Just a general question. If you have one or more CWs as part of a wider collection, where are they in the pecking order: stand-outs, fully integrated, part of a rotation, beaters? What’s your ratio of CWs to other brands?

Leaving aside vintages, I have ten “modern” watches from seven different brands. Four of them are CW, therefore no other brand is represented twice (fairly deliberately).

CWs: C5 Malvern Mk1; C9 Small Second SH21; C63 GMT; The Twelve Ti.

Others (alphabetical order): Cartier; Casio G-Shock; Glycine; MeisterSinger; Omega; Ulysse Nardin.

They all get worn, some more than others.

Recent holidays (strictly one-watch affairs) have featured the C63, Twelve, MeisterSinger and Ulysse Nardin. The UN always gets Christmas and New Year in Cyprus. The Twelve debuted in Malta in April, and it may well get the Morocco trip next month.

The watches I keep on leather (C5, C9, Tank) tend to get more wear in the cooler months. They are also the most suitable as “dress” watches.

I don’t keep records but I’m pretty sure that the Sealander (#1) and the Twelve (#2) have been my two most regularly worn watches over the last twelve months or so, with the Cartier at #3. But that’s just my impression. The G-Shock gets worn several times a week for a couple of hours because it’s my gym watch.

I’ve bought one watch (the Twelve, 15 months ago) in the last 2.5 years, and I don’t envisage buying any more for the foreseeable. I haven’t sold any either.

For me, CWs are very good go-to watches that mingle comfortably with the best I have.

Where are you at?

Great question. My first foray into the watch market was in 2009 with the C5 Malvern. I stuck with CW due to the familiar reasons of quality, design, price point - I didn't consider myself a collector so stuck to the sub-£750 price bracket, buying new, which provided plenty of options with CW! I also liked that they were a smaller brand. The collection was a tad inadvertent.

I'm now up to 13 CWs, with a recent effort to consolidate (see my post 'Long Time Owner, First Time Poster'). I think I've got a good mix (no more than two of each model) and wear them on rotation. I don't count but some get more wear than others. C60 Ombre, C65 Super Compressor, C63 Sealander GMT etc are great everyday watches so probably get more wear. C1 Worldglow, C65 Trident Diver SH21 Bronze etc are maybe more dress watches or suitable for fancier occasions. Then I have a regular rotation for office days.

I have branched out in recent years with a bit of trial and error - Bremont, Breitling, Omega have come and gone and I'm currently on an Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Day/Date (blue teak face, bracelet) and a Breitling Navitimer 41 LE (white face, blue hands and markers). The Omega is a great all-rounder with the Breitling treated as a dress watch. Although I'm still not convinced and am looking at other Navitimer options as well as keeping an eye on Bremont. But I'm really happy with my current crop and would be hard pressed to pick a CW to sell to make room for another make.

For holidays and work travel I always take two - something 'informal' for out and about and something more 'formal' for work, evenings, lunch etc. My one rule is to take a GMT but otherwise I mix it up - recent holidays have seen the (now both sold) C60 Abyss GMT and Sealander Elite do New York, the C63 Sealander GMT (green) and C60 Ombre do Barcelona, the C60 Anthropocene GMT and C3 Grand Tourer (drove down!) do the Dordogne, and an upcoming trip to Munich will probably be the C8 Pilot UTC and something else!

Okay, that was a lengthier tome than planned and I think there was a question in the post... Standouts in my collection:
Omega Seamaster Aqua Terra Day/date
C1 Worldglow
C9 AM GT
C65 Trident Diver SH21 Bronze

Those immediately came to mind and I'll prob regret it when I open the watch box!

I knew my watch spreadsheet would come in handy one day. Thanks AVO

Of the ten brands I currently own, CW watches account for just over a third of my collection and are the second biggest brand by number. The watches are worn on a regular basis in rotation (with one exception). None of them would be my most worn watch. The Omega Globemaster annual calendar has occupied that position for a number of years. Three CWs are worn more often than the rest and would be my "never sell" CWs. Those are:

C60 Trident Mk2 Pro 600 SH21 LE
C9 Moonphase
C7 Apex

I have owned more CWs than I currently do and will no doubt own more in the future.

