CW lost his original philosophy?

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statto
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by statto »

I don't think Chris has lost his original philosophy at all, but has certainly been able to expand his horizon's with the quality, class and hence price of the range of watches available.

Unfortunately for me these new horizon's now exceed my available budget, and as a result my CW collection has stalled - I already own the watches I can afford but can't afford the new higher end designs that I like.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by Jenz »

statto wrote:Unfortunately for me these new horizon's now exceed my available budget, and as a result my CW collection has stalled - I already own the watches I can afford but can't afford the new higher end designs that I like.
I couldn't have worded this better. I came to CW because of the gorgeous C60 Trident (Blue/Blue) Quartz. I then very quickly added a C65 LE, an Orange/Black C60 Auto and my nirvana of the CW world the C11 Titanium Extreme (the very last one Wera found).

Now however I am not seeing new watches in the £300 - £1000 bracket so I find myself looking at Squale, Davosa and Steinhart. I do wonder if I will buy another CW :shock:
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by hughesyn »

statto wrote:I don't think Chris has lost his original philosophy at all, but has certainly been able to expand his horizon's with the quality, class and hence price of the range of watches available.

Unfortunately for me these new horizon's now exceed my available budget, and as a result my CW collection has stalled - I already own the watches I can afford but can't afford the new higher end designs that I like.
As the owner of 13 CW watches, could you not consolidate a bit and have a collection of fewer but more expensive pieces?
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by TigerChris »

Jenz wrote:
statto wrote:Unfortunately for me these new horizon's now exceed my available budget, and as a result my CW collection has stalled - I already own the watches I can afford but can't afford the new higher end designs that I like.
I couldn't have worded this better. I came to CW because of the gorgeous C60 Trident (Blue/Blue) Quartz. I then very quickly added a C65 LE, an Orange/Black C60 Auto and my nirvana of the CW world the C11 Titanium Extreme (the very last one Wera found).

Now however I am not seeing new watches in the £300 - £1000 bracket so I find myself looking at Squale, Davosa and Steinhart. I do wonder if I will buy another CW :shock:
I have a feeling that there will be a number of new pieces on the horizon in that price bracket. If I remember correctly, from the chat the other night, Chris quoted the bronze diver at £795ish, and also quoted several prices well below £1000 for other new ones coming up (maybe new motorsport range?). I can't remember all of them and also had to leave the chat early due to work commitments, but I believe the transcript will be available some time over the weekend so well worth reading through that I think. I also tend to buy mainly in the same price bracket as you, with only 1 exception, so I'm quite excited to see whats coming.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by DEV.Woulf »

Jenz wrote:Now however I am now seeing new watches in the £300 - £1000 bracket so I find myself looking at Squale, Davosa and Steinhart. I do wonder if I will buy another CW :shock:
I'm the complete opposite. The more CW keeps innovating and stepping up the quality, the more I want to save up for their new piece. Those brands you mention mostly make Rolex homages; which I dislike. In contrast, CW keeps coming out with original and unique watches that earn my respect. I still think the new C3 and C5 Malverns are great value for money; just like the originals were. In that regard, I don't think CW have lost their way.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by Psalty »

Devarika Woulf wrote:
I'm the complete opposite. The more CW keeps innovating and stepping up the quality, the more I want to save up for their new piece. Those brands you mention mostly make Rolex homages; which I dislike. In contrast, CW keeps coming out with original and unique watches that earn my respect. I still think the new C3 and C5 Malverns are great value for money; just like the originals were. In that regard, I don't think CW have lost their way.
^^^ This ^^^
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

A year or two back I felt something similar; namely that the original philosophy might be slipping off into the sunset, as it were. The earliest watches were certainly stylish, if perhaps a little conservative, and they did carry the Vexillum of value for money.

As others have said, style and value for money are still there. What we now have, however, that was not possible in the early years (and please do not forget this is still a young company) is a pretty comprehensive range of watches that includes a huge variety of sizes, movements, styles and uses. It also appeals to a much broader range of budgets.

There are small watch companies out there (often reputable and of good quality – popular with forum members) that are still producing the same fairly limited range that they were producing, say, six or seven years ago.

