This looks as if a wierd time to be releasing a brand new GMT watch, particularly because it seems like all the world is on lockdown and nobody is touring anymore. Nonetheless, life should go on, proper? And a brand new watch is at all times an excellent likelihood to solid our consideration to one thing extra enjoyable and fewer critical. And even when you aren’t touring, a GMT watch is a useful device when you have household, pals, or enterprise associates dwelling in numerous time zones. The brand new GMT watch that I’m referring to is the Christopher Ward C65 GMT Worldtimer.
For longtime Christopher Ward followers, the identify reveals a lot. C65 means it belongs to Christopher Ward’s lineup of vintage-inspired watches. And clearly, it’s a GMT watch with worldtimer functionality ― however extra on that later. The C65 GMT Worldtimer is available in a 41mm-wide stainless-steel case — 42mm when you measure the bezel, which protrudes just a little. The case is only a smidge over 12mm-thick, which is kind of exceptional contemplating it has a water resistance ranking of 150 meters.
It appears to be like to be fairly properly completed, too, with polished bevels operating down the flank and a satin-finished high. Taking a leaf out of classic dive watches, the C65 GMT Worldtimer has a big uncovered crown that’s signed with the Christopher Ward brand. Accentuating its vintage-inspired appears to be like is a closely domed box-shaped sapphire crystal. The bezel is kind of broad, nevertheless it hides its girth properly due to a silver interior ring and a black outer ring. Printed on it are the assorted cities for the worldtimer perform.
The dial is black and has a matte end. It’s surrounded by a set bi-color 24-hour chapter ring with the nighttime hours in yellow and the daytime hours in white. The fingers are baton-style, which matches the equally styled hour indices. Each fingers and indices are full of Tremendous-LumiNova Grade X1 GL C1. The GMT hand is yellow and unusually massive, which is definitely not a foul factor as a result of it’s simple to see — one thing which can’t be stated for a lot of GMT watches.
This isn’t a Louis Cottier-style worldtimer; the perform requires human intervention. To seek out out the time in different elements of the world, merely align town that represents your timezone on the bezel to the time on the 24-hour scale. So assuming it’s 2pm in Hong Kong and also you need to discover out the time in Los Angeles, you’d flip the bezel till Hong Kong sits by way of 14 on the 24-hour scale. Then, you’ll be capable of see that when it’s 2pm in Hong Kong, it’s 11pm in Los Angeles.
The motion inside is a Sellita SW330. Sadly, you gained’t be capable of see it by way of the strong screw-down DLC caseback. This isn’t a real GMT motion a la Rolex GMT-Grasp with impartial leaping hour fingers. As an alternative, the GMT hand may be independently set. The draw back with such a motion is that it’s a bit extra cumbersome to regulate if you end up touring throughout time zones, particularly if you’d like the GMT hand to level to your own home time. The upside, nevertheless, is that it has a quickset date. The Sellita SW330 beats at 4Hz and it has an influence reserve of 42 hours.
Classic-inspired dive watches have been all the fashion for the previous couple of years, and the development appears to indicate no indicators of dying. Nonetheless, the C65 GMT Worldtimer is an fascinating tackle the style primarily as a result of it is without doubt one of the few vintage-inspired watches to truly have dimensions nearer to classic watches. I do know it’s fairly broad, however its skinny case is one thing price celebrating. As some extent of reference, the Tudor Black Bay GMT additionally has a 41mm-wide case, nevertheless it’s about 15mm-thick. The Christopher Ward C65 GMT Worldtimer is priced at $1,250 USD with a stainless-steel bracelet and $1,140 with a leather-based strap or Cordura and rubber hybrid strap. For extra info, go to christopherward.com.
