Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

iain wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 6:55 pm I like this and have been watching with interest on the CWE Facebook page. One difference which stands out is the different approaches to developing these limited editions between Facebook and the Forum.

The Forum tends to allow anyone to put forward ideas, some photoshop wizards mock up some pictures and then everyone votes until there is a final design.

Facebook tends to sort out the design behind the scenes and then say “This is what we’ve come up with, here it is, who wants one?”

Both routes have their merit, but I feel the more inclusive forum method has possibly led to some people not opting to buy because their preferred design elements fell during the voting. This in turn may have led to them feeling disappointed with the finished product as I their eyes it could have been better.
Really interesting Iain, thanks for the insight as I’ve only been here a while (saw the other replies also, which were quite amusing)!

So... full disclosure I should say (as you will know) there was an awful lot of input across the CWE on the initial posts from the guys trying to bring the idea to life, which gave us some broad brush strokes to begin with like the most popular size around 40mm.

Some guys were absolutely livid this is not a 42mm because of their worldview! Thank goodness we didn’t try a 38mm or we’d have been shot. Two of us three ‘initiators’ preferred larger watches so to do a 40mm was definitely more for the group than ourselves.

Once the bezel ‘keystone’ was there, which fixed the size and colour, it was much easier to build the rest but there was still quite a bit of love for the ombré despite the bronze markers!

CW guided us quite a bit and steered us away from existing LE dials though, so there weren’t actually that many degrees of freedom. Where you start with the design on a run of 100 though I don’t know as so many more options open up... :?:

We had votes for C65s, C60s, GMTs and everything in between but I think our modal option would have been C60 42mm non-GMT. If the C60 Blue bezel came in 42mm we would definitely be running another 30 of those off also.
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by albionphoto »

The first Facebook CWE and now the second CWE limited editions seem to have a much less painful design process. I personally wouldn't support anothe Forum LE unless and until something like the CWE design process is followed. You guys did a good job on CWE LE 2.0 BTW.

I doubt that the forum has the appetite for another LE but here's the process that5, perhaps, the forum should follow...
1 - Decide on how many watches to make . 30 is a minimum 100 is a maximum
2 - Automatic but what complication Date?, GMT?
3 - Size 42, 40 or 39?
Vote on complication and size, these to set the parameters.
4 - Open discussions with CW design team. Produce 1 or 2 proposals and then throw that open to the forum for a Yes/No vote.
5 - If a design is picked, collect a minimum of 30 non-refundable, deposits.

This would mean less work for the forum. If you can't get a slimline process like this to work then there's no hope for us.
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

albionphoto wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 7:58 pm The first Facebook CWE and now the second CWE limited editions seem to have a much less painful design process. I personally wouldn't support anothe Forum LE unless and until something like the CWE design process is followed. You guys did a good job on CWE LE 2.0 BTW.

I doubt that the forum has the appetite for another LE but here's the process that5, perhaps, the forum should follow...
1 - Decide on how many watches to make . 30 is a minimum 100 is a maximum
2 - Automatic but what complication Date?, GMT?
3 - Size 42, 40 or 39?
Vote on complication and size, these to set the parameters.
4 - Open discussions with CW design team. Produce 1 or 2 proposals and then throw that open to the forum for a Yes/No vote.
5 - If a design is picked, collect a minimum of 30 non-refundable, deposits.

This would mean less work for the forum. If you can't get a slimline process like this to work then there's no hope for us.
I can’t comment on the Forum approach but all of the others look more custom than we can do with a 50-run, say. Perhaps CW moved the goalposts and the 100 minimum order for custom bezels or handsets (300 for total flexibility) is new and it used to be only 50? In reality we have stretched the boundaries on what they will normally do on a small run but the hard limit of 30 imposed by what they had rather than what we wanted has helped us guarantee a sellout. Well, perhaps let’s not speak too soon! Nobody has actually put any money down yet... :silent:
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by Deks »

I have to say the twin flag logo without a name looks really classy
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by jtc »

For previous FLE designs, the word from CW was no changes to text or branding - hence some great "twin flags only" designs never came to fruition. Yet here we have an LE with just the twin flags and no CW text.

