News · Christopher Ward

Christopher Ward revisits its first jump hour in the C1 XV

A 39mm steel case, Roman hour window and reworked JJ01 module mark 15 years since Christopher Ward's first jumping-hour watch.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 5 October 2026

• The C1 Jump Hour XV revisits Christopher Ward's 2011 Harrison design in a 300-piece edition built around the JJ01 module.
• Its 39mm steel case frames a stamped silver spiral dial, blue minute hand and white Roman-numeral jumping-hour window.
• Australian product pages list A$3,295 on leather or A$3,560 on a Consort bracelet, with pre-orders estimated for mid-December 2026.

If, like me, you remember when a Christopher Ward jumping hour felt like a curious side road for a young internet watchmaker, the distance travelled since 2011 is half the appeal here. The JJ01 module has survived several changes in case shape and taste, and the brand has brought the original Harrison's dial language into a smaller steel watch. A maker-owned launch video dated 1 October introduces the C1 Jump Hour XV Limited Edition, built to mark 15 years of that first jumping-hour idea.

The hour waits at twelve

There are no conventional hour hands to find. A white disc shows a black Roman numeral through an aperture at twelve, while a single blue PVD minute hand circles the outer scale. Christopher Ward says the JJ01 module gathers torque across the full hour and releases it at the transition, so the numeral changes as the hand reaches twelve. The point is not merely that the hour jumps; it is that the hand and the disc are meant to agree at the same instant.

The silver dial carries a stamped guilloché pattern that spirals away from the hand's centre. The maker calls it a 'spider's web', a reference to its 2011 C9 Harrison Jumping Hour. A sunray-brushed steel frame with polished bevels separates that pattern from the minute track. The blue hand has a brushed upper surface and diamond-polished facets. Between a pale hour window, dark numerals and that one vivid hand, the watch gives a reader three places to look without becoming crowded.

Thirty-nine millimetres, with a tall profile

The case is brushed and polished marine-grade stainless steel, 39mm across, 13.10mm high and 47.3mm from lug to lug. That last number is useful: the smaller diameter does not by itself tell someone how far the watch stretches across a wrist. A glass-box sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective treatment rises above the dial, giving its pattern a defined frame. A solid, deeply stamped case back carries an hour-and-minute motif rather than displaying the movement.

Water resistance is 3 ATM, or 30m. It makes sense for a watch centred on a finely worked dial and a leather option, not for swimming. The crown is a push-down type, and the official page does not claim a screw-down seal. It is worth distinguishing this limited edition from the current C1 Jump Hour Mk V: both are 39mm, but the XV returns specifically to the Harrison's pattern and Roman hour display.

A familiar base for the JJ01 module

Christopher Ward lists a Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement with its JJ01 jumping-hour module, 28 jewels, 28,800 vibrations per hour and a 38 to 41-hour power reserve. The module is the interesting part of that description. It changes the time display and the energy needed at each hour, while the familiar automatic base supplies the running gear. The maker also lists a timing tolerance of minus five to plus twelve seconds per day.

That reserve will not keep the watch running through a long gap between wears. Once it stops, the watch will need setting before the next outing; the official product page does not state a special procedure for this edition. The solid back keeps the mechanism out of view, so the pleasure of the complication is the clear, punctual change at the front. It is a watch to watch.

Leather or a steel Consort bracelet

The exact product listing photographed here uses brown fine Italian leather, with blue and black leather choices also shown. Christopher Ward also offers a Consort steel bracelet, whose listing mentions quick release and a micro-adjustable engraved clasp. The case weighs 66g by the maker's specification; the leather configuration is listed at 90g including its strap, while the bracelet configuration is 139g. That is a substantial difference in what sits on the wrist, and a useful reason to make the strap decision deliberately rather than treat it as an afterthought.

The XV does not need to copy its 2011 ancestor exactly to make the anniversary work. The smaller case, cleaner minute hand and sharper division between the guilloché centre and track give the familiar layout a different balance. I favour the leather version because its dark edge lets the silver dial and blue hand carry the argument, although the bracelet has its own practical appeal if this is to be worn often.

C1 Jump Hour XV pricing and availability

Christopher Ward limits the C1 Jump Hour XV to 300 pieces. The exact Australian product pages checked on 5 October list A$3,295 on brown fine Italian leather and A$3,560 on the Consort bracelet, both at regular displayed prices. Those pages currently describe the watches as pre-orders for mid-December 2026; the brand's homepage uses different stock language, so buyers should confirm the delivery estimate at checkout. The edition is a current offer, but no Australian allotment is stated.