You're absolutely right. The watch looks great. But I'm not spending this much money to get a watch that scratches easily. They should use Grade 5 Titanium or stainless steel for a little less money.
I think that this doesn't really intersect well with the Tudor, when i think about how utilitarian the Pelagos is. This Ward watch is going in another direction. I think the quality of polishing is an important factor to point out. It has a finishing level appropriate to the price point, and it's really as good as it needs to get to pull off the look.
I love it and I'm happy that finally someone did show me property how this watch is. If you can review the blue dial version I will be forever grateful ❤
There’s no way of knowing who did it first, Nodus probably weren’t first to do it either…and I didn’t know it was the same as Nodus so how could I have pointed that out. I suspect others reviewers didn’t know about Nodus either.
Great review Gaz, we kn9w that lume breaks down eventually so if the indices are entirely lume what will be left ? What do CW say about the longevity of it? Cheers
Ended up selling my Trident after about 8 months. I wore it the first two weeks after purchase, and then it just sort of never featured again. Got the Rado Captain as a replacement, and that has stuck around with no intention to sell it. Lesson: CW is great, but I found it just didn't have personality.
The edges of the hands looked a bit rough in your macro shots. Those crown guards are meh too, it certainly could do without those Allen screws. I like that blocky solid lume a lot, but not the glowing logo.
I love the orange one but like you talked about I am not sure about the dial markers. I think if they had a slight recess into the dial so the markers looked to be sitting into the dial and a slight recessed border around each marker it would look a lot more cohesive
Hi Gary, it may be the first time used in a Big-er brand (!!??), but in the microbrand world there are also the US based Aragon ( former known as Android ) watches which has models with something called 3D printed lume indices - Hero 3D Lume springs to my mind. Good work on the reviews Gary!
The Farer Bradfield I have uses solid Lumicast (ceramic mixed with SuperLuminova) numerical indices, but puts a dark blue top coat on them, creating a very unique back glow effect, and also avoiding the Minecraft look. It's half the price of the CW. Not COSC but elabore grade SW200 that runs pretty close to that mark. A pilot style, but nicely crafted. Appreciate this review given that I've strongly considered that Ward. A pass for me at this point, although I love the brand's efforts, and own several from their early years that still perform very well. A similarly priced Trident chronograph was my first ever pricey (for me) piece, aiming to scratch my Planet Ocean fix, and I wasn't disappointed at all. It was back when few micros even existed yet. I'd love their Bel Canto if that ever panned out to afford. Wearing my Forteller today, thanks to your review! 👍
Lovely watch, tried one on when I visited their showroom, but Ti watches aren't for me, felt too light (yes, I get that lightness is the point of Ti watches). Would love a steel version!!
If I was comparing this new to the pelagos new I would buy this, but the problem is you can get a slightly used pelagos for not much more than this. I can't see them selling enough of these that you will be able to get much of a saving buying one used.
As I sit, watching your video, I'm reminded of the 60 click bezel action on my Vero Open Water. I'll trust divers if they say 120 click bezel is better, but my Vero does quite well with a 60 click bezel that aligns perfectly. If there's no technical reason for 120 clicks, it feels lazy in a $2000 to choose 120 click bezels.
Would much prefer a 12 click bezel. Then I could count the clicks to position it to the hour without looking, for that perfect addition to the almost non-existent 60 minute chronograph.
The Glycine Combat Sub is slimmer, with a standard Sellita movement inside. No doubt, CW has done well to keep this so compact with the exhibition caseback, though. Thanks for the review.
CW’s emails have a knack of winding me up plus I can’t bear crown guards. Mind you though, that lume - credit where credit’s due. Although… the lume on my Sinn chronograph may never have jumped out to say look at me but is always legible for time reading duties when I wake up in the morning after only being charged by ambient room lighting the night before.
Great macro photography, no watch is safe under you camera 😁. I'd be interested to know how robust blocks of lume are to shocks, I can imagine dropping that and finding the minute hand has broken off or finding indices loose one the dial. It does look great in the dark though.
