This afternoon I was sorting through a few storage boxes in a spare bedroom and came across a CW price list from November 2015…. I have a C5 Malvern Slimline and C60 Trident 600s, none of which I wear that often.

It struck me that other than perhaps the C9 5 day small seconds I don’t think that I would really wear any of the watches on that list. Certainly not in preference to the majority of watches that CW now produce.

YMMV…

Neil

I used the C60 on a bracelet at £660 to calculate an approximate £892 in todays money, but that was based on CPI.
The current watches are not that far off, with the 300 Pro coming in at £915, with arguably better finishing and build quality.

I dare say that the same would not hold true for quite a few other luxury brands.

Thanks for posting - interesting to see that. The entry level models were really accessible with good prices, whilst I hadn’t appreciated the price of the ‘top end’ models being that high. I thought the high-end premium pricing was much more recent. Also interesting to note the breadth of the range available at the time

I arrived at the CW shores only 5 years ago. I’ve since acquired a mix of newer and older models which I wear with some frequency. The newer models have a higher degree of finishing and overall quality which I do value but there is also an element of style the older models retain which appeals to me. And looking at the price list and the Archive I overpaid for my Slimline but I paid what I felt it was worth to me at the time.

As a brand CW has come quite far in a fairly short time. I look at some of the other watches I got when CW was taking first steps and flash forward with those other brands to today and I’m impressed with how CW stacks up with the competition.

I don’t much go for truly vintage watches. I look, say “nice,” but they are not ones I tend to buy. Same with higher end watches. Sure, I have a few. I used to see some as aspirational. I don’t, however, value the likes of Rolex, Omega, or JLC to the extent of their prices. CW is in the right price range for me.

I have 3 watches shown on that list (Malvern Chrono, 38mm C60 600 Trident and 38mm C60 600 Trident GMT) and I often wear the Tridents. They might not be revolutionary designs but they still get admiring comments from other people.

At the time of that list CW voluntarily discounted showroom purchases by 10% so the 3 hander cost me about £540.

Thanks for posting. Found this fascinating to peruse.
I would love to see CW reintroduce some aviation and motor racing themed watches, but I fear this won't happen now as they have clearly identified more profitable watch styles/markets.
I am so happy to have a wide range of some of CWs earlier models.Overall quality has definitely improved over time, but some of the older, 'exploratory' models will always play a significant role in my collection.

Great find. Nostalgia kicks in as around that time I started to get more interested in watches, having bought (and still own!) a C5 Malvern and C13 Henley in 2009 but nothing else until I saw the C70 BRG and had to have it. Bought that and then in the following couple of years bought from CW a C7 Rapide COSC, an C8 Pilot Automatic (these were the Mk1 models) and a C9 5 Day 43mm (topically it was in a sale at c£800 so a decent discount!). Owned all of them into this decade but now all moved on from the collection. All great watches and still sometimes hanker after those motorsport models.

Almost contemporaneous - For some reason in 2014 (March 25th) I downloaded screen shots of the CW website showing what was for sale...
My favourite listing is the Amelia - reduced from £150 to £149.50 (and people complain that the sales now don't have enough discount )

akirk wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 11:21 am Almost contemporaneous - For some reason in 2014 (March 25th) I downloaded screen shots of the CW website showing what was for sale...
My favourite listing is the Amelia - reduced from £150 to £149.50 (and people complain that the sales now don't have enough discount )

CWL sale 1.JPG
CWL sale 2.JPG
CWL sale 3.JPG
CWL sale 4.JPG
CWL sale 5.JPG
CWL sale 6.JPG

I enjoyed perusing these

I spotted a C8 Flyer pop up on today's sale section.
Would have snapped it up if I didn't already have too many C8s.
A great buy for somebody at £297

akirk wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2025 11:21 am Almost contemporaneous - For some reason in 2014 (March 25th) I downloaded screen shots of the CW website showing what was for sale...
My favourite listing is the Amelia - reduced from £150 to £149.50 (and people complain that the sales now don't have enough discount )

CWL sale 1.JPG
CWL sale 2.JPG
CWL sale 3.JPG
CWL sale 4.JPG
CWL sale 5.JPG
CWL sale 6.JPG

Way more here I would buy than from the current selection...

CW made some really neat looking watches back in the day. I like seeing the older models pop up around here. Wish I had known about the brand back then.

I still have my white dial C9 Moonphase and a C60 Trident 600 with SH21 but the C11 and C1000 went away a long time ago. As for the rest, well my CW sweetspot may well have been 2015 - 2022/2023.