Christopher Ward The Twelve Titanium Review

Christopher Ward was established nearly twenty years ago, but in the last few years has just exploded in popularity. The watch that took Christopher Ward into the stratosphere is the watch we're going to take a look at today, the Twelve.

The Twelve is Christopher Ward's take on the integrated sports watch created by Gerald Genta in the early 1970s. Genta's first design of the integrated sports watch was the Royal Oak designed for Audemars Piguet in 1972. The Royal Oak broke the mold for luxury watches by being crafted out of non-precious stainless steel and having the case and bracelet seamlessly blend into each other. Genta followed up the Royal Oak with the Nautilus for Patek Philippe and the Ingenieur for IWC, both of which followed the design traits of the Royal Oak.



Before I start the review of the Twelve, I have to mention that I am not a fan of the Royal Oak. Although Audemars Piguet is one of my favorite three brands, the Royal Oak just doesn't do anything for me. The only Royal Oak I remember liking in person was the rose gold limited edition City of Sails. The Royal Oak just feels a bit too serious and buttoned up to me. The Royal Oak did go on to fuel the design of one of my favorite watch collections though, the Royal Oak Offshore.

Ok so now that I addressed my feelings on the Royal Oak, we can now move on to the Twelve. Since Christopher Ward fully addresses the influence of Genta when talking about the Twelve, I thought it was important to give a bit of history of his integrated sports watch design. Christopher Ward didn't set out to design a clone of the Royal Oak with the Twelve, but instead their designers put their own spin on the genre of watch made popular by Genta's creations.



I've actually been trying to get the Twelve in for review for what feels like forever. Given the extreme popularity of the Twelve, it has taken Christopher Ward a few months to finally have a review sample in stock to send us. Making it a little tougher on Christopher Ward, I was also asking for them to send us a 40 mm version in titanium. A few weeks ago, Andrew and his team over at Christopher Ward contacted me and said they had an Aurora Green titanium Twelve to send us.

When the Twelve arrived, the first thing that I noticed was just how thin the watch was. I measured the Twelve at only 9.3 mm thick, which is almost a full millimeter slimmer than the standard non-ultra thin Royal Oak. I've owned watches personally that are over two times the thickness of the Twelve, it's really something that you need to see and try on to fully appreciate.



The next thing I noticed about the Twelve was just how lightweight it was. Being crafted out of grade 2 titanium, I knew the watch would not weigh much, but wasn't ready for the 86 gram weight including a full titanium bracelet and deployant clasp. I'm very used to titanium in watches and own a few titanium pieces, but they are a bit larger than the Twelve, so I wasn't really ready for how little it weighed.

Finally and not very surprisingly, the last thing that grabbed my attention when initially looking at the Twelve was the stunning Aurora Green dial. I had seen tons of pictures of the Twelve's pyramid pattern dial, but seeing it in person is a completely different thing. The shape of each pyramid gives some very nice depth to the dial of the Twelve. The Aurora Green fading from bright green to near black near the bezel only amplifies this effect as well.



Now that we've covered my initial impressions of the Twelve, let's move on to more of the meat and potatoes of the technical specs. The Twelve measure 40 mm in case diameter and is crafted out of grade 2 titanium. The watch has a lug to lug width of 44.5 mm and a case thickness of 9.3 mm. As mentioned earlier the watch weighs in at 86 grams when sized for my 7.25 inch wrist on the bracelet.

The flat sapphire front crystal is coated with an anti-reflective coating that gives you a crystal clear view of the Aurora Green dial. Adding more flare to the already stunning 3D pyramid dial are top-brushed indices with diamond polished facets. Likewise the hour, minute and seconds hands are all brushed and polished as well. In direct sunlight, the hands and indices really shine. The polish of the dial markers is an interesting difference from the mostly brushed look of the titanium case.



Finishing the dial off is the Christopher Ward twin flag logo at 12 o'clock and "Chronometer" text as 6. Also at 6 o'clock is the color matched date window. I have to say that Christopher Ward did an amazing job with the date window, having it match almost perfectly with the dial color at its location. I've seen much more expensive watches do much worse with their date window integrations. Finally around the outside of the dial you have the minute index ring as well as the "Swiss Made" text.

Moving on to the case, Christopher Ward ended up choosing a twelve sided bezel for the Twelve, hence the name. The most well known multi-sided bezel is the octagon of the Royal Oak, but I feel like Christopher Ward really nailed it with this 12 sided variant. The bezel of the Twelve is also a lot more subtle than that of the Royal Oak, sometimes even blending into the case. Christopher Ward did add a bit of polish to the bezel, just to emphasize the design a bit more.



Looking at the profile of the Twelve you can see just have slim the watch is. This view also gives you an interesting look at how the caseback has a similar 12 sided "bezel" to it as well. Also paying homage to Genta's designs, the crown guards feature two exposed screw heads. The screw down crown features the twin flag logo on its top and is scalloped nicely. For the most part, the case is brushed, with edges having a high polish to them, giving the watch just enough of a luxury look.