All the while, CW have been moving the business on, growing it, and crucially expanding their portfolio. If you attended the "Chat with Chris" on Wednesday evening you will have seen exciting new ideas that offer something for everyone.

I particularly found the 6 mm super slim dress watch an absolutely fascinating proposition, and I can't wait to see it for real.

So no, I don't think the original philosophy has gone, but it has been moved on and expanded. If you don't keep up, you don't win.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by fishman »

Amor Vincit Omnia wrote:A year or two back I felt something similar; namely that the original philosophy might be slipping off into the sunset, as it were. The earliest watches were certainly stylish, if perhaps a little conservative, and they did carry the Vexillum of value for money.

As others have said, style and value for money are still there. What we now have, however, that was not possible in the early years (and please do not forget this is still a young company) is a pretty comprehensive range of watches that includes a huge variety of sizes, movements, styles and uses. It also appeals to a much broader range of budgets.

There are small watch companies out there (often reputable and of good quality – popular with forum members) that are still producing the same fairly limited range that they were producing, say, six or seven years ago.

All the while, CW have been moving the business on, growing it, and crucially expanding their portfolio. If you attended the "Chat with Chris" on Wednesday evening you will have seen exciting new ideas that offer something for everyone.

I particularly found the 6 mm super slim dress watch an absolutely fascinating proposition, and I can't wait to see it for real.

So no, I don't think the original philosophy has gone, but it has been moved on and expanded. If you don't keep up, you don't win.
Excellent post with some very cogent points. I'm also looking forward to the 6mm dress watch that I hope has a small second hand and no date!
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by Thegreyman »

^^there are some really interesting new watches on the way and from the images Chris previewed on the chat, they looked really stylish.

Even the motorsport looked great, contrasting the existing range that I just couldn't love (bought a VW4, wore it about twice, couldn't bond with it so sold it).

The twin flags at 12 was another great development to fill some of the empty space many of us have found a problem with some of the new logo range.

I can definitely see myself buying some of the new models...of course the order is already in for the FLE Panda 8)

As others have said, the prices may be going up a bit but I believe you're still getting VFM. I know other brands like Steinhart are probably starting to look a bit cheaper in comparison, and I must admit I've been tempted to buy a bronze Ocean 1, but as has been mentioned many of their models are essentially homages whereas I think CW are doing a lot more original designs.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by hughesyn »

Twin flags at 9, I'm in.

Bring 'am out so I can buy one already.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by statto »

hughesyn wrote:
statto wrote:I don't think Chris has lost his original philosophy at all, but has certainly been able to expand his horizon's with the quality, class and hence price of the range of watches available.

Unfortunately for me these new horizon's now exceed my available budget, and as a result my CW collection has stalled - I already own the watches I can afford but can't afford the new higher end designs that I like.
As the owner of 13 CW watches, could you not consolidate a bit and have a collection of fewer but more expensive pieces?
Well, the consolidation is already underway from the original 19, but I'm not yet comfortable going into 4 figures for a single item. That may change in time, will just have to see.
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Paul
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by nbg »

I don't think the philosophy has changed, however the quality and variety of models has improved and with the increase in quality there has been a not unexpected increase in pricing.

The Internet only sales model remains unchanged and I think it would be difficult for CW to move away from this. I never paid any attention to the "price is 3x cost cutting out the retailers margins by selling direct" and simply judged the watches against others available on the high street at whatever discount I could obtain.

Along its journey CW has I imagine lost some longstanding customers (as far as purchasing new models is concerned), but that matters little providing the company is expanding its overall customer base with those attracted by the new, often more complicated, models.

After all I imagine the typical customer of say Rolex, who buys a Ceramic Rolex Submariner today, to be different from someone who bought the equivalent Submariner 30-40 years ago.

From the "Chat with Chris" it does look as though the company is still innovating, with interesting models in the pipeline.

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CW lost his original philosophy?

Post by gaf1958 »

nbg wrote:After all I imagine the typical customer of say Rolex, who buys a Ceramic Rolex Submariner today, to be different from someone who bought the equivalent Submariner 30-40 years ago.
Now that is a very good (and salient) point Neil.
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Re: CW lost his original philosophy?

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