Chr. Ward C9 harrison jumping hour mk I, Owner'S Handbook Manual

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The origins of the Jumping Hour (or Jump Hour) watch have been traced to French and Swiss
pocket watches and clocks from as far back as the 1830s and 1840s. The great Swiss-based Austrian
watchmaker Josef Pallweber did exemplary work with Jumping Hour pocket watch models for
IWC in the 1880s and so is regarded by some as the father of the digital watch. Despite the modern
connection with electronic displays, the strict definition of a digital watch is one “that displays
time in the form of numbers, rather than by a dial and hands”.
So a Jumping Hour watch can be seen as a fascinating hybrid of analogue and digital. The analogue
minute hand passes round the dial and gives the impetus at the climax of the rotation for the
“jump” of the hour numeral, which brings in the digital element.
Watch aficionados like Jumping Hour watches for several reasons: their historical curiosity; their
unusual good looks (the watch dial always looks clean); their mix of analogue and digital elements;
and, in the case of the Christopher Ward C9 JH, the advanced and highly accurate modified movement.
Another supreme selling point is the Jumping Hour’s convenient simplicity and ease of use.
The prominent digit in the hour window and the position of the minute hand enable you to tell
the time very quickly. And isn’t that what a watch is for?
Chris Ward says: “The C9 JH will be a welcome arrival as the interest in Jumping Hours is on the
rise again. Cartier made some beautiful jump hour watches in the 1930s, and some sought after Rolex
The history of the Jumping Hour