Written by Christopher Beccan
Christopher Ward C9 Harrison GMT – A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of un-packaging this beautiful timepiece sent over to me by the guys at Christopher Ward. There is a bit of history behind the name of this watch, but I’ll not bore you with the details – I’ll just leave you with the very informative Wikipedia link to John Harrison.
Once out of the well crafted box, what hit me straight away was how clean and elegant the watch looked, with its large and easily readable dial. In my hands, the C9 felt solid and well built; the case is made of 316L stainless steel, polished front and back with a brushed finish on each side of the case giving it a very sleek look. The C9 Harrison GMT is just teetering on the large side for me at 43mm in diameter and 10mm thick, but it’s still small enough – allowing you to easily tuck it under your shirt sleeve.
The C9 Harrison GMT has anti-reflective sapphire crystal, reducing glare and also a transparent case back providing a window into the movement, which I always find a bit of a novelty. The case houses an ETA 2893-2 (elabore) movement allowing you by virtue to tell the time in two separate timezones simultaneously and also giving you a power reserve of 38 hours. The dial has a satin finish, adding a very luxurious feel to it. The date window sits at 3 o’clock with the GMT function displayed on a inner ring, which some may find a bit small to read at first glance but I’ve seen smaller GMT dials so I’m sure you’ll soon get used to it.
Christopher Ward’s philosophy is to make good quality watches, with Swiss movements at affordable prices and this has definitely been achieved with the C9 Harrison GMT. It’s elegant, robust and has a very classical look and feel to it. I wore this watch for just under a week and for some reason, didn’t really bond with it – I can’t quite put my finger on it as to why…. Some timepieces are instantly loveable and some grow on you – maybe I just didn’t spend enough time with it?
The C9 Harrison GMT is only made in stainless steel, but there are two different dial colour options, one in satin silver with blued second and GMT hands; the other in black, with a red seconds hand. List price of this Christopher Ward C9 Harrison GMT is £550 and can be purchased directly from their website, which you can find here.
More information on this timepiece can be found on the official Christopher Ward website
