Christopher Ward put its wild child in a tuxedo, and the Academy already noticed

Most watches wait until they’re sold before they start collecting awards. The C1 Loco Classic skipped that step. Christopher Ward’s new watch, priced from $5,995, is already a finalist at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG).

Some backstory, last year’s C12 Loco was the brand’s party animal, angular case, integrated sports bracelet, and colors named Frisco Orange, Pasadena Blue, Ursa Black and Alabaster White. Some buyers loved it. Others quietly wanted a lie-down. The Classic is for them.

It swaps the angles for a rounded 41mm case in 904L steel, with individually soldered lugs and a white ceramic dial in Roman numerals. The lower dial wears a varnish laced with powdered mother-of-pearl, so it shimmers like it knows something you don’t.

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The choices are gold-toned “Oro,” light blue and black, on suede ($5,995) or the new Consort bracelet ($6,275). The bracelet is 904L steel too, with polished and brushed links, tool-free adjustment and an adjustable clasp. Resizing without a watchmaker is a small miracle.

Underneath is the same manually wound CW-003 as the Loco. Its big balance wheel is out on the dial side, so you can watch the heartbeat. It runs six days on a full wind and keeps time within 0 to +7 seconds a day. But the bridges have been redrawn slimmer and rounder, and every set gets more than five hours of hand-finishing from a specialist in the Swiss Jura. That’s longer than most people spend on their wedding outfit.

Work began in June 2024, before the original Loco had even gone on sale. The sequel was written before the first film premiered. Co-founder and CEO Mike France calls it “a parallel expression” of the movement, not a sequel at all.

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It does have heft. The case is 14.1mm thick, though 5.5mm of that is the domed sapphire crystals, and lug-to-lug is 48mm.

As for the trophy hunt, it’s one of six finalists in the Petite Aiguille category (CHF 4,500 to 10,000) and the only British one. Christopher Ward has done this before. The Bel Canto became the first British GPHG winner in 2023, and nominations followed for the C1 Moonphase (2024), the C1 Celestial Moonphase and the C12 Loco (2025).

Winners are announced in Geneva next month. Frisco Orange, if you’re reading, please stay home.