Hi,

I have been thinking that although I want CW to grow and flourish I also like the fact you don’t see many and wearing a CW feels somewhat unique to me.

Although we know how many of the limited editions there are I was wondering how close did open series watches get to this level of exclusivity.
I expect you are far more likely to see a black, blue or white C60 in the wild than some of the earlier CW watches but how likely are you to see for instance to see a C9 regulator or how common is a C11 MSL etc.

Apologies if this has been asked before or if it is on the forum/archive somewhere (I have looked. The archive is fantastic btw ).

Does anyone know how many there actually is of the open series CW watches particularly the early C8, C9, C11 etc?
The number of resales gives a pointer to popularity / uniqueness but even a ball park 50, 250, 500, 1k, 5k, 10k etc figure of the number produced would be interesting.

Also interested if you also like this feeling of exclusivity or would you rather everyone knew and wanted a CW.

Nick

I have no idea how many watches CW produced of any non LE.

However you may get a feel for respective numbers by a combination of:

- when was the model released (CW clearly sold less watches per annum in the early years).

- the length of the production run (less successful models are likely to have had a shorter run).

As to does exclusivity matter to me?

Not really as I just buy watches that I like regardless of popularity or being an LE.

There is though one possible advantage of wearing an obscure/exclusive watch…

Less likely that anyone will recognise the watch I am wearing, which as far as I am concerned is a good thing.

Neil

I don't think that I've ever met anyone wearing the same model of watch that I have on my wrist. And I have several G Shock watches that cost me under £100. Personally, I don't really care about "exclusivity" as that seems like the kind of marketing speak that they babble on about on TV shopping channels.
Now, when it come to cars a bit of exclusivity is a good thing: looking for a silver estate car on a shopping centre car park can be challenging

If this was to turn into some kind of poll, I'm voting for "fewer than 1,000,000".

Well there certainly don't seem to be many C5 aviators around, unfortunately.

exHowfener wrote: ↑Sun Dec 01, 2024 4:34 pm I don't think that I've ever met anyone wearing the same model of watch that I have on my wrist. And I have several G Shock watches that cost me under £100. Personally, I don't really care about "exclusivity" as that seems like the kind of marketing speak that they babble on about on TV shopping channels.
Now, when it come to cars a bit of exclusivity is a good thing: looking for a silver estate car on a shopping centre car park can be challenging

You mean you don’t have twin CW flags on your car roof

exHowfener wrote: ↑Sun Dec 01, 2024 4:34 pm Now, when it come to cars a bit of exclusivity is a good thing: looking for a silver estate car on a shopping centre car park can be challenging

As an owner of a 9 year old silver Ford Fusion sedan, that very much is me.

We also own a blue Honda Pilot with the same identity crisis. In fact I once dropped off my wife for a quick stop at a store and when she came back out she got into a different blue Pilot that happened to be a friend’s car. The friend and my wife were both a bit surprised in that moment of confusion.

While LEs are nice for their exclusivity I’m not buying one unless I like it, irrespective of the exclusivity it presents. I am one to choose something perhaps less common if only because I like what sometimes is a lesser available item. What attracts me to CW isn’t the exclusive aspect of it being a smaller brand but the value a smaller brand can provide for style.

Rolex, for me, is a good example. I got my first Rolex when I was 29. In part it was for bragging rights, “I’m not even 30 and I can afford a Rolex,” kind of thinking. I only keep it now for sentimental reasons. By the time I was 33 I’d bought two more Rolexes; both have since been gifted in the family. Rolex is still nice but I don’t feel the need to flaunt that kind of look. I’d never buy a Sub because although it is a very nice watch and it is a bit of a status symbol it feels too much to me to be more symbolic than substantial. I look at CW and find I enjoy the watch with more satisfaction than I do my remaining Rolex.

My first CW was purchased used and probably a quarter of my CW watches are second hand. I like them for their style and value. Their lower numbers don’t much matter to me. I don’t work in person with anyone else, because of health issues in the family and that I live rurally, I don’t see many other people regularly so there’s no show-and-tell about my watches, and neither my wife nor my sons much care about my watches, so what little I do with watches is via social media.

So, that CW seems to have crossed a threshold for recognition thanks to the caliber SH21, Bel Canto, and the Trident divers garner much respect for quality and value, the brand sales are growing considerably but they are still only selling below a 6 figure quantity. Those earlier models and runs might only be in the low thousands I’d guess.

The problem with limited editions, as I see it, is that they don’t mean a great deal outside of watch focused communities like this one. Most of the people I see on a day-to-day basis don’t even know what Christopher Ward is, and could probably not identify more than a couple of watches (of any brand) by sight. The fact that something is a CW limited edition would not mean a thing to them.

In the wider (or is it narrower?) context of places like the forum, I quite like having a few things that no one else seems to have. Or at least, things that are relatively uncommon.

Thank you for all your responses. I guess we will never know and as Kip points out as a private company it not something to be expected.

I only buy watches I like with the intention to wear them. I like CW as other have said for their style and value.

Some good points about general population only knowing big brands vs those of us down the rabbit hole. I know some companies keep supply low to maintain prices but I am not really bothered about resale prices as have no intention at this time to sell any.

I note that my earlier models only have a 3 digit or 4 digit serial numbers which I guess is a good clue that we are talking hundreds to a few thousand.