Christopher Ward C65 Trident Dive Watch
By: Michael Penate
Just as watch brands start gearing up for their spring and summer 2018 releases Christopher Ward has announced the introduction of a new, vintage-inspired dive watch. Since the brand’s introduction in 2005, the Trident line-up has served as their most versatile collection featuring a range of traditional divers and even GMT watches. For those feeling a bit fatigued with their usual releases – often times merely focusing on dial color changes – this new model introduces a look which the brand refers to as an intersection between their dress and sport-focused models. This is the new Christopher Ward C65 Trident Diver and it comes in at just $795.
One of the first things people might notice is the combination of vintage-y traits the watch proudly exhibits. From the bubble crystal to the thin, fully graduated aluminum bezel, it’s evident that we aren’t dealing with the usual Trident release. Instead, we have a watch that almost combines several elements of Christopher Ward design language into something that might actually have the potential to attract a new group of consumers to the brand.
The real treat here, however, is just how thin the watch is. At just 11.55mm thick, the 41mm 316L stainless steel case is built around the slim, manually-wound Sellita SW210 movement. This is significantly different from Christopher Ward’s flagship Trident models and personally, I just want to see more brands incorporating manually-wound movements into sport watches. There’s just something inherently fun about the wearing/setting experience and as a guy that can argue about differing actuation points among Cherry Mx switches, I find the tactile interaction with these watches very satisfying.
Available in both matte black or matte blue, the dial features a kind of faux old Radium lume color throughout the hands and indices. As is typical with Christopher Ward, the watch still suffers from the multiple branding identity crisis with their newer twin flag logo at 12 o’clock and the Christopher Ward wordmark at 9 o’clock. What I would give to see a version with just the logo at 12 – that would at least be a step in the right direction. Aside from these aesthetic features, the watch provides 150m of water resistance, has a lug to lug measurement of 47.1mm, comes with a proud sapphire dome crystal, and is fitted with a 22mm black or brown leather strap. There are also configurations with rubber straps available if that’s your preference.
Overall I think this is a fun release for Christopher Ward and I hope it gets people talking. Sure, it has its flaws, but I find the idea of a slim, sporty hand-wound dive watch with a Sellita movement for under $1k to be very attractive. The Christopher Ward C65 Trident Diver is available now for pre-order with an estimated mid-May delivery. Let us know what you guys think! Christopher Ward
Co-Founder & Senior Editor
Michael Peñate is an American writer, photographer, and podcaster based in Seattle, Washington. His work typically focuses on the passage of time and the tools we use to connect with that very journey. From aviation to music and travel, his interests span a multitude of disciplines that often intersect with the world of watches – and the obsessive culture behind collecting them.
I personally think it looks stunning!!! Definitely on my “want” list. It’s a silly (stupid) nitpick on my part, but it still bugs me that these “dive” watches aren’t meant for diving:
https://www.christopherward.com/media/manuals/c65-trident-diver.pdf
Even though on page 8 it explains how to use the bezel for diving, it then goes on to say on page 10 that it’s only good for snorkeling. Granted, I’ve read that some people will dive with anything that is rated to at least 100m. And I’ve personally only used my dive computer so far. But it would be nice to not have to leave my nice watch in the hotel room (or boat) on my next dive trip 🙂
I totally agree – I think the watch is a looker, but man you also raise a huge polemic issue within the watchfam. The whole dive watch rating thing is so open to interpretation – I mean, there are certain brands that say 100M, and I’ll totally believe them. Then I’ll hear it from others and I’m a bit skeptical. I think HOW water resistance is tested plays a big roll. Most of the time I believe it’s some type of vacuum chamber they use – but these chambers don’t necessarily replicate real world conditions, which is where I think some of the doubt is coming from on the consumer side.
At the same time, I don’t think WR would make me not buy a watch that was honestly pretty handsome. And I do feel like the dive watch thing is use by divers as a rudimentary backup to the dive computer (security redundancy). I could be oversimplifying, but the divers that I’ve talk to, that’s how they’ve explained it to me.
I am usually happy to see a manually wound watch brought to market, but I have to assume the manual movement leads to a push-pull crown, and I’d prefer to see a screw down for diving. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t hesitate to get this one wet, and the aesthetic is great!
Such an attractive piece, so close to be perfect. I would love to see a flat, rather than angled, bezel, and removing that word mark would put it over the top. I’ve never been able to get used to the word mark, while the two flags logo is excellent and should be their primary mark. Still, top marks for overall design and aesthetics, plus no-date and manual wind ftfw.
I really like this watch a lot. But I really don’t like the “Christopher Ward” branding on the dial. This is also hypocritical of me because I have a Hamilton and a Ball watch that are both respectively branded “Hamilton” and “Ball” on the dial, and I’ve never complained about that…Is it because Hamilton and Ball have more symbolic capital..I really hope not, I think/hope it’s the two word phrasing…If it was a stylized “CW” or better yet a “9” with a corresponding “3” this would be one of my new favorites…
Thanks for the review, and brining this watch to my attention!