Absolutely luuuuurve this watch!!! Those fully-lumed indices and hands are exquisite.............. A bit out of my price range, so how about it St. Martin.......??
Price is a bit...well, it's a lot of money. I do like the color of grade 2 titanium on this design though, but I think that in 316L stainless with a bit more weight and no escape valve they might be able to shave an extra mm off the height and maybe off the price as well. It would definitely make it feel a bit more hefty and 200m of water resistente would suffice for most desks, I'd guess. Nice watch, for sure.
Cool looking watch. Kind of drawn to it. The price.......not so much. Think it may be a bit over priced? Think some of their other divers are better value. Over all, I think their watches are great, and a little different. The lume shot was a surprise. Thought it would last much longer than it did. For fun, I do lume wars at home. The two winners are always the m300.
Very good looking watch, the quick adjudt clasp seems to be a slightly different design to that on my white dial c60. The clasp being quite mong on both though is a bit of a gripe for me.
Love mine but the clasp is the one thing that id like to see them change. This might be a new version but its still a bit of a let down for me, for the price I think they could do a better clasp now.
Pretty good brand they have good quality and idk about this specific watch, but overall their prices are good for alternative watches and even original ones.
It looks like they've stuck some mints on the dial, I think it makes the watch more interesting and it stands out from the usual facsimile diving watch designs we see everywhere. Personally I'd spend a little more and get the Sinn U50 if i wanted this movement but still a really interesting watch
Never really liked CW, not sure if it's the name, logo brand designs or price. It's too expensive for microbrand, but I rather spend more and have a known brand with deep heritage like breitling
Super bold indices and hands. Love it. If we could have it as a date & GMT “diver” I would pull the trigger in a heartbeat We are at peak Christopher Ward era at present I feel. But what about the lume???
I have owned many CW watches, and still own 2, and they are great watches. I just bought a Maurice Lacroix Aikon, and it knocks spots off of anything I have owned from CW
I like the blocky look. It's something different in a world of bland dive watches. I'm not a fan of titanium watches though; CW have developed a bit of a fetish with it recently.
Nice watch, but no way is the brand on par, at that price, with a used Omega, Breitling, or Tudor. To say CW will kill Tudor is the most ridiculous thing I've heard all year.
To be honest lume is,nt the first thing I look for in a watch, while this is great on this one I think I will stick with my dragonfly dial sealander for half the money
Tudor don't need to worry, pefhaps it's the light or a quirk of the filming but the indices look liks they are made of cheese. The screw on crown guards look like an afterthought added after they thought it was finished. They are no longer a value proposition.
I am a huge fan of lume owning a fair few LumTecs over the years as well as Seiko etc but on reflection this doesn’t cut it, especially when the whole design is centred around the lume.
The polishing on most $1k Seikos is far better, the edges on a $1,500 Longines are crisper, and a Sellita SW300? Please. Even the blocky applied markers are stolen from Fortis (who does it better). No thanks - at that price, I can think of a dozen better choices.
Even the watch with lume capsules can't beat mighty MM 300 and that's normal cuz Mm 300 is the only watch I ever owned with lume which last whole night.
The $180 Cronos L6029 has way better finishing. I’m biased, but I think CW is totally overrated. If you took any of their designs and said “new aliexpress homage brand” no one would bat an eye. Sure the movement is better, but I really don’t understand why they are the new darlings of the watch world. They’re fine, but many people act like they are a gift from the heavens.
Really like this one. Their logo has grown on me over time, but I still don't like trident seconds hand, which eliminates most of their lineup for me unfortunately.
Really nice, but for me not "£2000 nice". The hands are interesting, a bit unique, but look very G-SHOCK. I don't appreciate expensive movements and all the extra work to get a couple mm's thinner, and expensive boxes and packaging. Some do and that's great.
