I admit, I am always on the hunt for styles. This company has impressed me by changing the game in the high class luxury watch segment. Clearly the issue for men is, that not everybody can afford a Rolex, Tudor, Omega or similar classic Swiss made watches. Christopher Ward started to change this game.

What are they doing different?

1. Hired talent from luxury brands

2. Removed the retail channel

3. Selling purely online

4. Using same materials as the Swiss born luxury competitors

5. No marketing with celebrities

Finally their concept is to simplify the business to reduce costs. This makes it possible to achieve their vision: putting luxury watches in the reach of everybody.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not glorifying Chris Ward. One curiosity is that they won my awareness by a print commercial on a airline magazine, but they claim to be an online player. Could their marketing budget be spend more efficiently in online targeting?

Would you be willing to buy from them, assuming their quality promise is true? Or will you continue stick to brands you know, like Rolex? I think classic, conservative Rolex customers will not take this step, but a new generation of people who are open for change, disruption and new thinking will give it a chance.

If I compare it to my software market I work in for almost two decades… there will always be clients who only will trust the market leader by Gartner to secure their careers. But their will also be brave disrupters, who want to change the game.

Imagine you could have both: the experience of many Rolex makers, in a new consumption model, simple with a better TCO….

PS: my two favorites on Instagram