True GMT, or ‘Traveller GMT’, allows the local hour hand to be adjusted independently without disturbing the minute, second, or GMT hands. As the local hour hand is set forward or backwards past midnight, the date jumps to the correct day, enabling faster time setting over ‘Caller’ GMT variants. Long requested by Christopher Ward enthusiasts, the True GMT is regarded as one of modern watchmaking’s most desirable complications.

“With off-the-shelf, Swiss, True GMT movements unavailable to us, it became clear that developing a new in-house movement was the smoothest way forward - or so we thought,” said CEO and co-founder, Mike France.

Christopher Ward’s Technical Director, Frank Stelzer, has overseen the development of CW-002 since 2023. The project required integrating an additional mechanism into an existing calibre with limited space, avoiding any increase in movement height.

“A new plate serves as the support for the GMT wheel and limits the height of the new components,” Stelzer explained. 23 components have been introduced in total: 16 newly designed and seven modified from existing CW-001 parts. “Creating a solution that uses as few parts as possible, while achieving the accuracy we expect, was incredibly challenging,” Stelzer said.

Visible through the exhibition caseback, the rhodium-finished calibre features a circular Côtes de Genève finish with cut-outs revealing the twin barrels, balance wheel, and train bridge. Atop, the tungsten rotor features a mix of sunray-polished and sandblasted surfaces.

“This watch has been a labour of pain, not a labour of love. Three years after announcing in Loupe 28 that ‘all will be revealed in late Autumn 2023’, we’ve finally made it. And the watch is worth the wait,” added France.

The True GMT’s dial features a multi-piece construction with an applied small seconds at six o’clock and a power-reserve indicator at nine o’clock. “We’ve heavily invested in custom-made stamping tools to create the grainé finish on the outer GMT track and applied subdials. This removes unwanted rippling and adds depth,” said Product Director Jörg Bader. At three o’clock, the exposed GMT bridge features linear brushing, sandblasting and hand-polished facets, alongside a circular brushed GMT wheel.

Inside the 24-hour ring sits the sector housing the indices, framed by a diamond-polished rhodium surround. The applied markers are linearly brushed with polished facets and filled with Super-LumiNova^® Grade X1 BL C1. A colour-matched date wheel at three o’clock completes the base display.

On approaching the design of the dial, Design Director Adrian Buchmann said, “Exposing the movement and adding subdials without disturbing legibility was tricky. By creating hierarchy through depth and high-contrast features, the eye naturally focuses on these elements first, while secondary information recedes into the background.”

The hour and minute hands are linearly brushed with diamond-polished chamfers, complemented by a diamond-polished small seconds hand. The GMT hand and power-reserve indicator appear in either orange or blue lacquer, depending on the dial colour, for added visual contrast. All hands are filled with Super-LumiNova^® Grade X1 BL C1 for low-light legibility.

“We wanted this watch to be technically expressive, but calm on the wrist,” added Buchmann. “There was a lot of back and forth between the design and technical teams to ensure that the features were intentional and highlighted the technical achievement.”

The watch debuts a 40.5mm Light-catcher™ case fitted with box-domed, anti-reflective sapphire crystals on both the front and back. Together, the crystals account for 31% of the watch’s 14.15mm overall height, helping to reduce its perceived profile on the wrist. The stainless steel mid-case measures 9.75mm high and features alternating fine linear-polished and circular-brushed finishes, while offering 100 metres of water resistance.

The Bader bracelet for the C63 True GMT has polished bevels running along the flank of each outer link, and a 6.5mm taper from lug to clasp. The clasp, featuring a push-button micro-adjustment, has 6mm of range.

Launching in two colours, silver with orange accents and black with light blue accents, the C63 True GMT is also available with a colour-matched, integrated rubber strap with deployant Bader buckle.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Availability: Open Series
• Movement: CW-002
• Complication: Date, Power Reserve and True GMT
• Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel
• Dial Colour: Silver-White/Black
• Diameter: 40.5mm
• Height: 14.15mm
• Lug-to-Lug: 48mm
• Strap Width: 22mm
• Weight (on Bracelet): 166g
• Water Resistance: 10 ATM/100m
• Frequency: 28,800 v/ph (4Hz)
• Timing Tolerance: -4/+6 seconds per day (COSC)
• Power Reserve: 120hrs/5 Days