You could make a pretty convincing case, I think, that Christopher Ward is one of a small handful of microbrands to really shape the scene as we know it today. They were certainly one of the earliest brands to develop a cult following on the internet, with a dedicated forum for collectors and fans of the brand that has been active for just about the entire life of the brand itself. Christopher Ward has always kept a close relationship between brand management and real end users, and that?s become something of a hallmark for any microbrand that really wants to be successful today –  you really have to cultivate that relationship and be there for the people buying watches in order to have success in this space. Even as Christopher Ward has grown, they?ve maintained that connection, and that?s the larger message and theme behind the release of the new C60 Trident Pro 300, a watch made in collaboration with users of the Christopher Ward Forum.
CW?s in-house forum has always been a place where an open exchange of ideas has been encouraged, and for this watch the brand reached out to users for help with the design. As someone who has been active on forums throughout the course of my own watch collecting journey, this is kind of hard to wrap my head around. Designing something collectively is challenging enough, but to do it within the realm of an internet forum, where the concept of reaching a consensus goes to die, seems like an exercise in futility. Nonetheless...