Christopher Ward has announced a silent auction on November 7, 2016, for the chance to bid on the ‘000’ prototype sample of the C8 P7350 Chronometer Limited Edition. The auction will honor Remembrance Day with all proceeds from the auction being donated to two of the UK’s largest military charities The Royal British Legion and SSAFA.
The C8 P7350 Chronometer Limited Edition was created in partnership with TMB Art Metal who worked closely with Christopher Ward to source original Duralumin from the only remaining airworthy Spitfire to have flown in the battle of Britain – P7350. This historic metal was then embedded into each watch within the 75 piece limited run. The ‘000’ prototype sample being auctioned this November, is the only watch of its kind.
The design of the 44mm watch is based on the Smiths Mk IIa clock that was used in the Supermarine Spitfire’s cockpit, including a careful matching of the original index fonts and colors and the black, anti-reflective case.
The reverse of the watch reveals a laser-cut piece of metal from P7350’s cockpit protected by highly scratch-resistant, museum grade sapphire crystal. A silhouette of the plane’s plan has been precision cut into the metal showing the registration and elliptical wing formation to great effect.
Powering the C8 P7350 Chronometer is a small-second, hand-wound version of Christopher Ward’s in-house movement, Calibre SH21. As well as providing 120 hours of power via SH21’s twin barrels, each movement is a COSC certified chronometer.
The auction will go live on November 7th and will run for 11 hours (11am until 10pm), with people able to place their bid for the watch – a piece of genuine aviation history – and show their support for veterans and serving members of the military via the Christopher Ward website. The minimum bid will be set at £3,450. All bids must be submitted in GBP
Co-founder Mike France said: ‘We’ve kept the ‘000’ prototype of the C8 P7350 Chronometer LE aside since the original launch in 2015 as we always knew we wanted to do something meaningful with it. We carefully considered how we could utilize this special piece and ultimately decided that because of the links that the collection has to the Battle of Britain it would only be right to utilize this to commemorate Remembrance Day. Through our auction we hope to mark Remembrance Day and to raise thousands of pounds for our chosen charities – The Royal British Legion and SSAFA who offer vital support to the veteran and Armed Forces community.”
Go to https://www.christopherward.co.uk/p7350-silent-auction to view the auction and place your bid.
FEATURES FOR ‘000’ C8 P7350
· Swiss made
· British designed
· 27 jewel in-house hand-wound mechanical chronometer
· Historic metal from Supermarine Spitfire P7350 embedded into backplate
· In-house hand-wound Calibre SH21 movement
· COSC-certified chronometer
· Twin barrel construction in series connection
· 120 hr power reserve
· Small seconds sub-dial
· Hand finished marine grade stainless steel case with PVD black coating
· Diamond shaped aviator crown
· Museum-grade anti-reflective sapphire crystal
· Smiths IIa cockpit clock inspired dial and hands
· Two color SuperLumiNovaTM indexes with blue and green emissions
· Premium quality leather strap with CW motif buckle
· Deluxe box and owner’s handbook and certificate of authentication
TECHNICAL
· Diameter: 44mm
· Height: 12.3mm
· Calibre: Hand Wound SH21 COSC
· Vibrations: 28,000 per hour
· Case: 316L stainless steel (PVD)
· Water Resistance: 5 BAR/50m
Photos courtesy of Christopher Ward
