This Affordable Hyperwatch Looks and Acts Like It Should Cost 10 Times More

How are they even doing this?

Close-up of a mechanical watch movement showing polished metal components and ruby jewel bearings with "Swiss Made" text on the dial.

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By Johnny Brayson

Published December 29, 2025

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In late 2022, Christopher Ward launched the watch that would forever change the direction of the company.

The C1 Bel Canto utilized a clever in-house jumping module to create a chiming watch at a price far lower than anyone had ever thought possible.

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The Bel Canto quickly became the de facto flagship of CW, a brand previously known for its affordable, homage-ish dive watches. What’s more, the watch significantly raised the profile of the brand, putting Christopher Ward on the radar of collectors who previously had little to no interest in the brand.

Close-up of a mechanical watch movement with blue base plate and silver gears in a brushed metal case. — The open free-sprung balance wheel was custom-made for the Loco.

But the watch industry moves at a breakneck pace, and before long, the conversation surrounding Christopher Ward shifted to wondering how the brand could possibly follow up a watch as groundbreaking as the Bel Canto. After all, sequels are never as good as the original.

Except, apparently, in the case of the C12 Loco.

Rather than resting on its laurels, Christopher Ward doubled down on its efforts to democratize haute horlogerie by launching a watch even more impressive than the Bel Canto in 2025.

Four mechanical watch movements with different colored dials (orange, silver, blue, and gray) arranged around a Bergeon watchmaker's tool and a pair of tweezers on a gray surface. — As a piece of watchmaking, the Loco is inarguably more impressive than the Bel Canto.

While perhaps less novel than the Bel Canto’s chiming mechanism, the Loco is a decidedly more accomplished piece of watchmaking.

Rather than relying on a module mated to an off-the-shelf Sellita movement, the Loco runs on a brand-new, fully in-house movement boasting a whopping six-day power reserve and the kind of floating, dial-side escapement and free-sprung balance most often seen in six-figure watches from brands like MB&F.

the open case back of a Christopher Ward watch — The movement’s prominent bridges are hand-finished using multiple techniques.

The balance wheel is custom-made, the movement has chronometer-level accuracy and the bridges — both on the dial and on the movement’s stunning reverse side — are hand-finished.

This is legitimate high watchmaking, for a price that’s even less believable than the Bel Canto’s.

Now, just one question remains for Christopher Ward: How about a trilogy?