Is C11 a good CW starter

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
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DEV.Woulf
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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by DEV.Woulf »

If you like the style then you can't go wrong with it as your first CW. Just make sure your wrist can handle the size as the lugs make it wear big. It's very comfortable and lightweight.
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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by welshlad »

The C11 MSL is undoubtedly a good watch and I enjoyed mine when I had it.

One point that hasn't come up is the lack of minute markers. For some that is no issue and for others it is. For my own part, I didn't mind except when I was setting the watch, when you really need to wait for a 5-minute time to set it accurately, i.e. one where the minute hand is on the hour markers.
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Amor Vincit Omnia
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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Gasman wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:24 pm I understand your point but one of the responses to my question could be. It looks nice but breaks down every 2 weeks and they are short of parts to repair it. Then even if I liked the watch I can make a judgement call as to buy or not
Apologies. I failed to grasp what was implicit in your question for some reason.
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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by DavecUK »

Gasman wrote: Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:24 pm It looks nice but breaks down every 2 weeks and they are short of parts to repair it. Then even if I liked the watch I can make a judgement call as to buy or not
I think if you are new to watch collecting then perhaps this may help. Always buy what you like, not what other people say you will like. The reliability of a watch movement and parts availability is only relevant when talking about in house movements. Movements like the Sellita W200 (in that watch) and ETA 2824 come in various grades and may have a custom rotor bunged on rarely some other changes but for all intents and purposes are a standard engine as is the NH35A, Miyota 9015 etc.. etc.. Some are made in places other than their origin, usually this doesn't make a huge difference. So the question about reliability is moot unless you are worried about the case or lugs falling apart, which would be unusual.

Even with in house movements a competent and skilled watchmaker can fabricate/substitute a part if necessary to replace something like a bent pivot etc..

It really is all about the pleasure on the wrist and whether you like it. I have an old and lots worn 13 year old Oris diver, my beater watch. The bracelet sits like silk on the wrist, it lays lovely on the wrist when worn and stays there without ever feeling tight. Pick it up and it feels like it's made out of tungsten, my mate swore it was much heavier than his watch and was amazed when we weighed it and it was the same weight (it is smaller). One of my most tactile and comfortable watches to wear. It's not a large or especially deep watch...This was what swung it for me, case 39 mm depth 11mm for a 200m diver. Was worth every penny I paid. It's only fault a slightly corroded minute hand (actually common on that watch model), will I replace the minute hand at it's next service...only if I can get an exact match. The service and regulation is coming due soon, it loses about 8 seconds per day which for an ETA 2824 is still well within spec but I know it can be regulated a little tighter. Even that common fault with the minute hand didn't show itself for almost 6 years....and not on all watches. The main fault on them was actually a crown tube made of a very soft metal that sheared off and was replaced with a modified genuine Oris part of stronger construction.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA17l0W ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

I never got into the huge watch thing, thank god and for me the sweet spot for a watch is 40mm, even though my 7.5 inch wrist can wear larger....40mm is what I really like.
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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by deebr »

The C11 was the first CW I saw. I ended up buying a C60, as I already owned a Seiko Spork, and I thought they were a bit too similar. However, the Spork had now been sold to fund a C65 diver. So there's a gap in the collection... Image


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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by stefs »

The c11 and the c11 dive variants are all great watches. I have had loads but all went for one main reason and that was they just wore too big for my wrist. If you can pull off the size and especially the lug to lug then get stuck in :thumbup:
Cheers now, Paul
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Re: Is C11 a good CW starter

Post by Thegreyman »

I've owned 6 C11's including Elite, Extreme, Makaira Pro, vintage and Chrono. I think it is a great looking watch and agree there are shades of both B & R and Panerai.

The range has a nice splash of colour with the white, orange, yellow, blue, green, vintage hands (have I missed any? :lol: ).

They do probably better suit a large wrist as they do wear big even for a 42mm, the L2L iirc is about 53mm which is more than a 44mm Panerai for comparison. That ultimately is probably why I sold mine, although I did give it a good go with 6 different versions first!

I love the sword hands but they do render the chrono unusable as they mask the subdials half of the time, lume also is fairly poor. The lack of minute markers only an issue on a couple of models (MSL, vintage I think). The other versions I had all have markers.
Patrick

C60 Pro 300, C60 Sunrise, C63 Sealander Lucerne blue LE, C65 Dartmouth, W11 Amelia (wife), C63 Sealander (son)

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