The JJ01 jump hour modular movement, named after its designer Johannes Jahnke, is something of a darling for Christopher Ward as one of their in-house creations. Not only has it been part of Christopher Ward’s various jump hour watches (and the Meistersinger Bel Hora) since 2011 but it is also the basis for the movement that powers the seminal Bel Canto and was used to great success in their collaboration with Fears. Though sadly it has been a long time since the British brand have produced their own jump hour timepiece – until today’s revival of the complication with the new Christopher Ward C1 Jump Hour Mk V.
Taking the watch out of its case and strapping it on, the influence of that 2023 collaboration with Fears is readily apparent. Fears have already spun that collab off into their own interpretation with the Barleycorn and so this is the branching evolution that takes it more into the style of Christopher Ward.
That means a 39mm diameter round case instead of the cushion case of the Brunswick. At a thickness of 14mm it sits quite tall on the wrist but the majority of that height is taken up by a domed sapphire crystal that gives the watch a very open, atrium-like vibe above the dial. Instead of feeling closed in and claustrophobic, the display is flooded with light from all angles. Christopher Ward have then doubled down on this idea by creating the minute scale and minute hand out of sapphire as well, giving them a light, airy feel suspended in midair. It also allows light to pass through the dial to the lumed hour ring below, creating a glowing ring around the entire display in low light conditions.
For the overall layout of the C1 Jump Hour Mk V’s display, it’s the same as the Fears collab with a central stamped disc featuring snailed pattern above which sits the aperture for the titular jump hour display. A jump hour, for the uninitiated, is a style of time display where instead of having a rotating hand that moves from hour to hour, you have a ring with the hours on it that rotates past a window, moving forward by one stage each hour in a quick motion known as a jump. It has actually become one of the prominent trends of watch design in 2025.
The centre disc is available in two colours, Noon Blue and Dusk Gold. The version I have here is the Noon Blue and it is very nice in its pale cornflower tone. It’s one of the stand out elements of the design alongside that airy quality I keep coming back to. I will caveat that by saying I don’t think the style will appeal to everyone as it’s quite different to previous CW designs. I almost feel like the watch would benefit from being a little broader than 39mm so that the thickness is balanced a bit better. I’m also not completely sold on the sapphire minute hand but the party trick of its underlit lume is steadily winning me over.
As already mentioned, the C1 Jump Hour Mk V is powered by the JJ01 jump hour module, which is applied to a base Sellita SW200-1 calibre with 38-hour power reserve and +/-20 seconds per day accuracy. It’s essentially the point for the entire watch’s existence – now in its more modern Mk V guise. As a note CW are calling it the Mk V because it’s their fifth Jump Hour watch though they specify that it is not a sequel to or iteration on any of the previous jump hour watches, which were all much more classical in their styling.
As for price, it’s £2,150. A reflection of the in-house elements that are combined with the Swiss movement to make it a little pricier than many of CW’s watches. Though they have just rebranded their top range of watches as the Atelier collection to reflect that more luxury price point with models like the Bel Canto, Loco, Moonphase and others. Between Christopher Ward, Fears and Bremont, the British jump hours market is well catered for.
Price and Specs:
More details at Christopher Ward.
