Christopher Ward C5 Malvern 595 watch: skinniest ETA 7001

Christopher Ward, the British premium watch brand, today launches its slimmest watch to date, the C5 Malvern 595. The new ultra-slim mechanical watch will sit within the brand’s Malvern collection, a range that is renowned for its quality, remarkable value and quintessentially English design values.

Watches, just like smartphones, have had to bow to growing consumer demand for slimmer devices.

Christopher Ward’s Co-Founder Mike France has taken note of this trend. So, wanting to try something new, laid down a challenge for the Christopher Ward design and technical teams.

As someone with way over a dozen Swiss-made premiuim brand mechanical watches, this really piqued my interest.

Christopher Ward C5 Malvern 595

Naturally, the heard of any timepiece is its movement. The chosen one in this case is ETA’s 7001.

Movement

This is an offering from the Swatch-owned movement giant that has proven to be reliable and robust as well as slim. Measuring in at just 2.5mm tall, the 7001 is a 17-jewel mechanism with an incabloc shock protection system. Furthermore it boasts 42 hours of power reserve, ticking at 21,600bph.

This small but powerful movement was the perfect choice for Christopher Ward as not only is it slim in profile, but it’s diameter is small too, sitting at just 23.3mm.

Design

Christopher Ward’s designers approach was to match the slender case profile with a simple and clean aesthetic.

With a case tolerance of just +0/-0.10, there’s no room for even the tiniest variation. Obviously, this was a challenge to the Christopher Ward design team and component suppliers who worked together collaboratively to produce the C5 Malvern 595.

The crown is neat, diminutive and delicate in its design with the brands twin flag motif. I am sure all will appreciate its sophisticated, subtle profile.

The domed pearly white (you can also have cool grey) Opalin dial of the new piece has a sandblasted finish. Additionally, you will find printed indexes and the Christopher Ward logo.

The hour and minute hands are presented in black. These are polished with soft curves to create a monochromatic contrast into the dial. Moreover, this also enables excellent legibility.

At just 39mm in diameter, the case proportions of the C5 Malvern 595 mean that the piece is extremely wearable. That goes for both men and women.

Virtually no other brand had made an ETA 7001-powered watch that’s below 6mm. Christopher Ward has managed to achieve that and, as the name suggests, the final watch is 5.95mm tall. It also hints at its price too.

The new timepiece is the first of a number of launches scheduled for Christopher Ward in 2018 and is indicative of the level of quality that can be expected from the brand going forward.

Words

Mike France, explains:

I knew immediately that it would be a significant test for us to create a truly ultra-slim watch. But I felt that it could be possible. And so, my challenge to the team was, can we create a mechanical timepiece, under 6mm high, at a Christopher Ward price point?”

On the ETA 7001, Mike France comments:

It’s not often that we start using a new movement we’ve never tried before, but the closer we looked at this one, the more impressed we were. In particular, we loved how robust and stable it seemed.”

Adrian Buchmann, Senior Designer at Christopher Ward adds:

Because the 595’s most important quality is that it’s very slim, it was important we didn’t distract from that – which, mostly, meant removing clutter. So, the dial is very simple, with no raised elements or extraneous detail, and we needed exceptionally pure, clean hands. The main detail, in fact, is on the rear of the watch, where we have used a crystal exhibition caseback, so the movement can be viewed.”

Price and availability

Available on a vintage oak leather strap in camel, brown or black, or on a Milanese mesh bracelet, the C5 Malvern 595 is priced at £595.00

Head on over to www.christopherward.co.uk for more information and to purchase.