CHRISTOPHER WARD C65 Chronograph

Looking for a vintage inspired diving chrono? 

The World is quite literally your oyster; well it’s certainly something because if you’re on the hunt for a high-quality, Swiss made modern reproduction of a diving chronograph from the last century then there are a handful of brand new propositions to consider that have miraculously all arrived at pretty much the same time just like a herd of London buses!

Okay, so one of the buses is actually still en route, the highly anticipated, forthcoming Navichron from Ollech & Wajs. Stay tuned for that. 

But there’s the recently released Aquastar DEEPSTAR Re-Edition which took us by storm, the equally appealing Chronomaster Aviator SEA DIVER from Nivada Grenchen, the new Doxa SUB 200 C-GRAPH; 

and now Christopher Ward has thrown its hat into the ring with this very handsome looking, retro regatta-style diver, the C65 Chronograph.

The C65 Chronograph harks back to the vibrant 1970s with its ultra-bright, pop-art aesthetic, stopwatch functions and water-resistance to 150m thanks to both screw-down pushers and winding crown.

The watch’s blue dial is complemented by red, blue and orange detailing. The colors come together on the 30-minute counter sub-dial, which recalls the design of a vintage yachting or regatta watch. 

Additional timing options come in the form of a unidirectional diver’s bezel and the tachymeter around the dial’s circumference.

There are more retro touches with the inclusion of an old school, glassbox-type Sapphire crystal as well as CW’s signature light-catcher case which has a diameter of 41mm. Meanwhile the C65 Chrono’s reverse side is where the watch’s movement can be seen through a contemporary Sapphire crystal exhibition case-back.

The movement in question is a Sellita SW510 BHa bicompax automatic movement which beats at a frequency of 28,800 and comes with twin sub-dials and a stopwatch function as well as a power-reserve of 48hrs, and a date wheel (with red-on-white numerals) at 6 o’clock. 

MSRP for the new C65 Chronograph from Christopher Ward is £1’800 / approx. 2’325USD.

Thoughts? I dunno’ how susceptible you are to marketing or how easily you can be trolled into thinking you need a new watch; namely an old school diving chrono? 

I guess if you’re here already and if you’re anything like me then you’re probably feeling that all that separates you from eternal bliss is one of these retro diving chronos – they are all very nice; the only problem is which one?????