mike france christopher ward

There, Christopher Ward CEO Mike France and Blues' Ukrainian left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko presented Daniil with his C63 Ukraine LE - a fitting present for a young man who has been through so much and whose experiences mirror those of millions of Ukrainians. [19], Since then, the Challenger programme has been expanded and now includes; Amber Hill, Britain's youngest and highest performing talent in women's Skeet shooting, European champion 2015;[20] Sam Brearey, GB yachtsman and Fireball class world champion Will Satch[21] Olympic medallist GB rower; Samantha Kinghorn, Paralympic athlete in the T35 class; and filmmaker Chris Loizou. To me, the quality of the watch reflects the professionalism and excellence of the 21st century Paras., A further tribute to the Paras comes in the shape of #tide strap. Sure, it does not charge the same price, but actually is more attractive to this group of early adopters, because in some way its nothing the old luxury and its all about this new concept of luxury. In watches though, its slightly different. Now, thats something that I wouldnt be surprised at. To be completely honest, on that note Im telling you that there are many, many, many brands, luxury brands in the watch industry today who, if they told the truth, their customer base would be appalled. The design of our watches reflects both sides of our nature. All-carbon, all innovation the new C63 Colchester is a fitting tribute to the British Armys Parachute Regiment, and a stand-out addition to our Military Collection. Sign up to our newsletter and get exclusive offers and news. [4] He was later announced as a director of TRIBUS, a new watch brand he had founded alongside his three sons, Jonathon, James and Jake. This plan entails a 60-day free return and a 60-month movement guarantee on watches purchased on their site. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Of course, once they order and receive the package and are impressed by the quality, then that makes the biggest impact. Prices from: 995 / $1,130 / 1,185.00. Hes quite a bit young. We ship out around about 20,000 watches a year, and we always aim to grow, between 20 and 35% each year. Such a high number of many sales started coming through Timezone that the moderator thought we must be paying people to post so he started banning them, which only led to an even greater buying frenzy. [12] Due to the saving of traditional marketing and distribution costs, Christopher Ward watches are sold with lower margins for a more transparent price according to the company. So at this point, as he was in the process of selling the business, we decided we wanted to do something together. Nearly a year after the Christopher Ward team began working with the Paras, the watch is here and its a beauty. B&B: The 24-hour ring dial layout for the Dune GMT is very well done. Disclaimer: this article was not sponsored by Christopher Ward or any other entity. It is not a coincidence, then, that Christopher Ward has become so popular, and although we dont all have the same taste in watches, we can perhaps all agree on what a good deal looks like. On one level, luxury should be, in my view, about the absolute integrity of the product. And I can only see it going one way. So were on all the usual things youd expect digitally. but he wouldnt play ball. Could you also comment on the reason for going with a brushed finish instead of the more obvious choice of an all polished logo? He is of course right. Announced on 2 July 2014, the merger between Christopher Ward and its Swiss production partner Synergies Horlogres solidified a long-standing relationship between the two companies and created a new, shared company titled Christopher Ward London Holdings. We were seeing growth in Russia before, and were beginning to see some interest grow in the Middle East. Exclusive Interview with Christopher Ward CEO Mike France Editor's note: This interview with Christopher Ward CEO Mike France is our latest interview with industry leaders for our segment of talking about everything from upcoming 2020 novelties to COVID-19's impact on the Swiss watch industry. Doing so means that the different people involved in the creation of the watches eventually got into a smooth groove. No one had heard of us. So we then looked at what our interests were. The second thing was we were unbelievably staggered by some of the multi-costs of the cost price that they were charging their customers. It is all there. We had a very strong relationship with ETA then and thankfully that remains to this day, but it did encourage us to develop our own calibre, the SH21, which is a great achievement for a brand of our size. What is your overall vision for the business going forward? In this video, Mike goes in-depth about the military watch collection. That goes out to our entire database and the magazine doesnt just cover watches, rather it has an array of articles and it keeps our customers engaged in the brand and keeps the relationship alive, by communicating in a way that adds some value into their lives in a sense. We have shown the prototype to our forum members and our Facebook fans the response has been fantastic. We launched our first two watches in June 2005, the Malvern Automatic and the Malvern Chronograph. And perhaps most significantly of all, released the third iteration of the Trident in 2019: