Christopher Ward C9 Jumping Hour Mk II

We haven’t written about the British watch brand Christopher Ward before, but that’s going to change. Until now their collection just didn’t do it for us, but lately the brand has added several watches to the collection that tickle our interest. Soon we’ll bring you an extensive review of the C900 Harrison Single Pusher Chronograph, but now we focus on another own development of Christopher Ward. Originally introduced in 2011 the C9 Harrison Jumping Hour already impressed, and recently Christopher Ward introduced the new and improved C9 Jumping Hour Mark II.

The C9 Harrison Jumping Hour Mk II sports a self developed jumping hour mechanism and for this Mark II the mechanism has been improved. According to Christopher Ward it could well be the most precise jumping hour movement the world has yet seen. Bold statement, but all we know is that it looks very nice and we love the Roman hour numerals. The new Jumping Hour is available in four versions, each limited to 250 pieces. That means two versions in stainless steel and two versions with a solid 18ct rose gold bezel and matching hour markers.

The new Mk II version has adopted the case and dial aesthetic which was introduced for the C900 Single Pusher Chronograph giving the Mark II a crisp and subtle design. And that’s what we like so much about “the new Christopher Ward”. Another thing that is rather remarkable about the British brand, is that the entire collection can be simply bought in their online store. No searching for your nearest retailer anymore, simply expect a delivery from a courier, after clicking the Buy Now button and filling out the necessary forms.

The JJ01 complication, created by Master Watchmaker Johannes Jahnke, has been taken a step further. For the Jumping Hour Mk II, Johannes further refined his adaptation of ETA’s 2824-2 movement. There was no technical data on how the jumping hour mechanism works, just the acclaimed ‘probably the most precise jumping hour movement the world has yet seen’, which suffices for now. Especially when you know the price, which is $ 1,695 USD for the stainless steel versions or $ 2,550 for the version with rose gold bezel.

Christopher Ward is very open about the movement they use. No strange caliber names while the mechanism is more or less an untouched ETA (or similar) movement, like quite a few other brands do. It looks like Christopher Ward is proud of its power source, the ETA 2824/2 and they even engrave it in the case back.

“For our first use of solid gold we knew we had to go with rose gold,” says the company’s co-founder Chris Ward. “Rose has now become the dominant gold colour in virtually all the major markets, including the UK, and works beautifully with the classically elegant style of the C9 Jumping Hour Mark II.”

Each of the C9 Jumping Hour Mk II’s will be assembled at Christopher Ward’s own workshops in Biel, Switzerland, by Johannes and his team and will arrive with a letter of authenticity signed by the man himself.

Some specifications:

• Case: stainless steel, 43 mm in diameter and 13 mm in height, stainless steel or 18 ct rose gold bezel, sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, screw-down transparent case back with anti-reflective mineral crystal
• Movement: bespoke ETA 2824-2 with JJ001 Jumping Hour automatic modification by Johannes Jahnke, 38 hours power reserve
• Individually engraved limited edition serial number
• Comes on a Louisiana alligator strap with double folded deployment