My Favorite Affordable Brand Just Made an Expensive Watch. I Don’t Know How I Feel About It

Christopher Ward marks its 20th year in business in 2024 and over the past two decades, the British brand has revolutionized the watch market. Some may scoff at that suggestion, but it’s true. CW was the first watch brand to offer an online-only sales model, which has become standard among the dozens of microbrands that have proliferated since CW came onto the scene.

The brand has also played a massive role in raising the expectations of consumers regarding what we should expect out of an affordable watch by making use of the same Swiss factories and parts as the big brands but charging multitudes less for the final product.

I’m a big CW fan. I’ve owned a Trident and plan on owning a Twelve after reviewing one last year (the steel version on the rubber strap currently ranks as our top watch under $1,000). I, like most fans of the brand, have come to expect unmatched value for money from the brand. That’s why I’m so torn about the newest watch from Christopher Ward, the Twelve X, which is priced just shy of $5,000. That price is moving past Longines and entering Tudor territory. But is it worth it?

Christopher Ward

The Twelve X Is Expensive But Impressive

I think it’s important to look at what exactly the Twelve X is offering before getting into whether or not I think it’s overpriced. In the simplest terms, it’s a version of Christopher Ward’s integrated bracelet sports watch, The Twelve, that’s powered by a skeletonized version of the brand’s in-house Calibre SH21 automatic movement.

Christopher Ward debuted the movement 10 years ago and has used it sparingly since, probably due to its cost, but it remains an impressive movement. It has two mainspring barrels, enabling a full five days of power reserve, it’s COSC-certified as a chronometer and many of its parts — including the bridges — are machined in-house.

The version of the SH21 in the Twelve X is more skeletonized and more impressively finished than ever before, with the brand investing in state-of-the-art CNC techniques that make the finishing on the bridges nearly indistinguishable from the hand-finished anglage on true haute horlogerie pieces (or so CW says, I haven’t seen the watch in person). All of this meticulous movement-making and finishing costs a lot of money to do — it’s the main driving factor behind the crazy-high prices of many other watch brands — and I suspect it’s the main reason behind the Twelve X’s sticker shock.

As for the other differences between the Twelve X and the regular Twelve (Ti), which is powered by an off-the-shelf, COSC-certified Sellita SW-300 movement, there are a few. While the standard Twelve (Ti) exclusively uses Grade 2 titanium, the Twelve X uses both Grade 2 and pricier, harder Grade 5 — though the latter is only used on the bezel and caseback, so I doubt it drove the price up that much.

The Twelve X also debuts a new micro-adjustment system on the butterfly clasp of the bracelet, which reminds me of the one seen on the far more expensive Vacheron Constantin Overseas. This is a minor detail but an impressive one that’s also quite rare in the watch world, and I can see the R&D behind it factoring into the cost.

The butterfly clasp on the Twelve X has a micro-adjustment system similar to the one seen on the far more expensive Vacheron Constantin Overseas.Christopher Ward

The Twelve X also uses a rhodium minute track — again, pricey — that’s filled with Super-LumiNova. At 12 o’clock is a wedge made of Globlight, a type of lume-impregnated ceramic that’s probably most associated with the high-end brand H. Moser & Cie.

It’s clear the Twelve X is a step above the standard Twelve (Ti), which costs $1,895, but is it worth more than double the price? For me personally, it’s not. I just don’t value the movement and the finishing enough to justify the cost. Plus, the dial of the Twelve is one of the best parts of the watch to me. What’s more, the Twelve X is considerably larger than the Twelve (Ti). It’s 1mm wider at 41mm, but more critically, it’s quite a bit thicker, measuring 12.3mm tall instead of 8.95mm. That’s mostly due to the movement, but I also find CW’s use of box-style sapphire crystals on both sides of the watch puzzling, as they add unnecessary thickness. The Twelve’s svelte profile is a huge draw for me, so the added thickness of the Twelve X is definitely a negative.

What Else Can You Get for $4,865?

Christopher Ward has had other expensive watches before. Most notable is the remarkable Bel Canto, which costs $4,210 on a bracelet (though only $3,795 on a leather strap). But the price of that watch is much easier to comprehend, as it has literally zero peers on the market as a chiming watch. It’s also fully executed in more expensive Grade 5 titanium.

For the $4,865 of the Twelve X, you could buy the new Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT on a bracelet, which boasts an in-house true GMT movement and comes from a seriously prestigious brand. It costs $4,600. You could also get a Longines Spirit Flyback Titanium for $4,750, which has a basically in-house flyback chronograph movement.

For around five grand, I’m choosing the new Tudor Black Bay 58 GMT.Photo by Jack Seemer

Those are admittedly very different watches than the Twelve X, so for a more fair comparison, let’s look at other skeletonized integrated bracelet watches with in-house movements. Maurice Lacroix’s Aikon Automatic Skeleton in stainless steel costs $7,100. Then there’s the Oris Big Crown ProPilot X Calibre 115, which also uses a mix of Grade 2 and 5 titanium and houses an in-house, hand-wound, non-COSC movement with a whopping 10-day power reserve. It costs $8,900.

The Twelve X Is Probably Worth It — If That’s the Kind of Watch You Want

Do I think the Christopher Ward Twelve X is the best watch available under $5,000. No, I don’t. There are several Tudors and Longines I’d pick over it, along with watches from many other brands, including CW — give me the Bel Canto or a Twelve (Ti) all day.

But is it the best watch at its price for what it is: a titanium skeleton with an in-house movement and impeccable finishing? The evidence suggests that it is, so even though it seems insanely expensive for a CW, The Twelve X honestly looks like another bargain from the brand.

Christopher Ward