Christopher Ward has just launched its newest piece – and it might be the best yet.
This dive watch packs a killer spec sheet with a unique appearance.
The job of trying to categorise what is the best watch on the market can be tough. Some will stand out in terms of looks, but fall short on the spec sheet. Others may have every mod-con in the book, but fail to inspire confidence with the build quality.
That's before we even get into debates over different kinds of watches. Is a dive watch objectively better or worse than a chronograph? Which model offers the perfect balance of value and performance? Will my watch with a 50m water resistance rating be okay doing the dishes?
It's a predicament which myself and literally tens of other watch aficionados find themselves in. Fortunately, it may no longer be a problem. That's because Christopher Ward has just announced its latest piece – and it might just tick every box.
The Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumière is the brand's new piece. As you might expect with a name like that, the lume plays a big part here.
Not content with simply offering your standard lume, though, the brand has utilised something called Globolight. That's a combination of Super-LumiNova and ceramic, which forms giant blocks of glowing goodness.
That's used on no fewer than 17 different pieces of the dial, plus the two hands. The result is a luminescent performance twice as strong as a standard Trident model, and which lasts for much longer, too. Think of that Only Fools and Horses scene where they paint the headstone with railway paint and you're not far off.
Not content with just being a wrist-mounted beacon, this is actually a killer watch, too. The textured dial hides a COSC-certified Sellita SW300-1 movement, for chronometer-grade accuracy. As if that wasn't enough on its own, that calibre also packs in a whopping 56 hours of power reserve.
As a proper dive watch, this will also give you a cool 300m of water resistance. And for the 1% of users who actually do take this below sea level, a helium escape valve can be found. That allows gases to leave the watch during decompression, and ensure it remains safe.
All of that sits within a 41mm Titanium case. Paired with a 47.9mm lug-to-lug width and a staggering 10.85mm thickness, this looks set to be one of the most wearable models the brand has ever produced.
As if all of that wasn't enough, this also features a redesigned Bader bracelet. There isn't lots of change to the overall functionality, though it's a much crisper design. The headline is the reworked clasp, though, which is reduced in size – something us Christopher Ward users have been crying out for.
Priced at £1,650 / $1,975 (approx. AU$3,200) on the Aquaflex rubber strap, or £1,985 / $2,390 (approx. AU$3,800) on the titanium Bader bracelet, this is certainly one of the more pricey models in their range. I'll reserve judgement on whether or not it's worth the price until I've had the chance to get hands on, but based on this spec sheet, I'm hopeful.
