The Best Affordable Sports Watch Just Got Slimmer, Sleeker and Classier

Christopher Ward takes no days off.

The British-Swiss brand shook up the industry when it first unveiled the original Twelve integrated sports watch two years ago, and it’s been constantly expanding the line ever since.

The original Twelve measured 40mm across and came in both stainless steel and titanium variants. This was soon followed up by smaller case sizes of 36mm and 38mm in steel (plus 36mm titanium versions, which have since been discontinued), the luxe skeletonized Twelve X in steel and titanium, and the literally insane C12 Loco flagship with its in-house, openworked movement.

Now, the Twelve line has expanded once again with a brand-new model that brings a dose of debonair flair.

Christopher Ward

Thin is in

The new Twelve is the Twelve 660, a name derived from the watch’s exceedingly thin 6.6mm-tall case. The previous standard-bearer for Twelve thinness was the Twelve (ti), which comes in at a hair under 9mm. As an owner of that watch, I can say that it wears extremely thin, so it’s hard for me to imagine a version that’s nearly 50 percent thinner. And yet, here we are.

The Twelve 660 achieves its thinness in part through its choice of movement: the hand-wound Sellita SW210-1 b. The Swiss-made movement measures just 3.35mm thick and yet has a decent power reserve of 42 hours and beats at a standard 4Hz. The movement is visible through a sapphire caseback and is quite nicely finished, with the highlight being a custom-designed train bridge that’s exclusive to the 660.

Christopher Ward

The 38mm stainless steel case of the Twelve 660 largely maintains the same lines as other versions of the Twelve, with the namesake twelve-sided bezel featuring a mix of brushing, polishing and sandblasting, and the caseback featuring a simplified version of the design in reverse but with the addition of exposed screws.

Despite its similar looks, the case had to be completely reworked for thinness, and the bezel also got an aesthetic overhaul. It’s now broader, allowing more room for the vertical brushing to flex its muscles. I really like the look of the bezel, as it better compares with other (pricier) integrated sports watches, and I honestly wish my Twelve (ti) had this bezel.

Christopher Ward

The dial has also been simplified in CW’s pursuit of thinness. The 3D twin flag-textured dial of the original Twelve has been jettisoned in favor of a thinner grain-textured dial. There is no seconds hand on the 660, saving some room in the hand stack, and the applied indices are flatter. There isn’t any lume on the 660, as it’s intended to be a more formal version of the Twelve. That also helps explain the reduced water resistance, which has gone from 100m on the standard Twelve to 30m on the 660.

What’s more, the bracelet is all-new, as it had to be slimmed down considerably to match the skinny new case. That included designing an entirely new clasp system, as the existing Twelve clasp is actually thicker than the case of the 660.

Christopher Ward

The new clasp is quite interesting. Instead of a standard butterfly clasp, there is a center section featuring the CW logo and a hidden clasp. The parts of the bracelet that open and close are housed on either side of this center section, which results in a thinner clasp since the release mechanism doesn’t need to rest under the bracelet’s folding parts. Unlike the standard Twelve clasp, however, there is no microadjustment on the 660.

A word on pricing

The Twelve 660 isn’t the only big news out of Christopher Ward today. The brand has also given an update on its tariff pricing, and it’s good news for anyone in the market for a CW.

When U.S. President Donald Trump levied a 39 percent tariff on Swiss goods earlier this month, brands like CW were put in a tricky situation. Tariffs are paid by the importer of the tariffed good, and for a direct-to-consumer brand like CW, the importer is the customer. This meant customers of the brand were effectively getting hit with an extra 39 percent tax on top of their local taxes when buying a Christopher Ward watch.

Christopher Ward

But CW, somehow, has found a workaround. With around 50 percent of its sales coming from the U.S., the brand had already been working on moving more of its business stateside. The tariff debacle put that work into overdrive, and CW has now turned its existing U.S.-based entity, CW Inc., into its U.S. distributor.

This arrangement — along with a new deal with DHL that lets the brand import watches in bulk to the U.S., per Hodinkee — allows CW itself to import its watches at wholesale prices, around 1/3 the retail cost, with the tariff applied to that amount instead of the full retail price. The end result is a 29 percent reduction across the board on CW prices for U.S. customers.

As for the Twelve 660, it’s priced between the steel and titanium Twelve models at $1,905 on the integrated bracelet or $1,715 on a black rubber strap. That’s for the versions in steel with a white, blue or green dial. There’s also a blacked-out DLC steel version that costs slightly more: $1,775 on rubber or $2,050 on the bracelet. All are available to preorder now for delivery from late-September to mid-October.

Christopher Ward

Christopher Ward The Twelve 660

Specs

Case Size	38mm
Movement	Sellita Cal. SW210-1 b manual-wind
Water Resistance	30m

• $2,050 at Christopher Ward

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