Shame CW have taken so long to realise/admit defeat ...
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

Deks wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 2:37 am I have to say the twin flag logo without a name looks really classy
Thanks Deks, it was what the populous seemed to want, but CW definitely had to ask permission although the C7 Rapide and C60 Apex have already done it among others.
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

jtc wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:15 am For previous FLE designs, the word from CW was no changes to text or branding - hence some great "twin flags only" designs never came to fruition. Yet here we have an LE with just the twin flags and no CW text.

Shame CW have taken so long to realise/admit defeat ...
If it helps the advice they gave us was that you have to have one or the other, but you get to put it pretty much anywhere you like. Perhaps Mike France alluding to Twin Flags only in his podcasts has opened up the doors a little for this?
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by nordwulf »

welshlad wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 1:19 pm I have the original CWE C60, which is a lovely design.
Thank you!
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by Dickchins »

Being as this is the only forum im on, coupled with my zero interest in fbook or social media, this is very interesting indeed.

As a couple of people know on here, ive had a few nightmares with cw lately and vowed they will never get another penny of my hard earned. This has got me prepared to break my vow and im happy to throw some money at someone should the oportunity arise.

Absolutely first class :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by Robotaz »

This brand and this forum are really maturing well, as is evident by threads like this.
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by 0uatiOW »

reubicon wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 6:37 pm even a couple of the guys at CW like Mr. France would like to release more Twin Flag only models if marketing would allow it! :o
What does this mean? Mike stated in a recent interview that they weren’t ready for a Twin Flags only model - not for at least a couple of years.

Nice design, by the way, though much easier to do if CW mandates either a Twin Flags or a wordmark. I seem to recall for the last (incomplete) FLE that the wordmark was not negotiable. They may even have insisted that it should be at 9, but I’m less sure of that (those were some long threads). I was pretty annoyed at the time, as I believe balance is an essential design aesthetic, and during those early

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days, they were quite dogmatic about it to the extent that it put me off CW watches for a long time.
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by 0uatiOW »

jtc wrote: Mon Jun 07, 2021 9:15 am For previous FLE designs, the word from CW was no changes to text or branding - hence some great "twin flags only" designs never came to fruition. Yet here we have an LE with just the twin flags and no CW text.

Shame CW have taken so long to realise/admit defeat ...
+1
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

Dickchins wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:33 pm Being as this is the only forum im on, coupled with my zero interest in fbook or social media, this is very interesting indeed.

As a couple of people know on here, ive had a few nightmares with cw lately and vowed they will never get another penny of my hard earned. This has got me prepared to break my vow and im happy to throw some money at someone should the oportunity arise.

Absolutely first class :clap: :clap: :clap:
Wow that’s quite an endorsement! Cheers... :thumbup:
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

0uatiOW wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 9:14 pm
reubicon wrote: Sun Jun 06, 2021 6:37 pm even a couple of the guys at CW like Mr. France would like to release more Twin Flag only models if marketing would allow it! :o
What does this mean? Mike stated in a recent interview that they weren’t ready for a Twin Flags only model - not for at least a couple of years.

Nice design, by the way, though much easier to do if CW mandates either a Twin Flags or a wordmark. I seem to recall for the last (incomplete) FLE that the wordmark was not negotiable. They may even have insisted that it should be at 9, but I’m less sure of that (those were some long threads). I was pretty annoyed at the time, as I believe balance is an essential design aesthetic, and during those early

Christopher
Ward

days, they were quite dogmatic about it to the extent that it put me off CW watches for a long time.
Probably the same interviews but I viewed it as he would like to if they could, but the market isn’t ready yet, but which they can with these LEs now they’ve relaxed a bit. Thanks for the support! :thumbup:
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....
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Re: Friendly Knowledge Share of the CWE 2.0 LE

Post by reubicon »

Robotaz wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:50 pm This brand and this forum are really maturing well, as is evident by threads like this.
Yea I think that’s a fair assessment! Although being quite new to this forum I’ll have to take your word for it! :D
C40 SH; C60 Mk1.5 OB GMT; C60 Mk2 Green GMT; C9 WT; C11 Extreme; C65 Classic Gold; C1000 CE; C9 MP; C7 Hornet; C60 316L Black; C1 GM PR; C60 Mk2.5 Bronze GMT; C8 P2725; C60 Apex; C60 Elite GMT; C65 Auto PT; C60 Mk3 Black PT; C60 Mk3 Bronze Ombré; CWEC....