Ever Wanted To Assemble Your Own Watch Movement?

Christopher Ward have announced an entertaining new extension to the brand’s in-house movement, Calibre SH21, with the launch of ChallengerSH21.com – an interactive challenge where players can construct Calibre SH21 against the clock!

The online challenge, believed to be the first of its kind, was designed and developed in close consultation with Christopher Ward’s master watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke, creator of Calibre SH21. Hosted at http://challengersh21.com ,the Challenger SH21 game mimics the perspective seen through a watchmaker’s loupe and challenges you to carefully place a selection of parts of the movement into the right position in the case and, vitally, in the correct sequence.

Players can easily access the game online from any mobile or desktop and are given the option of using a mouse or connecting a touch enabled control via the internet. To add to the challenge and the fun, players have the option of two difficulty levels: ‘Apprentice’ or ‘Master watchmaker’.

In the simpler ‘Apprentice’ mode, the SH21 movement is built in two guided stages of construction. The on-screen graphics provide clear guidance on the sequence of positions, enabling a beginner to become familiar with both the movement parts and their inter-relationship, including the main barrels, bridge, central second pinion, escape wheel and balance.

The ‘Master watchmaker’ level of ChallengerSH21.com takes no prisoners – this level gives no support beyond advising when to ‘Try Again’ when a part is mis-positioned, and the correct sequence has to be fully adhered to. The clock ticks to add to the pressure for accuracy and speed and the Master watchmaker players also face the added pressure of a time limit.

ChallengerSH21.com also features a Leader Board, with the initial fastest time set by Johannes himself, challenging fans of the brand to beat his time and also offers social media links so that they can share the link with friends.

Mike France, co-founder of Christopher Ward, explains the ambition behind ChallengerSH21.com: “ChallengerSH21.com is an entertaining follow-on to the hugely successful launch earlier this year of Calibre SH21 and we believe this is the first time that a luxury watch brand has created such a challenge. As such, we are delighted that, as a British challenger brand, Christopher Ward is once again creating a pioneering impact in the global luxury watch industry. As the world’s first pure online luxury watch brand, connecting with watch enthusiasts and customers online is obviously vital to us.

The principal idea behind the project is a wish to provide fans of Calibre SH21 with a new perspective on our in-house movement and an engaging introduction to the fundamentals of watchmaking. Since launching our C9 Harrison 5 Day Automatic – the first model to house Calibre SH21 – we’ve had a wave of interest in the movement and this is a fantastic way to give watch fans a closer insight into the workings of SH21 and the genius of Johannes Jahnke.

From our own experience of ChallengerSH21.com here at our Maidenhead HQ, I can assure you that the ‘fun’ aspect is soon overwhelmed by the competitive will to top the Leader Board! Even those who have a strong knowledge of watch mechanisms and construction can enjoy the challenge of beating Johannes at his own game, so to speak!”

Tim Knight, director of NewFlight Pictures, the game’s designer (and a fan of Christopher Ward) explains the vision behind the project: “Of course, http://challengersh21.com isn’t designed to compete with mainstream games; it was specifically created as an entertaining insight into the mind, and the workbench, of Johannes Jahnke. The most difficult technical aspect was to allow players to use their real dexterity to build the movement using their mobile device while using the desktop screen as a full size reference, almost as if they are looking through the watchmaker’s loupe. This was achieved through a live connection between the two, using more lines of code than a F-22 Raptor jet!”

ChallengerSH21.com was also being presented at Salon QP 2014, where Christopher Ward exhibited for the first time, and featured alongside Johannes Jahnke in situ actually constructing the Calibre SH21 movement in front of show visitors.

With this in mind let us know how you got on and what times you achievedin terms of position on the leaderboard. The overall time would be great too! Let us see who is our quickest reader.