One of the more unexpected developments in the enthusiast watch space over the laste year or has been the emergence of the jump hour as a staple among design driven and creative microbrands and affordable independents. It seems like they are popping up just about everywhere at price points that encourage collectors to take a chance on a very niche complication. For those of us who have been around this stuff for a while, it’s genuinely been kind of surprising, as we can clearly remember a time when very few people gave these watches a second thought, and smaller brands were absolutely not interested in putting watches like these into the market. The jump hour is pretty far removed from the vintage inspired sports watches that have had a stranglehold on affordable watch enthusiasm in recent memory.
But as the pendulum swings in another direction, the more brands are finding an opportunity to experiment with this very old fashioned complication. Christopher Ward is actually no stranger to jump hour watches, having released their first back in 2011. Their latest is still powered by the venerable JJ01 movement, a caliber that predicted much of the brand’s future success and interest in higher end watchmaking.
The C1 Jump Hour Mk V in “Dusk” red is the brand’s latest, and limited edition variant of the Jump Hour Mk V that Griffin reviewed here. The broad strokes are of course the same: a 39mm steel case measuring 47.5mm from lug to lug and 14mm thick, with a multilayered dial incorporating intricate finishing, sapphire elements, and the creative use of lume. The single hand, which of course provides a read out of the minutes, is perhaps the most interesting feature of the dial, with a sharp bend that projects it upwards toward the minute track in a rather dramatic fashion.
The new watch, as the name implies, has a red central section with the same concentric circle motif as its predecessors. Red is a difficult color to pull off effectively in any watch. I’ve tried, multiple times, to keep a red dialed watch in the collection and they just never quite stick. I haven’t seen this new execution from Christopher Ward in person yet, but I like the way the red is given a more neutral tone to play off of in the outer section of the dial. It’s a little less committed to full red, maybe, and is better off for it. I also just happen to like the more subdued tone. This is not a super bright fire engine red, but something a little more earthy.
As mentioned, the watch is powered by the Calibre JJ01, which was the brand’s first in-house developed module. It allows for an instantaneous jump of the hour every 60 minutes, which is quite a satisfying thing to see when you happen to catch it in action. This is accomplished through a system by which energy is stored for the jump over the course of a full hour, rather than in a briefer span of time closer to the jump itself. This enables a more precise, instant, and consistent jump than less refined jump hour movements. Put simply, it’s a higher end approach to solving the jump hour problem mechanically.
It’s worth noting as well that this movement is of genuine historical importance to Christopher Ward as a brand. The mechanical principles form the basis of the FS01 caliber that runs the Bel Canto, a watch that changed the course of Christopher Ward’s trajectory as a brand. It’s also a movement that has been used by other brands, namely Fears in their own jump hour watch.
The C1 Jump Hour Mk V “Dusk” is a limited edition of 150 pieces. The retail price is $3,165 on a bracelet. Christopher Ward
Zach Kazan
2026-03-02 14:00:00