Your honour, I submit this worn and wound article about the Moser/Underdog collaboration.

https://wornandwound.com/opinion-the-mo ... ppointing/

I can completely see why the loyal underdog fanbase would be disappointed (to put it mildly) by not having the opportunity to go slightly upmarket with the passion fruit model.

By a similar token, I can see why the CW loyal fanbase might be equally disappointed by CW seemingly deserting their erstwhile supporters, and heading for more luxurious climes.

CW might find they create a vacuum that many brands will be itching to fill.

These are all really good points and I'm finding myself agreeing so much I'm going the repeat the points in a different way!
I got into watches in my twenties with the CW C5 in 2009 bought new for something like £300. It was affordable for me, looked good, the small brand gave it an exclusivity that wasn't just based on price, and I felt like I was supporting a good 'independent' brand. Fifteen years later I've owned about 20 CWs, branched out to other brands, see my collection as a bit fluid so sell and buy as my tastes, preferences, and budget change. I retain a soft spot for CW and I love the watches I have, not for the price but as has been noted, the value. The brand is still relatively small and still feels a bit special for me - more so sometimes than the more expensive brands where, rightly or wrongly, I feel like (and begrudge a little) that I'm paying a premium for a name even if I know the watch is good. The bible that comes with an Omega is a good example of how not to make a customer feel special! So, yes, I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford some of the more premium CW options and more expensive watch brands but my most recent new purchase was a C63 Sealander 39mm GMT on a canvas strap. Great watch at £900 and when sorting through the collection I kept it over a Sealander Elite.

I've not been big on the 'halo' watches as like others they largely haven't really done much for me (C60 Concept being the exception) but I don't have an issue with CW's ambition in producing them and can see their value from a horological point of view and for the profile of the brand. I thought the Bel Canto might be for me but in the end I'm not keeping it (maybe should have jumped on the Blue, Green, or Red options!). With CW I've also been more drawn to other things like the SH21's or LE''s in part they have an element of feeling special without a big price jump - the C9 AM GT is probably my favourite and was sub-£1000 when I bought it new five years ago.

Going back to that £300 C5 that I still own and wear regularly... A friend (honestly!) was recently looking for a new timepiece and like many just wanted a decent watch to wear everyday without spending lots of money (weirdly not everyone is super into watches). He settled, with some advice from me(!), on a Sealander. The C5 when launched in 2005 was £199 and 20 years later the Sealander is £685. That's made me think that even if the C5 was sold today it would likely be in Sealander price territory because CW's design, craftmanship, and quality have evolved and improved alongside the basic economics of inflation. Something cheap is not always good value so I'd rather CW make decent watches at a price point that keeps the business going and still draws in new people as well as enthusiasts.

PGR101 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 10, 2024 5:10 pm I retain a soft spot for CW and I love the watches I have, not for the price but as has been noted, the value.

Which, of course, is a debate in itself. Again, highly subjective and to some extent dependent upon means and aspirations.

To avoid the imbroglio of naming and shaming (or praising) watch brands I’ll consider something I’m even more passionate about…holidays.

I’ve stayed in simple 2* places (especially in Greece and rural Spain) that were quite superb. And I’ve stayed in 4* places (often part of chains) that were not.

I’m lucky enough to spend two weeks every Christmas and New Year in a seafront 4* in Cyprus that I consider outstanding value. The same dates in a certain 4* in the Canaries cost nearly twice as much. I’ve stayed there at a different time of year, and it’s good but no better than the Cyprus one. But a lot of people will pay a premium because they believe they will get better weather, and the (well-known) hotel chain inflates the price.

On a recent trip to Greece we went out on a couple of evenings. One night we had a superb (authentically Greek) meal at a simple taverna for about €20. Another night we went to a rather more swish restaurant (comfy chairs, quiet jazz, waiters in bow ties) and paid €45 for a meal that was good, but certainly no more enjoyable. But the chairs, jazz and ties made it more “special” for some of our party, who considered the little taverna a bit basic. It’s not for me to say who was right, but I know which one I considered better value.

You can, of course, extrapolate the above into watches if you wish.

