CHRISTOPHER WARD C65 TRIDENT DIVER GREEN BEZEL ONE-OFF PROTOTYPE

When Christopher Ward launched the retro style C65 Trident Diver in 2018 they will have hoped it was a success, but I doubt they were expecting it to be quite as successful as it has been. It’s been a great seller and has already spawned many different iterations and special editions.

The earlier models (as identified by having batten hour markers) all had hand-wound movements. They were available with black, green or blue faces (plus a few limited edition specials)

In Jan 2019 CW introduced an automatic version, easily identified by its spots or ‘pips’ for hour markers. That was initially available in black or blue, but the only one currently available from CW is the black face, red bezel model available here from £740.

As part of the selection process for deciding which models to put into production, CW make a number of prototypes with one-off colour combinations and for sale here is one of those one-off watches which never made the cut to a full production run.

The watch for sale was sold by CW in Jan 2021 along with several other one-off prototypes. It has two unique features which set it apart from the production models:

1. It has a one-off dark green bezel (the photo showing it in my hand gives the best indication of the colour), not seen on any other C65.

2. It has white pips in the face instead of the production watches’ cream.

Other than those unique cosmetic features, it’s as per a regular C65 auto. So it has the same reliable Sellita SW200 automatic movement as many other CW watches and it comes with the same four year transferable warranty taking you up to Jan 2025. CW will add a fifth year’s warranty if it’s serviced by them during 2024, but personally I wouldn’t go for that as I don;t think it’s cost-effective. One of the beauties of having such a popular Swiss movement is that any competent watch maker will be familiar with it and spare parts are plentiful. So an independent service or possible repair local to you (after Jan 2025) will likely be far cheaper and more convenient than a service at CW. So if this was my watch, I wouldn’t be considering a service until around 2028.

Strap:
It’s currently fitted with a CW Hybrid rubber strap. If you’d prefer a switch to a CW steel bracelet that would be an extra £100.

Condition:
It’s in brand new, unworn condition.

On the timegrapher is running at +14 sec per day (comfortably inside CW’s stated +/-20sec).

It comes as a ‘full set’ in the original CW bamboo case with warranty card, polishing cloth and a covering letter explaining that it’s a prototype model and directing you to the online manual for the standard model mentioned below.

Specs:

• Diameter: 41mm

• Height: 121.5mm

• Calibre: Sellita SW200

• Water resistance: 150m

• Strap: 22mm

• Lug to lug: 47mm

Owner’s Book:
A PDF version of the owner manual is available on the CW website: https://www.christopherward.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-cw-library/default/dwe5be2c41/pdfs/RetroDive/c65-trident-automatic.pdf

Final Notes:
The first picture is a library photo, the rest show the actual watch and package.