Christopher Ward has been on a hot streak over the last year, with the introductions of the Bel Canto and the Twelve collection raising their profile with enthusiasts who veer toward the avant-garde and a style of sleek sports watch that?s in fashion at the moment. These watches have been met with a certain degree of, ?Oh, I didn?t know Christopher Ward could do that?? by crops of skeptics who have since been won over. But the fact is, Christopher Ward has been upending expectations and redefining what the brand could be for years. For many in the collector community, a watch that really signified the brand branching out was the C1 Moonglow, which Zach Weiss reviewed here in 2019. A combination of an intricately layered dial design execution and liberal applications of lume in an inherently playful complication was a sign that Christopher Ward had even more ambitious ideas they were willing to play with, and now they?ve introduced a long awaited follow-up to the Moonglow, the C1 Moonphase.
Christopher Ward describes this watch as their most ambitious moonphase to date, and it feels very much a part of this newer crop of Christopher Wards that really push the envelope in terms of design, reaching toward ideas that have typically been associated with haute horlogerie in the past. The C1 Moonphase features an aventurine dial, a material often associated with the moonphase complication because of its resemblance to the night sky. Aventurine is essentially glass that h...