When the CW sales come around, I reckon quite a few people buy the price and not the CW watch (i.e. it's a steal at that price even if I don't like the watch so much). CW are transparent about their pricing so I think that value plays a significant part which is also why there are scalpers who buy up sale watches and stick them on eBay.

@CBMVic20 I think you’re right on both counts. I’ve always held the view that it’s not a bargain if you didn’t want it in the first place.

Coming back to the original questions posed by @Amor Vincit Omnia CW watches are what got me into 'watch collecting' 12 years ago; before then I'd more or less had one daily wear, A Seiko SQ100, since Christmas 1990.

In the early days my collection was mostly CWs but over the last 4 or 5 years has blossomed in numbers with CWs representing about 1/3rd in number, currently standing at 34. My 'other brands' have a dozen or so Elliot Brown and then 1,2 or 3 of others.

Six plus years ago CWs represented the top end of my collection in terms of value/cost; theses days I have a number of more expensive pieces.

Statistics? I don't record what I wear but do have an Excel Spreadsheet of what I own / have owned.

Including my current 34, I own or have owned, 150 CW watches.

My longest owned is a C8 Regulator MkII LE bought new in April 2017, the shortest I'm not really sure as I've had a few bought / sold within a few days / a week or two.

Guy

Good morning everyone,

I’m certainly a fledgling CW collector but I’ve gone from owning no CW watches to 5 in the space of a little over a year. It now represents around a fifth of my collection and the joint second most represented brand.

They have fit the brief of what I’m looking for at this point in time of my collecting journey. Honestly, self-reflecting, I was a bit uneducated as a purchaser of watches (I think the term ‘collector’ would be generous at the time), thinking that a watch journey consisted of Omega, Rolex and then moving onto AP. I’m still happy that I own those watches (and also fortunate to stop before I got to AP!) and I’m not by any means unappreciative of them or that I’ve been in a position to buy them.

But as my research, knowledge and probably maturity have evolved, hopefully for the better, I’ve really come to more appreciate design, quality, and variety more than just owning the next black Rolex dive watch. CW has fit the bill for great timepieces and at reasonable prices too. And the community around the watches is actually I think of true value to the company, which makes discussing and owning the watches a much richer experience.

As to wearing rotation, the CWs have probably had a disproportionate amount of wear compared to a routine rotation, because they’re newer. But I expect they’ll still be very well represented as daily wearers even into the future.

TB

CW watches currently make up just over half of my collection and three quarters of the watches worn on a regular basis.

Though I bought my first CW ten years ago, it's only over the last couple of years that I began to consider myself as a watch collector and during the last two years my CW count has shot up from one to nine. Even though the cost of CW watches has more or less doubled since since I got my first one, the design work and overall quality has also increased and I think CW's position in the market has moved up a notch or two.

I'm not part of the “I wouldn’t pay that much for a CW” camp, if the design, specifications and finishing are being pushed up to a higher level then the pricing has to also rise accordingly. I admit I haven't been tempted by any of the show ponies or higher end CW releases yet but that is purely down to them not being my style of watches.

Great thread and some interesting reading.

I 'got into' watches in about 2009 when I was entering my 30s, and, surprise surprise, it was CW that got me into it. My Dad showed me a brochure and I thought 'wow, they're nice, and they're also quite affordable'. Little did he know just what a ridiculous thing he'd started

That was the Kingfisher Burnt Orange, followed fairly closely by a Rapide, and a black Speedhawk.

I couldn't afford anything else for years and years so enjoyed those for a significant amount of time.

Then it all went a bit crazy. I think the first watch I bought after that was a Tag skeleton in 2019. Followed by a DateJust, a Grand Seiko, a couple of Tudors.

Then I realised I had no money left and had to sell them all.

Fast forward a few years and I've now got a collection of around 20, spanning a number of brands (IWC, Omega, Moser, GS, GO, Hermes, Tag, Rolex, Formex, Longines etc). I've still got the CW speedhawk, which I would never sell as I got married in it, and a Peach Twelve and C63 GMT COSC LE in silver. The CWs get more wrist time than the Hermes, GO, GS and Longines, but not as much as some of the others. If I want colour, I reach for the Peach

I think I will take a photo of Trevor with a CW watch.
He sometimes sits with Connie while we watch Coronation Street.