bringing the highest level of timekeeping, finishing and design to as broad an audience as possible. By December of that year, influential watch bloggers were writing more about Christopher Ward than Rolex on the site TimeZone. In other words, the more people involved in the process, the more success a brand has. All that time, we didnt even know this Timezone forum existed. Only Christopher Ward could be Christopher Ward, and only Mike France and his cofounders Chris Ward and Peter Ellis could have made Christopher Ward what it was in 2005, what it is today, and what it will become 10 years from now. And the Elite delivered all that. But make no mistake, the stunning C63 Colchester is very much its own watch. Yes, I think youre right, I think with the millennials their view of what constitutes quality and luxury is different to the previous generation. They continuously become more creative and innovative. So its all very exciting living in these times. So at that point, we were staggered by two things, which really spawned the idea for what Chris Ward then became. Christopher Ward and the birds - A Mike France interview. "When they're jumping out of a plane, the Paras need kit that's strong and light. Timepieces like the C60 Sapphire and C60 Elite GMT 1000 bring extreme-diving technology together with duo-time zone functionality. So instead of his plan of posting a detrimental account of our brand, he posted the most amazing account of his experience, which contained things like: I have discovered the best value luxury watch the world has ever known, that sort of thing. Hes in his early thirties, and hes a remarkable young watch-maker who, really got to sink his teeth in working with brands in haute horologerie early on. This is the second part of our interview with Mike France, the CEO of Christopher Ward. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. We are curious by nature and as long as that remains, we should be okay. Theres just no comparison, says Mike France. I spend my life - 8 days a week - working . This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The GMT LE is only available in Black Sand, and is limited to 200 units. If you want to know whats happening at CW (and you love great journalism), this is where to start. They didnt imagineand I cant blame themthat this was the case. It has a brushed finish on the Dune as it suits the aesthetic of the design. Marie-France_Ward. And thats very exciting. Ready for anything. "[10], Christopher Ward London was the only watch company to rank in The Sunday Times SME Export Track 100, ranking 77th in 2015. When we launched it in 2014 and merged with our supply partner, Synergies Horlogres, some of the traditional parts of the watch industry at last began to acknowledge that this new little brand might actually be around for a while. Our big launch is coming in May when we are launching Trident 3, our premier dive-watch collection. Their first collection, the Malvern, was inspired by the Malvern Hills of Worcestershire. but they really do rank up there with ones costing many times more. Peter and I had sold the Early Learning Centre and there are only so many beaches you can lie on. The news coverage suggests that it was quite a shock to many. If youre a frequent visitor to any of the Beans & Bezels social media channels, youll know that Ive been a fan of Christopher Ward ever since I got exposed to the world of micro-brands and smaller independents. So that forum he started nine years later has many thousands of members, and has become this amazing receptacle of dialogue between us and our customers. And, if ever any of your readers want to contact me directly to talk about any aspect of CW my email address is mike.france@christopherward.co.uk. We will always have ranges that are there to bring people into the brand at the entry level, but were in the process of developing a new master collection, which will have our most complicated watches to date, which will be priced at several thousand pounds. Why? Apply a maximum three times mark-up on the manufacturing price There are certain brands in the past 200 years that have created unique case shapes, whether it is Cartier with its rectangular Tank case or Panerai with its cushion case. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Not at this stage, but the biggest uptake is in the English-speaking market, so main targets are Australia, North America including Canada, and then places like Hong Kong and Singapore where English is widely spoken. As far as I know, having matching bronze bracelets for your watches brings you into a very small group of watch brands (Tudor, Oris, Zelos). The two start the show by reminiscing about the early days of ABTW, and how Ariel first learned about the brand. Each brings a unique interpretation of the brand's aesthetic, and points toward a promising 2021. Therefore, it became a very important part of our business model from the very start of our brand, and thats the way its continued really. That's why we chose the C63 Sealander Elite as the template for the C63 Colchester. Not only was its build quality light-years ahead of what he expected, but powering it was a genuine ETA 28242. Top. Trident 1, 2 and 3 really show the development of Christopher Ward as a brand. We were relatively early into bronze which is a difficult material to work with (which is why many dont even try) and we wanted to push