The Name's Not Bond: Christopher Ward Watches

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I don’t mind paying quite a lot for a watch – after all, it is the only kind of man-jewellery I can condone.

I would get the thrill of buying it, the fun of trying it on and the excitement of owning something new. Added to which the price tells my brain that it’s actually a very good watch – studies of brain activity have shown people actually do believe a higher priced version of the same product is better.

The problem is that you have to get automatic watches serviced every few years and that’s £100 spent where all you get back is your watch working like it’s supposed to do – that doesn’t feel great to me.

Omega does make quartz watches. But then you get to spend £900 on a quartz watch.

That does seem excessive when I know that other brands can make a quartz watch for £10 that keeps perfectly good time. Yes, I know the solid metal feel of the case, the sapphire crystal and the solid steel bracelet are not cheap to make, but I also know other brands offer all of these for a lot less.

All of which got me to the point of feeling that I was going to be paying a £700 premium because of James Bond. Given that he’s never helped me personally on any of my missions I felt this was too high a price to pay.

Then I heard about Christopher Ward (London) watches.

A friend showed me his watch and explained about the company, which sells premium, Swiss made watches on-line, at sensible prices.

Buying a watch on-line is risky. Clever photography can flatter to deceive (I found that out when I bought my wife a “diamond” watch that sparkled in the photographs in way that diamond dust rarely does in real life). Also it’s hard to know how a watch will look on your own wrist and how it will feel to wear.

The Christopher Ward website is easy to explore and offers a fairly wide range of models (12 men’s watches at the last count, although some of these are minor variations on a theme). It’s let down, in my view, by two things:

The photography is good but not alluring – if anything it’s too realistic. I can’t quite work out why but, to me, watches look ten times better with a black background than a white one. (Perhaps that’s just me).

The site could evoke associations to make the watches more attractive, but again goes for a more direct visual approach. OK, spending millions on a James Bond endorsement isn’t practical (and is against the ethos of the brand) but putting associated imagery around the products would help enormously.

Curiously, the website has a forum (more of that in a moment) on which they preview up-and-coming models. This includes design boards that have just those associated images of cars and stylish designs that get the purchase juices flowing.

There’s a growing body of research showing that triggering associations can make a significant quantitative difference to how customers respond (all down to the involvement of the unconscious in our behaviour). At present the main association Christopher Ward leverage is Switzerland – good, but hardly unique in the watch world.

So why buy would I risk buying from Christopher Ward, you may well ask.

Turn the page and I'll explain ....»

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