I have 2 CW's at the moment, and as it stands, that is unlikely to increase. They represent 6.6% of my collection, although that will reduce in the next week or so when a new watch arrives. Both are not really being used at the mo, but that's more to do with my current antipathy to all things 'British' & 'Swiss' in the watch World - so a double whammy for CW - which may or may not last. Only time will tell.

Bahnstormer_vRS wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 11:49 pm Coming back to the original questions posed by @Amor Vincit Omnia CW watches are what got me into 'watch collecting' 12 years ago; before then I'd more or less had one daily wear, A Seiko SQ100, since Christmas 1990.

In the early days my collection was mostly CWs but over the last 4 or 5 years has blossomed in numbers with CWs representing about 1/3rd in number, currently standing at 34. My 'other brands' have a dozen or so Elliot Brown and then 1,2 or 3 of others.

Six plus years ago CWs represented the top end of my collection in terms of value/cost; theses days I have a number of more expensive pieces.

Statistics? I don't record what I wear but do have an Excel Spreadsheet of what I own / have owned.

Including my current 34, I own or have owned, 150 CW watches.

My longest owned is a C8 Regulator MkII LE bought new in April 2017, the shortest I'm not really sure as I've had a few bought / sold within a few days / a week or two.

Guy

And yet, when I met you in person, you seemed so normal.

I first dive into CW shortly after release of C9 JH1 & must have purchased over 40+ pieces (majority JJ or SH21 movements).

Really think they are fabulous watches but they rarely make into part of a rotation (aside fr C9 JH MKi, C9 JH MK3 Roman Numberal in 40mm & C1 WorldTimer). C9 SS SH21 && SH21 Green were close but they both developed faults within a couple of months.

Then CW releases more sport watches than my preference in dress pieces so less & less CW til Bel Canto which I found v difficult to read.

What a great thread with some wonderful reflections.

Like many here, CW is the brand that got me started with a C5 Malvern (remember those?) purchase in 2010. All these many years later, CW is the most represented brand in my collection at 4 out of 16. That status is unlikely to change unless I somehow end up with the funds to purchase three more Langes!

It's the brand that I come back to and the one I follow with the most interest. I'm constantly tempted the different variations of the Sealander, and I'm still Twelve-curious. The right SH-21 watch for me is also sure to come one day (hopefully in some dress-adjacent presentation). We shall see what Mike and the gang have in store!

As with many others on this forum, CW is the brand that lured me down the watch collecting rabbit hole. That was in 2012 and I'm still wandering around the rabbit warren now, unable to find the exit.

Over the years, the focus of my collection has evolved into curating it to cover all the types of watches that I like, but without too many watches that cover the same slot in the collection. As I've mentioned before, this largely prevents me from buying countless blue-dialled divers, my favourite style.

Usually, if a CW offering appeals to me sufficiently, then that will likely take precedence over other brands/models for that watch slot, but there are exceptions. Where I haven't found an ideal CW for me, then I tend to fill that slot with something from another brand. For example, I have never found a CW regular black-dialled diver (other than the unique C60 Ombré) that I was happy with. They all seemed to be too shiny or have some other feature I wasn't happy with. So, I've filled those slots (modern and retro styling) with a Tudor Pelagos 39 and a Tudor BB54, respectively, instead.

Also, I really wanted slim black- and white-dialled chronographs, which is tricky with the ubiquitous, but chunky, Valjoux 7750 movement, so ended up with an Omega Speedmaster and a Zenith EP.

For black-dialled sports watches, although I liked the C63 I decided to get it in other colours, so I have Rolex Explorer and a Tudor North Flag instead in those slots (non-integrated and integrated, respectively).

So, you get the idea. I have just over 40 watches now and over half of them are CW, all of which I really enjoy. But I also really enjoy the non-CWs too.

I must get around to a SOTC post at some point, too, to illustrate it all.