to having a bronze bracelet. One of those people, turns out, was Hans, who had been a member of Timezone for many years, who had also bought one of our watches, and posted that the Tasmanian professor was quite right, and that he had also found our C5 Malvern to be the best watch in the world. Mike: Dont believe everything you hear on a podcast I think 2023 is our strongest year of releases ever. The two other main areas of our marketing expense are, firstly: Tapping into our consumer via a quarterly magazine, which has become an incredibly important part of our marketing mix. And there is a very well-know chief executive of a very well-known luxury watch brand, which said when he saw our movement: What gives you the right to do that?. Do you plan to bring a permanent GMT watch to this family, or will the 200 piece L.E be the last? What distinguishes good watch manufacturing from bad one is, more often than not, how smooth the transitions between two types of finishes are. And as one of the major posters on Timezone, he had decided to purchase one of our watches online, with intention of the sale was to strip the watch down, expose us as false-ters, and post a warning to the world that we were conning the public, selling watches under false pretenses. Apr 12, 2019 Share Article: The Christopher Ward co-founder talks to Revolution about the online-only British brand he started with friends Chris Ward and Peter Ellis. We still love watches as much as any enthusiast. And waited. And what do you see as the biggest challenge ahead? Well, we did it and we launched with two watches, and things were ticking off. Christopher Ward (London), founded by Christopher Ward, Mike France and Peter Ellis in 2004, is a British watch company. As football and music seemed beyond us, and because we were all fascinated by horology, we settled on watches. For the sake of transparency, I would propose that Christopher Ward aligns with brands such as Formex and MONTA, the two of which are also made in Switzerland. But there we were, getting global orders and shipping these watches out, not really understanding why it was all happening. Mike France, CEO at Christopher Ward. So, were helped by the fact that were in an industry where you can assess a products integrity much more carefully and closely than perhaps any other industry. And we did reasonably well, but it was not a record breaking circuit to start, as we were in our first month. When he saw our ad for a watch powered by an ETA 28242 automatic movement, he decided to buy one. Based in the watch capital of Biel, SH was owned and led by Jrg Bader, who shared a similar vision of watchmaking and business to us. By becoming the first online luxury watch brand, meant that we could have a much lower overhead base and simultaneously avoid using the wholesale model that the entire industry was using. The handset is now a signature design element of any Christopher Ward, as it is both functionalits very easy to read the timeand elegant. We were told youll never sell a high-quality watch online. Although the trio of founders liked watches, they didnt know how to make them. Things were starting to move in our favour. I would love to see more from that platform, particularly a GMT. No. The team will be delighted to hear that as they work exceptionally hard to keep moving them forward. What Mike eventually realized as cofounder and CEO of a successful independent watch brand constitutes the great stuff. The C63 Colchester could be the most sophisticated watch weve ever made, says Mike France, Christopher Ward CEO and co-founder. I sat down (virtually) with Christopher Ward CEO Mike France and Senior Designer Adrian Buchmann to talk through the new hyper-techy Elite, the familiar-looking GMT as well as the brand's fi. So, we are increasingly, attracting people who are interested in understanding and being part of this kind of disrupter, because they know that were doing things that are truly challenging the world of horology. I asked Watch expert and brand owner Mike France (Christopher Ward). And when we think about the the way web is changing, its not about just having sites anymore. B&B: Another standout from this collection is the bracelet for the Dune Bronze. Today, the garrison is the base of one of the most respected fighting forces in the world, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Parachute Regiment. [4] His involvement in a new watch brand, TRIBUS, was announced in September 2020. These watches have an array of beautiful dial textures and colors, and the beautifully highlighted light catcher case. Those barriers are increasingly tumbling to the point of non-existence. The flag is a nod to the merger of Christopher Ward (British) and Synergies Horlogres (Swiss) and the incredible work the two companies have been able to accomplish together. But, I suppose from there we decided that we would investigate and we were very lucky. These days everyone can do their research, and they know about the quality of different movements. This is the first part of our video interview with the CEO of Christopher Ward, check out our YouTube channel for the rest of the conversation! Mike France is in essence an entrepreneur, a people person, and a watch enthusiast. Because many of our customers start at entry level and progressively move through, the chance of increasing younger consumers that we want to be with for the rest of their lives, essentially, also increases. We discuss his passion for watches, how the. We called it Christopher Ward. Would you say a far percentage of those people who admire the disruptors are millennials seeing as they too, are disruptors, in that they are forcing brands to rethink their strategies and increasing also, their traditional marketing mixes? In the Napoleonic wars, the Colchester Garrison was a base for 7,000 troops, and ever since, various British Army regiments have made it their home. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. So, those interested in watches back the constituency and the growing constituent know then that our watches constitute the same quality or integrity of product as watches of many, many times higher price. They are also challenging times for many brands though, and while was quite an organic transition for your brand, one of of your strengths and what really drew attention on social media was your unique pricing model. Mike explained that the three friends wanted to place the brand within the English aesthetic tradition. He knew he had done good work, but he was still looking to get the great work started. [9] Conceived and designed over four years by Christopher Ward's watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke, the SH21 is entirely Swiss made. Anyone who is into watches has dreamed at some point in their lifewhether or not they care to admit itof owning a fine Swiss or Japanese watch. Ironically, Mike was initially told that this was never going to happen. For more in our series of conversations with Luxury Leaders, please see our most recent editions as follows: - In Conversation With Patrick Chalhoub, Co-CEO, Chalhoub Group - In Conversation With Roeland Vos, President & CEO, Belmond - In Conversation With Thomas Flohr, Founder, VistaJet, In Conversation With Patrick Chalhoub, Co-CEO, Chalhoub Group, In Conversation With Roeland Vos, President & CEO, Belmond, In Conversation With Thomas Flohr, Founder, VistaJet. The brands latest release, the Bel Canto, wouldnt have been possible without this unique partnership and organization. The first Christopher Ward models that came out were entirely done in China because it was still possible in 2004 and 2005 to get Swiss movements imported from there. So you see yourselves as on the brink of a new wave of luxury then? We had the chance to discuss a variety of subjects including the . I remember you teased a bronze bracelet for the C65 Sandhurst last year, but will this bracelet become a permanent fixture now? As the regiment says: Paratroopers are trained to conduct a range of missions, from prevention and preemption tasks to complex, high-intensity war-fighting. The industry is 10 to 15 years behind where it should be in the distribution of watches I dont think weve seen anything yet. In the video, cofounder Peter Ellis says that Christopher Ward makes watches for normal people by applying a normal profit margin to their watches (unlike many Swiss giants). Not only is it the same shade of maroon youll find on the famous beret, but its design is inspired by the Paras belt. Dave Malone is a lecturer and watch expert from Tasmania. With all the interest in GMT watches lately Im sure youll have a lot more than 200 people wanting to get one. Often at the same time.". Christopher Ward cut out retailers by selling directly to consumers. [5] TRIBUS ceased operations and filed for insolvency in the summer of 2022. Mike: Truth is weve been on a successful run for some to me now and the Bel Canto has certainly been the icing on the cake the team deserves. This beautiful part of England has inspired many artists and composers before, and it is within this context that the first Christopher Ward collection was born. The brand itself was taken to new heights of success from customer satisfaction, so it makes sense that that would continue to be a marker. And the great thing with carbon is that if you scratch it, it stays black so always looks smart., While the construction and materials are something to celebrate, its the subtle design touches that strengthen the bond between it and the Paras. Its all about those challenges, and who knows whether we succeed or not, um, but trying them is going to be exciting! And on which side of the patina aisle do you land? Beyond that, I do feel as well that there is again a growing constituency of people that subject to then accepting and understanding that the integrity of the product is of the highest order. Mike: There will definitely be other versions. He is absolutely right, and this can be seen in the way in which the brand has been releasing new collections as well as putting team members other than the CEO in front of the camera. This partnership soon led us to engaging the talents of SHs master watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke, who helped us create the JJ Calibres: beautiful dress watches with bespoke modified movements, like the C9 Jumping Hour series and the C900 Single Pusher. Weve been able to achieve that, so far, but in terms of markets where that growth is coming from we see the US market potentially being much bigger than the UK market within the next three to four years. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Today on the Worn & Wound podcast, Blake Buettner talks to Christopher Ward's co-founder Mike France.

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