The Twelve by Christopher Ward Initial Thoughts

It’s April 27th 2023, and my feed is being over-saturated by 2 things. The first is the new Star Wars: Jedi Survivor game, and the second is The Twelve. No I am not referencing a new character from Stranger things, but a new watch released by Christopher Ward named The Twelve due to the twelve sides on the scalloped bezel. You might ask yourself,  “What’s so special? It's just another integrated bracelet watch!” To be honest, I thought the same thing as well. But what really impressed me was the quality of the product, including the finishing at the price point. Now, I generally don’t like reviewing a watch until I get my hands on it, but from other Christopher Ward watches that I have handled and looking at the specs, it is really impressive. I can see the quality of the products that Christopher Ward has released in the past, but I could never get myself to pull the trigger on one of their watches. This is due to two reasons. The first one was very petty, and they used to have the entire name on the dial. I couldn’t overlook that and it just took up too much real estate on the dial. The second reason was that I just had different watches on my list in higher priority. Like I said, I have been tempted to get a Christopher Ward watch in the past, and I still might, but not just yet. 

Christopher Ward released two versions of The Twelve. There are four that were released in stainless steel, and two that were released in titanium. Looking at them on the screen you wouldn’t notice much of a difference, but there are some minor ones other than the metal used and the dial colors. The main differences to note is that they each have a different movement that will change a few other things on the watches. The steel watch has a Sellita SW200-1 movement in it that will provide you with 38 hour power reserve and a timing tolerance of +/- 20 seconds per day and will have an impressive thickness of 9.95mm. While the titanium model has a Sellita SW300-1 Automatic movement in it. This will provide you with a 56 hour power reserve and a timing tolerance of -4/+6 seconds per day with an even more impressive thickness of 8.95mm. Other than those differences most of the specs are the same.

From the pictures, the watch looks great and I will list off the pros that I have here. The finishing and the bracelet put some higher end luxury companies to shame. The dial has a pattern on it that kind of looks like a basket weave, but on closer inspection they are using the cross used in the company logo and the swiss flag to have a very nice textured dial. My personal top 2 are the Artic White, and the Basalt Grey. Also the hour markers and hands have great lume presence on the dial. The finishing looks like a mixture for brushed and polished finishes. Lastly Christopher Ward sprung for the good stuff and gave us screw-in links rather than pins to resize the watch. I have seen more expensive watches with the outdated pins used on their bracelets. 

Going by the pictures again I’ll list off my cons. Other than the white and grey dials, the rest of the options are just kind of boring. If I was going to compare it to another watch, the best one to compare it to would be the Tissot PRX 80. Going back to the dial the nordic blue is beat out by the blue on the PRX. That blue has a range of depth that just looks lost in the pictures online. I hope I am wrong, and this is why I hate reviewing something I have not seen in person. The next con that I have are the hour markers. It has a very Aqua Terra vibe to it that just makes it look out of place. If the hour markers were a square or a rectangle similar to the size that is at the six o’clock position I think would make it look better and will also allow the watch to be more of an everyday watch rather than the current sporty vibe it currently has. For the twelve o’clock marker I would have used the Cristopher Ward logo cross at that position or even two lume markers. It goes without saying that I would also switch to baton hands as well. 

Saying all that, my mind can still change. I just hope to see it and handle it before I make a final decision on this watch. As I said several times, the quality and price is great, and if you are one of those people that have been on the fence about getting the Tissot PRX 80 I feel bad for you because you now have another contender to think about. So, overall I really like The Twelve and hope that I can review it in person. The finishing and quality is incredible and I can see the justification for the price of The Twelve compared to the PRX.