what you and @unforced_error are saying here.

I possibly expressed myself badly earlier. I was merely objecting a little to the term “affordable crowd”. Affordable means different things to different people; it’s not a level playing field, and I think it will be good if they can maintain an entry level that caters for those who might find it difficult to afford more than (say) £800 for a watch.

I’ve mentioned “show ponies” aka halo models. I’m not against them. It’s great that the horological aspects are being developed, even if much of what I see is not for me. Like yourself, I would only buy what I like.

If they decide to make an ultra-thin hand-wound tonneau or tank watch in rose gold I would be very interested. I suspect my money is safe!

Yes, there are probably people out there who would still like to see CW churning out C5s for £200. I’m not one of them. If they hadn’t moved on they wouldn’t have survived. Sorry if that didn’t come across in my earlier post.

No worries, Steve. It's an interesting debate.
This being a forum I'm sure there is going to be a debate about what actually constitutes a "halo" watch. Did they start with 2015's Trident Pro 600 COSC LE SH21 which sat at a high price for CWs when it was released. Was there an unacknowledged halo before that. The real old timers should have their say here.

For me the halo watches have been:
C7 Apex
C60 Apex
C60 Concept
Bel Canto Azzuro Blue and Green

I've owned all of them and sold one of them too. Will the 12X be a halo model? Not sure. It's expensive but doesn't do anything that CW haven't done before. I like it, I'll buy one. The halo models have been experiments some of which have been successful and some haven't. The next halo as teased in Loupe probably won't be for me. We'll see what they come up with.

In the case of the hand-wound tonneau or tank watch in rose gold... I suspect your money is safe, as is mine, even if for different reasons.