The crown operation is simple and straight forward. Once you have un-screwed the crown, you can then manually wind the automatic movement. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the date, while pulling the crown out to position two allows setting the time. When the time is set, pushing the crown back in produces no jump of the minutes hand.



Flipping the watch over shows off the matching 12 sided case back and six exposed screw heads used to attached the caseback to the case. A sapphire crystal shows off the Sellita SW300-1 chronometer certified automatic movement. The movement beats at 28,800 vph (4Hz) and has a 56 hour power reserve.On our timegrapher the Twelve ran a solid -1 to +1 seconds per day in accuracy, which is well within chronometer specs. Recently we've been having these Sellita movements really surprise us with their accuracy. As an added bonus, most local watchmakers can work on these movements as well. This is something which is getting less and less common with in-house movements from some of the top end brands and require the watch to be sent back to the manufacture for service, not so with Sellita movements.

The displayed movement is rather handsome with a branded Christopher Ward winding rotor complete with twin flag logos. The movement itself is finished with an elabore Colimacone finish. There is nothing too over the top with the finishing of the movement and it really goes well with the brushed titanium case. Even with the display back, the Twelve still offers a way more than adequate 100 meters of water resistance. That depth rating is enough for a swim and snorkeling, but just a bit shy of what you really need to dive with.



Moving on to the bracelet, Christopher Ward paired the Twelve with a matching grade 2 titanium bracelet with an integrated design. The bracelet tapers down from 24 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the double deployant clasp. The links have a matching brushed finish with polished edges and the removable links are held in place with screws, which is the correct way to assemble a bracelet. The spring bars are of the quick release variety and Christopher Ward also offers a black rubber strap that snaps right in place if a strap is more your speed. The deployant secures well and requires both buttons to be pushed to open. Having micro-adjustments available would have been a nice addition here, especially since other Christopher Ward bracelets offer them already. Also note that due to the integrated bracelet design, the Twelve isn't going to work with anything but Christopher Ward Twelve straps or possibly aftermarket straps designed specifically for the Twelve.



I've had the Twelve for a few weeks and over that time, both my wife and myself have worn the watch on various occasions. I'll preface this part of the review by saying my wife's two daily watches are 40 and 41 mm, while my smallest watch is 42 mm and my largest are 48 mm. The 40 mm Twelve falls into the smaller end of what I like to wear, more so the 44.5 mm lug to lug is well below the typical 50 mm lug to lug I prefer. That being said, the watch wore like a dream and pretty much disappeared on the wrist. I do tend to prefer straps over bracelets as well, but I have to say that the titanium bracelet on the Twelve was great.

My wife pretty much praised the Twelve for just how lightweight and slim the watch was. It actually felt strange to me to wear such a slim watch. After wearing the Twelve multiple times, I finally started getting used to just how low profile it was. One thing I never got used to was the stunning Aurora Green dial. Depending on the lighting, the design and hue of the dial just bring the watch to life and always appear slightly different as the lighting changes.



While wearing the Twelve out to dinner and drinks over the course of a few weeks I was asked about the watch multiple times. To my surprise two people actually knew what the watch was and loved seeing it in person. Others commented it was the green dial that got their attention. One person did think the watch was a Royal Oak from distance as well. With the green dial, I'd say this version of the Twelve is more geared to those who are more extroverted when it comes to what they wear. I'd say Twelves with the blue or purple dials will also get the same amount if not more attention than the green dial version we had. If you like the Twelve and want a more subtle watch, the silver or black dial variants would be right up your alley. Also choosing the black rubber strap would make the watch a bit more incognito as well.



With a retail price of $1,450 on a rubber strap and $1,895 on the titanium bracelet, the Twelve offers a ton of value for a titanium integrated sports watch. If you pick to go with stainless steel, you can get a version of the Twelve for less than $1,000. Not only do you get a very handsome Genta inspired case, but you also get that just jaw dropping 3D dial and extremely accurate movement. We should take some time to talk about some alternatives to the Twelves now and see how they stack up.

When talking about integrated sports watches that have tons of popularity, you have to mention the Tissot PRX Powermatic 80. The PRX has arguably been the most popular traditional mechanical watch over the past few years. The combination of an integrated design and extremely low price has propelled it up the sales charts. The PRX also has a 40 mm case, but instead of high tech titanium, only stainless steel is offered on the PRX. The PRX comes with an ETA movement offering 80 hours of power reserve, which is a bit more than the Twelve, but honestly both of these watches would probably be daily wearers, so power reserve isn't of that much importance. The PRX doesn't have much of a Genta-esque design to it, but does have a similar dial pattern to the Royal Oak. At $725, the PRX is a bit less than even the stainless steel Twelve, but the design of the watch is much more reserved and doesn't have the wow factor the Twelve has.



