The Christopher Ward Twelve Pick 'n' Mix Is Proof That Watches Don't Always Have to Take Themselves Seriously
Christopher Ward named their new watches Apple Sour, Kola Krystals, Orange Fizz, Cherry Pop, Blue Sherbet, and Berry Burst. If that sentence made you smile, this watch is probably for you.
The Twelve 36 Ti Pick 'n' Mix launched on July 23, and in a summer that has already given us a Swatch you had to sit a 32-question exam to buy and a Bamford watch that snaps together like Lego, it fits the mood perfectly. This is a watch inspired by the self-service sweet dispensers of British high streets — Woolworths on a Saturday afternoon, a paper bag of mixed confectionery that cost 20p and lasted forty-five seconds. If you grew up in the UK, you know exactly what this is referencing. If you did not, the dials will explain it immediately.
The Dial Took Two Months to Get Right
The centrepiece of the Pick 'n' Mix is a new stamped dial texture that Christopher Ward spent over two months developing. The goal was crystallised sugar, the sharp sparkling surface of a boiled sweet under direct light, and the result required building a custom stamping tool from scratch because nothing off the shelf produced quite the right effect.
The texture is angular and precise, catching light in the way that only a genuinely geometric surface does rather than a printed approximation of one. Each of the six dials runs a vertical gradient from light at twelve o'clock to a richer, more saturated version of the same colour at six, mimicking the way candies fade as the dye concentrates toward the base. Apple Sour reads as a bright spring green that shifts toward something deeper lower down. Berry Burst opens as pale lavender and deepens into a convincing purple by six o'clock. Kola Krystals sits in amber territory that could almost pass for a conventional dial until you notice the texture and the name on the caseback.
That caseback carries an illustrated graphic specific to each colourway. It is the kind of detail that could easily have been skipped, but its presence confirms that the Pick 'n' Mix was designed with genuine care rather than knocked out as a quick seasonal exercise.
The Case Is a Revival
Under all the colour sits a watch that is technically a reintroduction. The 36mm titanium Twelve was part of Christopher Ward's catalogue in 2024 before being quietly retired. The Pick 'n' Mix brings it back with the same dimensions, 36mm by 8.95mm, which is genuinely slim and considerably lighter than the standard 38mm Twelve thanks to the grade 2 titanium construction. The whole package comes in at 70 grams on the integrated bracelet and 45 grams on the rubber strap.
The twelve-sided bezel is fully brushed, the crown screws down for 100m water resistance, and the lug-to-lug is 40.8mm. The proportions lean compact, and the integrated bracelet keeps the watch anchored to the wrist in a way that makes 36mm work better than you might expect.
The Movement
Inside is a Sellita SW300-1 in COSC-certified chronometer specification, running at 28,800 vph with a 56-hour power reserve. The date function has been removed, which means no ghost position on the crown and nothing to interrupt the gradient and texture on the dial. A sensible call.
COSC certification at this price point is worth noting. The SW300-1 exists in several grades, and the chronometer version delivers accuracy within minus 4 to plus 6 seconds per day, a real-world improvement over the standard grade. For a watch that will sit on a winder between wears, accurate timekeeping from the outset means less adjustment every time you pick it up.
Each watch ships with both a colour-matched rubber strap and an integrated titanium bracelet with butterfly clasp and 3mm of microadjustment. Two straps in the box at this price point is not a given, and it changes the character of the watch meaningfully. The rubber makes it a summer splash of colour. The bracelet turns it into something considerably more versatile.
Why It Works
Christopher Ward has been using the Twelve as a canvas for ideas that would have felt out of character a few years ago. The Xander collaboration with The Dial Artist sold out in a single day earlier this month. The Pick 'n' Mix applies the same instinct to a different reference point, British nostalgia rather than abstract art, accessible sweetness rather than gallery-level craft. Both share the same logic: take a well-established case with proven engineering, give it a dial that has a genuine story behind it, limit production to something that warrants attention, and price it where the conversation can include more than the usual suspects.
Fifty pieces per colourway across six colours is three hundred watches total. At £1,695 they are not cheap, but they are considerably more interesting than most watches at the same price point that take themselves far more seriously. The Pick 'n' Mix knows exactly what it is and commits to it completely. That is rarer than it should be.
Technical specifications: 36mm x 8.95mm x 40.8mm lug-to-lug grade 2 titanium case; Sellita SW300-1 COSC-certified automatic, 28,800 vph, 56-hour power reserve; colour-matched integrated titanium bracelet and rubber strap included; 100m water resistance. Six colourways: Apple Sour, Kola Krystals, Orange Fizz, Cherry Pop, Blue Sherbet, Berry Burst. Limited to 50 pieces per colourway. Price: £1,695 / $2,350 / €2,195.
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