If you're a fan of the best watches, but have slightly slimmer pockets, there's a wide array of brands fighting for your cash. A huge market has opened for reasonably-priced watches with good specs and great looks.
Chief among them is Christopher Ward. Their range has come on leaps and bounds of late, offering killer timepieces that won't need a mortgage to afford.
Now, they've done it again. Known for making some really snazzy dive watches anyway, the brand has unveiled the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière.
Packed with lume and a snazzy new bracelet design, this looks like the most revolutionary watch in the brands recent history. Let's take a closer look.
As ever, let's kick off with some specs. The Lumière is a 41mm watch, crafted from titanium. That's equally true of the case and the bracelet, should you opt for it over a range of rubber straps. That case also sits just 10.85mm thick, making it incredibly wearable.
Inside, you'll find a Sellita SW-300-1 movement. That's a chronometer grade caliber, too, offering accuracy of -4/+6 seconds per day. That's really killer, and should make this a watch capable of standing up with the big boys of the industry. You'll also find a 4Hz beat rate here, with 56 hours of power reserve to boot.
The dial comes in a choice of three colours – black, blue and orange. Each has a neat degree of texture, giving users a little more to look at. That's surrounded by indices crafted from a material called Globolight. Effectively the lovechild of ceramic and Super-LumiNova, this is a block of solid, shining goodness.
Not only does this material adorn the dial indices, it's also applied to the hands. That means, even in the darkest situations, you'll see a blue glow, allowing you to read the time.
It's also worth us talking about the bracelet, which has been redesigned here. It's subtle in places – most notably, the clasp is now shorter, which is a welcome addition to the design. The links themselves are also slightly more rounded, which is a neat touch and lends an air of classiness to the piece.
What's the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière like to wear?
As you might have guessed, that combination of specs makes for a really impressive wearing experience. The 41mm diameter can be on the large side, but coupled with a decent lug-to-lug and that seriously impressive thickness, this is just beautiful to wear.
Dive watches can often find themselves worn with suits and dress shirts these days, and this will be really happy sat under a cuff. It's almost imperceptible in use, with the thinness and lightweight nature of the titanium case and bracelet forming a perfect harmony.
It's not just a wrist monster, though. The dial is immensely pretty, but the COSC-certified movement within is arguably even more impressive. My experience with the watch saw that run well within specifications, keeping beautifully accurate time across days and weeks.
Of course, we must also mention the luminescent properties here. They're simply awe-inspiring – as you'd probably expect from a large block of lume. On more than one occasion, I've been awoken by the bright blue glow on my nightstand – a testament to just how strong this is.
Is the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière worth the money?
With models on the Bader bracelet running £1,985 (approx. $2,650; AU$3,875), this certainly isn't a cheap watch. Christopher Ward itself offers a strong array of dive watches in the £1,000-£1,500 range.
For a lesser watch, that would have made this an unnecessary expense. A work of expression which outweighs commercial value; a piece where more time was dedicated to if they could than if they should.
Fortunately, that's absolutely not the case here. Sitting neatly among premium CW offerings like the Christopher Ward Bel Canto and the Christopher Ward The Twelve X, the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière is a masterpiece.
In fact, I'll go one better than that – it's the best watch Christopher Ward has ever produced. Beautifully designed, with premium materials and a price tag which is accurately reflective of its stature, this is pretty much perfect. If you want a titanium sports watch, this should be high up on your list.
