So when was the last time you saw a new Super Compressor? No, not a vintage-style, dual-crown diving watch but the real deal that uses the increase in water pressure when diving to squeeze the case back against the o-ring and make the watch even more water-tight?* Unless you are old enough to have bought one back in the day, or maybe found a 50-year-old NOS cache, I’m guessing the answer is “never.” Until today, when Christopher Ward unveils the C65 Super Compressor.
The original Super Compressor cases were all the rage in the 60s. About 100 different brands sold them, including IWC, Tissot, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Girard-Perregaux. But sadly, they went extinct about the time that the Quartz Crisis rocked the watch industry. When E. Piquerez S.A folded, it looked like that was the end. Yet, die-hard fans continued to seek them out in the used market. One of those aficionados convinced the folks at CW to reverse engineer a legit Super Compressor case from an original.
The result is a dual-crown, internal bezel set-up in an oblong 41mm case. Unlike the originals, this one features a sapphire display casebook that shows both its Sellita SW200 automatic movement, and the 300-micron thick compression spring which gives the case its name. The outer case ring is orange, matching that on the crown for the inner bezel, the triangle at 12 o’clock, the minute hand, and the tip of the second hand.
The C65 Super Compressor watch costs £895 on a strap or £1,000 with a bracelet. For more information or to place an order, visit christopherward.com.
Technical
- Diameter: 41mm
- Height: 13.05mm
- Weight: 72g
- Calibre: Sellita SW200
- Case: Stainless steel
- Movement Crown: Screw-down (4 o’clock)
- Water resistance: 15 ATM (150 metres)
- Vibrations: 28’800 per hour (4 Hz)
- Time tolerance: -20/+20 seconds per day
- Dial color: Ocean Blue or Black Sand
- Lume: Super-LumiNova® Grade X1 GL C1
- Strap width: 22mm
- Lug to lug: 47.12mm
- Features
- Swiss made
- 26 jewel self-winding mechanical movement
- 38-hour power reserve
- Glass box sapphire crystal
- Screw-down exhibition caseback with aluminum anodized compression ring and divers helmet stamp
- Unique engraved serial number
- Twin-flag engraving over ‘Colimaçoné’ finish on the rotor
- Screw-down stamped crown with sandblasted lower area and polished top
- Screw-down crosshatched crown with an anodized aluminum outer ring
- Internal rotating bezel (120 clicks) with matte white, chamfered edge
- Top-brushed indexes with diamond polished facets
- Signature Trident counter-balance on second hand
- Super-LumiNova® Grade X1 GL C1 hands and indexes
- Eco-friendly luxury presentation case and owner’s handbook
* For those of you who said “Vostok Amphibia,” well, ok damn it, you’re right, but that’s not what I’m talking about.
