A Stunning Professional Diver with Upmarket Ambition
CHRISTOPHER WARD C60 TRIDENT LUMIERE
Look at any watch from a lesser-known brand priced $1,500 to $2,500 that trumpets value and seems too good to be true, and you’ll look
again. Want a double-dome sapphire crystal, a luxuriously crafted case and
dial, a high-end Sellita movement and a can't-beat-the-price incentive? You can have it all. This is the new generation of watch brands at work. They want you to pay attention. And you probably will.
But, what's the catch? In the case of Christopher Ward,
as with most micro brands, it's the ageless conundrum of perceived risk. Even for this Swiss watchmaker founded in 2005 with a quintessential English name, there is still a fight to be your new best choice in an already established lineup of safe bets. Take Seiko, for example, which has been producing watches since 1881 and owns its entire
manufacturing process. There’s no catch whatsoever when buying a Seiko watch. You buy with confidence.
Christopher
Ward and other micro brands must present an elevated product and deliver a lot of value at an affordable price. They leverage an abundance of
outsourcing and micro-machining not available 50 years ago, yet rely on third-party processes, parts and funding. Who is to say what
micro brand watch company will be around tomorrow?
But,
Christopher Ward is changing this conversation, making it less about
micro brands and more about a watchmaker with a real future. Everyone seems to agree.
The Christopher Ward
C60 Trident Lumiere is a bombshell. At $2,390, it
is nipping at the fins of superlative watches normally outside of its
pedigree, such as the Tudor Pelagos 39. This is a modern, ambitious
timepiece that shines with upmarket elegance.
On
trend with entry-level luxury divers, the Lumiere’s case is composed of titanium,
so it is strong and lightweight, as in
diver-friendly. If you care about dial luminosity, and many divers do,
the C60 Trident Lumiere is seriously luminous; thus the name
Lumiere.
The C60 Trident Lumiere case is a continuation of Christopher Ward's Light Catcher, a design signature it invented in 2014 to ensure its product line is as original as possible especially within the crowded, homage-heavy diver watch category.
We needed to reach for an authentic design signature to stand for
distinction, excellence, engineering – and that was about re-imagining
the case, and being architecturally–led."
It is made of Grade 2 Titanium metal, which puts
this watch head-to-head with mainstream Titanium watches, but not ahead. While the most common grades of Titanium are Grade 2 and Grade 5, Grade 2
provides light weight and corrosion resistance but isn’t quite as strong
as Grade 5. You can expect to pay more for a Grade 5 Titanium watch.
Under water, sunlight fades at around 200 meters. The C60 Trident
Lumiere, with a depth rating of 300 m/1000 ft, ensures more than ample
light to read its dial through an application called
Globolight. This patented innovation by Swiss company Xenoprint is
injected with superluminova and applied to markers on the bezel and in
three-dimensional form across the dial and hands for a
stunning display. The Christopher Ward new-era logo applied in Globolight is the perfect finishing touch on an already spectacular dial.
The Lumiere is equipped with a 120-click unidirectional dive bezel with a
mostly brushed finish and a matte ceramic insert featuring lumed
markers. The tactile action it provides is luxurious. Its streamlined 10.85 mm case
height, too, is impressive. Together with the lightness of Titanium, case
dimensions and lug geometry, the watch feels sleek and refined on the
wrist.
Under the dial,
Christopher Ward has outfitted the C60 Trident Lumiere with the
COSC-certified Sellita SW300 movement, one of the most premium,
accurate, reliable, and slim movements fitting for this price bracket.
This chronograph movement, with a power reserve of 56 hours, is visible through the watch’s exhibition
caseback, which is, honestly, a questionable move, but perhaps one that may appeal to non-diver
watch enthusiasts.
Another may be the addition of a
pro-level helium release valve, discreetly placed at the nine o’clock
position and integrated into the mid-case. While the practical need for
this advanced diver-ready feature may be limited to a very small share
of Lumiere owners, it adds to the watch's credibility.
With
a lug width of 22 mm, the C60 Trident Lumiere’s sculpted case features
primarily brushed surfaces, with wide, polished bevels running along the
sides and down through the lugs. The quality of both the brushing and
polishing is excellent. The angular crown guards are attached to the
mid-case and adorned with generous polished bevels and surfaces. The
6.35 mm screw-down crown is smooth and features a beautifully stamped, not etched, Christopher Ward new-era
logo.
The
Lumiere is well-balanced on the wrist with a 40.85 mm diameter, a 47 mm
lug-to-lug width, and streamlined case height. The Titanium brader
bracelet has undergone a notable improvement compared to the base
stainless steel Trident bracelet. The links now feature polished bevels
along the sides and seem to have a softer, more rounded articulation.
The clasp includes a push-button adjustment mechanism and features
polished bevels that match the bracelet links for a cohesive and refined
look.
For an
additional $90, the Lumiere can be purchased with a proprietary
Christopher Ward Aquaflex quick-release rubber strap in a variety of
colors including blue, black, orange and yellow. Aquaflex is made from
heavy-duty FKM fluorocarbon rubber and can withstand a wide range of
temperatures without losing its integrity. They play their part well and are an ideal complement to the bracelet when ordered separately.
CONCLUSION
You’ll
quickly see that Christopher Ward isn’t just offering a
more-than-capable diver watch; it’s also working hard to seduce you into
loving it. The entire C60 Trident Lumiere package simply makes you want to own
one and that is a masterstroke for only the most competitive
watchmakers. An even more refined, deliberate upmarket offering from Christopher Ward
in the future may be just what customers sitting on the fence need. Until then, the Lumiere stands as one
of the best enthusiast-level watches in recent times.