Just to add…

I think I’ve owned seventeen CWs in total since 2011. (My record keeping is appalling!)

I think my highest number of concurrently owned watches was eight (around 2018). I think I sold four during Covid, but none since.

I have quite a few watches, with 6 CWs now, 3 of which are hand wind C65s. I try to wear my watches equally, but some of them end up being worn slightly more than others. I've bought my yellow C65 hand wound with me on holiday this week with a few others. It's not sunny, but it's a cheerful watch. I have been tracking my wearing habits since 2022, and my CWs total just under 200 wears.

I have felt that CW always offered a great compromise between quality and price, and therefore were excellent value, although prices have increased lately.

My CW wear habits have changed over the years.

I am a bit busy at the moment… Will compose a full reply later.

Neil

CW as a percentage rather than in pure raw data numbers? I like that approach.
Without going indoors to make a count I'd say that CW represents 68% with Omega in second place maybe 15% and the balance taken up (in no particular order) by Seiko, Brellum, Eterna, O&W, Studio Underdog, Made in China brands, the IWC my wife has claimed for daily wear and a sprinkle of pocket watches.

I am very happy with CW and for me a wide range of styles and colours generally means that I can usually serve every need from the brand.

Do I think about downsizing? Yes I do. A purely elective change in my lifestyle means that the pocket watches are effectively redundant and clearly my Omega collection has been shrinking of late and might come down a little further.

Future planned growth? 2 new CWs in the pipeline and who knows what 2025 will bring.

I can't imagine a watch collection without at least one CW. I've had several in the past (including 4x Tridents in various colour combos) which have now been whittled down as part of a drive to have a smaller collection that's worn more often. During those heady pre-covid years of owning several CW's and going into the office, they were easily my most worn watches as a brand.

Now though, with different working patterns and a much smaller collection (which I'm far happier with), my most worn watch will always be a daily beater and never a CW as they don't occupy the sub £150 end of the market. This isn't because CW watches are not daily wearers, more that I'd be far less upset if a beater got bashed about than a CW and I tend to wear a watch constantly.

Second place would be equally split between all my other watches as they're worn in rotation. For holidays, it's nearly always a beater + a CW. However, my least worn watch is also a CW; the C9 SH21 which, as a dress watch, is only worn for formal occassions.

Future buys? CW hasn't released anything over the last few years I've liked but there are a couple from their older range that I wouldn't mind owning. As the brand pricing moves further North, I expect there will be fewer CW's I'll want to buy but I'm really happy with the ones I already have.

So in the context of my collection, I think the day I don't have any CW I enjoy wearing is the day I'm done with wearing any kind of watch.

My watches at the moment are:
CW C63 Sealander 36mm
CW C63 Sealander GMT 36mm
CW C63 Elite
CW C63 Valour
CW C65 Cranwell Series 2
CW The Twelve Ti

Omega Seamaster 300 Heritage
Omega Aqua Terra 38mm

Sinn 556 RSi
Sinn 856

Bremont Supermarine S302 GMT

Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition
Traska Seafarer

Citizen “The Citizen” AQ4090-EL
Citizen Promaster Diver 44 and 36mm
Seiko Astron GPS Solar

I think CW watches carry great value. I’ve had more issues with their OEM strap and bracelet offerings than the other brands, but the watches themselves are fabulous value and I wear them as much as my other watches, mostly on third party straps.

My favourite watches are the ones I’ve worn the most and do not intend to part with. The others are worn less and stand the chance of being sold when I start pruning my accumulation.

I currently don’t own any CW watches, however they are the brand I’ve owned most of over the years. I think it 13 that have passed through my hands. Some stayed a while, others moved on quite quickly.

I think where I am with CW at present is waiting for the one that is perfect, so far all new releases seem to miss out on something.

I could see a Pro300 being the one if the current bronze offering were made in steel. A matt bezel and dial would make that my perfect dive watch but the gloss on the current steel offerings doesn’t do it for me. The new luminaire needs different hands and markers but the titanium case would be an acceptable alternative to steel.

