British brand Christopher Ward has never really been known for its use of color. There have been exceptions, but most are limited editions. By and large, CW sticks to the classics: blue, black, white, and sometimes green. While its new releases aren’t channeling Joseph’s Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, one of them brings an entirely new shade to the brand’s catalog. New for the brand are the Christopher Ward C63 Sealander GMT in Dragonfly Blue and the Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Automatic 36mm in Mulberry Red—plus an entirely new bracelet.
We’ve reviewed both of these models before, having tried out the green Sealander 36mm and the black dial Sealander GMT. I won’t bore you with the details, and I encourage you to check those hands-on write-ups out for all the specifics. I will tell you they both have CW’s Light-catcher case, which is truly exceptional, and that both wear very well, with the GMT measuring just 39mm-wide. On the GMT, the dial gets a bright teal color the brand is calling sunburst, with orange GMT accents. Meanwhile, the Automatic 36 gets a beautiful (in my opinion) wine red (Mulberry) that reminds me of the new Bulova Jet Star without the gradient. Both watches run on Swiss Sellita movements visible through their casebacks: SW330-2 for the GMT, SW200-1 for the Automatic 36. Water resistance on both is a solid 150 meters. My only real nitpick with the releases is that the date wheel isn’t matched on the red dial, but is on the teal, which seems inexplicable.
Colorful dials are good and well, but the real news here is the introduction of an entirely new bracelet. Until now, with Chris Ward, you had one bracelet option (if at all): a standard three-link, fully brushed affair that was somewhat recently updated. The new Consort bracelet offers something a bit more elegant and dressier, with a five-link design featuring both brushing and polishing. Reinforcing the more formal aesthetic is a butterfly deployant clasp that will be a bit slimmer on the wrist than the brand’s three-link bracelet, which it’s now calling the “Bader.” I think this new option is a great match for a lot of the brand’s bezel-less models, giving them a more sophisticated look that a few of them had been begging for. It should be noted that for now, the bracelet is only available for C63 models. I am surprised, though, that CW didn’t offer the Consort with half-links. As it is, the butterfly clasp is going to create sizing issues for some.
Don’t let the brevity of this coverage fool you: these look to be beautiful watches, which is no surprise. With the Bel Canto and The Twelve, Christopher Ward showed it’s ready to dabble in some fun color, and at these two new dials show an expansion of that into more traditional models. As for the bracelet, more is better, and hopefully we’ll see this made compatible across the entire catalog soon. On the new Consort bracelet, the Christopher Ward C63 Sealander Automatic 36mm is priced at $995 USD, while the C63 Sealander GMT is priced at $1,275 USD. On straps, the watches start at $810 USD and $1,090 USD, respectively. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