Next up we have the F77 Titanium from Nivada Grenchen. The F77 is crafted out of titanium like the Twelve, but only measures in at 37 mm, but the lug to lug is very similar to the Twelve meaning they would wear similar on the wrist. The F77 is based on a non-Genta design from 1977, but is also an integrated sports watch with an octagonal bezel having eight exposed screw heads, really taking inspiration from the Royal Oak. The F77 is a bit less expensive than the Twelve at $1,490 and features a SOPROD movement, which we have no experience with. The Sellita movements found in the Twelve are rock solid, which we can attest to, having been around a ton.

The Maurice Lacroix AIKON Automatic Date is the final watch we'll take a look at in the similarly priced integrated sports watch segment. The AIKON measures 42 mm in case diameter and comes in stainless steel with titanium not being an option. The movement of the AIKON is based on the Sellita SW200-1, which is a bit lower in the catalog of movements from Sellita when comparing it to the SW300-1 found in the Twelve. The design of the AIKON is also a bit more formal with more polished areas than the Twelve, as well as coming on a dressier bracelet. At $2,300, the AIKON also is a bit more expensive than even a stainless steel version of the Twelve.



Finally we have the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Selfwinding. The basic time only Royal Oak isn't offered in titanium, so we'll look at the 41 mm Stainless Steel variant. Naturally the Royal Oak started the design trend, so no need to really talk about design much. The Royal Oak comes with an in-house caliber which boasts 70 hours of power reserve and has some fine finishing details on it. The dial is much more subtle than the Twelve and the case is just over one millimeter thicker. The Royal Oak retails for $28,600 and goes for well over that on the secondary market, since they are impossible to buy new without an extended waiting period. Is the Royal Oak worth over 20 times the price of the Twelve, just on the watch alone… no. The Twelve offers 8/10ths of what the Royal Oak offers, but also has some design elements that I prefer. Sure having the legacy of both the Royal Oak and Audemars Piguet is worth a lot, which to be honest I have many watches in my collection that were much more expensive than they should be based purely on name and heritage. It's hard to really put a price on brand name, but when just comparing watch to watch, the Twelve stands well versus the Royal Oak. Now wait until we compare the Twelve X against a Royal Oak Skeleton…



So summing up the alternatives, the Twelve really holds its own against both similarly prices integrated sports watches as well as with the much higher priced original in the space. For that reason and the stunning case and dial design of the Twelve, I'd have no issues recommending the Twelve to anyone looking for a go anywhere do anything sports watch that can be worn in most situations from dressier evening events to summer vacations. Just changing the strap from the bracelet to rubber makes the Twelve extremely versatile. With prices starting under $1,000 for a stainless steel Twelve on a rubber strap, the watch is also very reasonably priced.

Now is the Twelve for me? Personally the Twelve is not for me. The simple fact is I just like larger watches and the Twelve is just a bit too small in case diameter and thickness for me. We did just get in the Twelve X yesterday and the slightly larger case size really suits me better. The current trend for watches is that smaller and slimmer is better, which the Twelve nails. 40 mm is by no means small, but the 44.5 mm lug to lug does make the watch wear smaller than most integrated designs. I do wish Christopher Ward would make a 42 to 44 mm version of the Twelve, possibly with the in-house caliber from the Twelve X though.



Would I recommend the Twelve to somebody looking for a sports watch. I would 100% recommend the Twelve all day long. I know I'm strange when it comes to case sizes, so that shouldn’t be an issue with most buyers. I just love that Christopher Ward embraced the idea of doing their own take on the Genta designs and did a fantastic job with the Twelve. The dial is a showstopper when even compared to what Audemars Piguet does with their tapisserie Royal Oak dials. Having the ability to get the Twelve for under $1,000 in stainless steel and also being able to spec one out in high tech titanium is a nice touch as well.

There really isn't anything to stop me recommending the Twelve to potential buyers. For the price you really can't expect an in-house movement and the Sellita SW300-1 is a super solid movement that is extremely accurate in our timegrapher tests. The entire package is just well thought out and the build quality exceeded my expectations.



We'd really like to thank Christopher Ward for sending us the Twelve to review. We will also be posting our review of the Twelve X very soon, as well as a comparison article between the Twelve and Twelve X.

For more information about the Twelve please visit : Christopher Ward

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: C12-40ADC1-T00V0-B0

Retail Price: $1,895

Case Size: 40 mm

Lug to Lug: 44.5 mm

Thickness: 9.3 mm

Weight: 86 Grams

Case Material: Titanium

Bezel: Titanium

Strap: Titanium Bracelet with Deployant Clasp

Movement: Sellita SW300-1 Automatic Swiss Made Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 56 Hours

Water Resistance: 100 Meters