I currently have 7 CWs in the box. They all get wear but some more than others. Out of my top 10 most worn watches, CWs occupy 5 spots including the top spot. My C60 Ombré is my most worn watch of any brand. CW occupies 33% of my current collection. Brands that occupy my box include Rolex, Tag Heuer, Omega, Momentum, Seiko, Casio, Marathon, Bertucci, NTH and some other brands that matter only to me.

CW wear in descending order:

C60 Ombré
C65 Super Compressor
C65 Dartmouth V1
C63 Sealander Ukraine LE
C65 Trident GMT
C63 Sealander 2023 FLE
C63 Valour (to be fair this one is the newest purchased earlier this year)

My C60 is my 'go to' watch for sure. It has 1/3 more wear than my number 2 since keeping stats (the Rolex GMT Master (#2) would be my most worn historically by far). It is pretty perfect for me and CW would need to really make something that appealed to me before I would let it go. If they made a new version with the new lightcatcher case design, the same matte look, the newer larger markers, and the new more refined handset I would likely jump on it (to be clear the Lumiere is not this for me).

I don't hesitate to grab any one of my watches on any given day. My CWs get a lot of wear for the simple reason that I really like them. If I didn't I wouldn't own them

I have seven CWs now, which accounts for about a third of my collection. Two have arrived in recent months; the Wyrd Bel Canto and C65 Shoreline x Oracle Time, joining a couple of mk2 C60s, a C60 BLUE, a C60 Concept and a Super Compressor. Three of those are never-sells - the BC and SC were gifts from my wife, the C60 BLUE a competition prize from this very forum. The Concept is pretty much up there as well as my most worn, at least until CW find a way to do the same but smaller (the Twelve X is not quite there for me).

No other brand even comes close to that level of representation in my collection, nor in terms of interest from me. CW just keep pushing the boat out. Sapphire watch faces, SH21, reviving super compressor technology for the sheer hell of it, making a (comparatively) affordable sonnerie au passage. The designs all resonate and the transparency and engagement that CW offer makes them a much more exciting than the competition.

The size of the collection and the number of CWs WILL reduce. Between the Shoreline and a recently purchased Tudor BB54, I'm gravitating more to sub 40-mm watches, although most of my remaining CWs will fall outside of that!

I normally tell those who ask that I have too watches in my collection. "Too" as in too many. When I reached sixty I stopped counting, as the embarrassment was overwhelming.

Cw comprise the largest percentage of my collection by far, having bought 16 of them, some from CWL, and several from other forum members. The first was a C3 Malvern that I subsequently gift to my nephew at his college graduation. The rest are either forum limited editions or ones no longer made by CWL. The Battle of Britain watches (I have 3) are worn more in September, the Sector Clock also, and the rest intermittently through the year. I'm wearing the Valour now.

Brands currently present:

CWL
Omega
Marathon
Timex (Snoopy dials)
Glycine
Hamilton
Invicta
Casio
Citizen
Deep Blue
Tudor
and the list goes on...

When I started this watch obsession I din't plan on falling quite so deep into the rabbit hole!
I forgot to add the two OP's...

The two I have are part of my beaters rotation though one of them I don't wear at all anymore. They sit at the lowest rung of my collection in terms of both price and horological finesse. With that said, I've worn my Bel Canto all week even though I have much better chiming watches like a minute repeater tourbillon.

My Trident Pro SH-21 I've really grown to dislike due to it's size and weight and now it sits in the watch box simply because it would be a crime to sell a watch like that for low.

I am one of the few who hopes that CW will continue to go up-market with crazy designs and eventually go completely in-house. I do not mind paying a premium for it considering the other watches I buy.

@unforced_error

Interesting view. Ambitious haute horlogerie products are fine, but I think there are a lot of people who want good, affordable watches as well. If they can do the show ponies and still remain true to their original proposition, that would be great.

They also have to break the glass ceiling on the hitherto slightly stigmatising attitude, “I wouldn’t pay that much for a CW.” That’s coming slowly, I think.