Christopher Ward C60 #tide

Christopher is up to their shenanigans once again. They keep trying to save the planet by selling awesome watches. I’m sure you’re as tired of it as I am. This time, they’re expanding their C60 Trident collection with the all-new Christopher Ward C60 #tide, the subject of today’s hands-on review.  The name comes from the non-profit #tide ocean material, with which Christopher Ward has partnered. The #tide initiative seeks to raise awareness of and make a dent in the massive plastic pollution problem plaguing our planet’s oceans by cleaning up and recycling ocean plastic into small pellets with a variety of applications. With this latest edition, Christopher Ward expands on their sapphire-dial offerings with another good cause, a new trick, and a lot of hashtags.

Aside from the Christopher Ward Light-catcher case–one of the best out there right now–the obvious standout is the translucent wave dial. Also take note of the narrow metal ring on the inside of the bezel, which lends a bit of refinement to the watch against its wider-bezeled siblings.

Shazam! Got yourself some light on that case. The amazing C60 Light-catcher case is present on the Christopher Ward C60 #tide. True to its name, the swooping, contrasting facets play beautifully with light. Look above at how the light plays differently not just between facets, but within them, too. The curve of the lugs helps a lot with how this watch wears: the dimensions may give a lot of people pause, but this watch wore wonderfully on my 7-inch wrist. Find another watch with 600m water resistance that sits this well. I dare you.

Given the model name, I totally understand the use of the hashtag on the crown, which is easy to grab and operate. But it’s also a hashtag on a crown. Like the crown, the bezel has great action–I was able to operate it without issue while the watch was fully submerged–but does have a bit of wiggle. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, but it’s noticeable.

See how the lugs come right around the wrist? Like a friend giving you a big hug. But more steel. Further aiding the appearance on the wrist, the fully-lumed ceramic bezel slopes downward, features a thin metal minute track which breaks the watch up a bit, and the midcase has that great polished chamfer the extends through on both sides (widening at the crown guards).

Gnar! Catch the wave! As you scroll through these dial shots, note how the light drastically affects how pronounced the wave motif is. At some angles, the design might well not be there, at others, it leaps off the dial. I’m still unsure how I feel about the translucency of the sapphire dial. On one hand, it’s got an undeniable “Neato!” factor. On the other, it busies the dial a bit. Your call. One maybe cool, maybe not cool thing about the dial? Because it’s not metal, the dial feet that usually attach it to the movement aren’t possible, so it’s screwed in with four screws, two each at 3 and 9 o’clock.

One knock-on effect of the waves is to limit the disruption of the date window. At 6 o’clock, it wasn’t going to do much harm anyway, but with the waves coursing through, and the movement visible, the date window integrates far better than it might with a solid dial. Heads up: it may not be clear here, but the seconds hand is too tone-on-tone, and can get lost in the wrong light.

The handset on the Christopher Ward C60 #tide is the now-classic CW Trident set that features on almost all of their dive watches. I’ve been warming to it the more I experience them (And the more my fellow watch nerds insist that they’re great), but I’m still not convinced of the baton minute and the long triangle hour. As I’ve told those same watch nerds, it’s not something that would necessarily stop me from buying a Trident series watch, but it would be a deciding factor against other Christopher Ward models. They’re obviously beautiful in their execution, though, with sharp edges and the brushed center facets. The hour plots offer the same crispness.

Did you see it coming? Were you thinking, “Mike, didn’t they kind of make this watch already? How is this special at all? I feel like they barely tweaked it.” But then I dropped the bomb and you got lumed. Absolutely brilliant, isn’t it? Whether it was intentional or not, having the waves dimmer (the motif is actually printed in Super-LumiNova) was a smart choice. If it shared the brightness of the hands, indices, and bezel, it would be far too much. The lume does seem shy to charging: where some of my watches will pull a charge from an overhead bulb, the lume here is a bit more stubborn and seems to prefer actual sunlight (or a UV torch).

Did you notice the small blue band around the crown’s hashtag? I bet you did, since you’re so observant and good looking. If you didn’t, you can scroll back up–I won’t tell anyone. Anyway, the blue ring around the caseback hashtag (which again, I get, but it’s a very large hashtag) and the crown’s hashtag are made of the #tide ocean material from which the watch gets its name. It’s a nice incorporation that reinforces the mission of the watch. Under the #caseback is a true blue chronometer-certified Swiss Sellita SW-200 movement: 28,800 vph, 26 jewels, 38 hours of raw power, hacking, a decorated rotor for some reason–this thing truly has it all (except a tourbillon).

My sample of the Christopher Ward C60 #tide came with one of the brand’s hybrid straps, but I also received a #tide strap. Both are available as options, though for an extra $120, you can get Christopher Ward’s awesome bracelet, which is definitely what you should do. The #tide strap is made from the same broken-down ocean plastic as the blue #rings on the #crown and #caseback. It’s a bit stiff, but in a way that had me thinking it would break in quite nicely. The #tide strap was originally released as a limited release but is now available as a standalone item, and £5 of the purchase (with the watch or separately) will go to #tide ocean material.  (The hybrid strap, if you were wondering, is lovely. My one nitpick is the keepers, which, are a bit too flexible and slip a bit.)

You would and should be forgiven for having the response I suggested earlier: “This seems like practically the same watch as the Christopher Ward C60 Blue LE that Lauren C. so wonderfully reviewed last year!” While understandable, that reaction is wrong. First, while the Christopher Ward C60 #tide also supports an ocean preservation initiative, it’s a different one that is properly cleaning things up, and it integrates it into the actual case. Second, lumed dial. Third, I see this as a progression and improvement from C60 Blue LE: the refined bezel, glowing dial, and relocation of the logo to 12 and the date to 6, make this model superior. With very little to complain about, and lots to praise–including contributing to a great cause–the Christopher Ward C60 #tide is another #winner for the #brand. It’s available now on the #website, starting at $1,095.