Currently wearing a Tudor 58 GMT, I sold my C65 Aquitaine a few weeks before I picked it up. Was the Aquitaine a BB58 killer like some reviewers have suggested . . . no, not for me. The C65 is a nice watch but it felt similar to the Traskas I'd had before. I'd definitely pick up another if it was cheap enough as a 2nd watch.
Under macro that's the worst finished CW I've seen in years. I get that titanium is harder to work with but I've seen much better finished cases in titanium. Swiss watch company polish their titanium much better for half the price. I still really like the watch though.
I didn’t say they didn’t feature it I said they didn’t focus on it enough, watch Britt Pearce and Adrian’s videos…they focused on Tudor more than the lume.
Literally every brand has similar micro adjust. I know everyone that likes Nodus is whining about it, but it was around before Nodus and if they'd truly pioneered it-they'd have patented it...but they didn't...because it wasn't new. They simply came up with a catchy name for it and stamped it on the button. So silly.
I'd never own anything with an English flag on the dial. How could I live with that from day to day? Looking at my English flag on my wrist...yeah no thanks.
Blocky and childish would be good descriptions for those white indicies. Looks like cheap white plastic. I'm a CW fan, by the way, but it's a no from me on this one.
It looks “weird” because it’s unconventional. To me, that’s a positive thing, because it’s innovative!
innovate deez nutzzzzz boy 🥴
The watch world:
If it looks normal, it's a homage ... if it looks new, it's weird.
I love the look of this watch, including the blocky lumed hands and indices.
You're absolutely right. The watch looks great. But I'm not spending this much money to get a watch that scratches easily. They should use Grade 5 Titanium or stainless steel for a little less money.
Ti scratches less than steel, I have several Ti watches
100% agree
@@vijaymehra1101 No it does not unless it has a hard coating
I love that style of indices myself. If I were looking for a watch in that price bracket, this would be my choice for sure.
Great review, Gary! Pity you didn't mention the lume.
There was lume?!?
@@ilikewatchessarcasm 😂
I like it, those indices and hands look super legible in daylight as well.
Wish it wasn't 2 grand though 😢
Lovely shots of the lume 👌🏻 great vid
Thanks!
I love the look of this watch. The one odd thing I noticed is that the end links stick out from the lugs just a mm or so
Is not about someone else noticing, if I paid near $2k for a watch “I would notice”! And that matters. Thanks for sharing.
I look forward to Pagani making the same watch for £35.
I think that this doesn't really intersect well with the Tudor, when i think about how utilitarian the Pelagos is. This Ward watch is going in another direction. I think the quality of polishing is an important factor to point out. It has a finishing level appropriate to the price point, and it's really as good as it needs to get to pull off the look.
I've got a C65 Trident GMT, and the case shape is so perfect on the wrist.
Love their cases
I love it and I'm happy that finally someone did show me property how this watch is. If you can review the blue dial version I will be forever grateful ❤
I won’t get another in sadly, sorry…
The main bad is the fact they ripped off the clasp design from the Nodex by Nodus, and not one reviewer has called them out for it.
There’s no way of knowing who did it first, Nodus probably weren’t first to do it either…and I didn’t know it was the same as Nodus so how could I have pointed that out. I suspect others reviewers didn’t know about Nodus either.
No, they didn't rip off Nodus.
I think more designers could benefit from taking design notes from other designers. It's not a bad thing.
Love the look of this watch, shame I can’t afford one.
Great review Gaz, we kn9w that lume breaks down eventually so if the indices are entirely lume what will be left ? What do CW say about the longevity of it? Cheers
Good question…I’ll ask
Ended up selling my Trident after about 8 months. I wore it the first two weeks after purchase, and then it just sort of never featured again. Got the Rado Captain as a replacement, and that has stuck around with no intention to sell it. Lesson: CW is great, but I found it just didn't have personality.
I felt the same way about my Trident. Everything about it sounds great on paper, but once I had it, it didn't seem special to me.
The edges of the hands looked a bit rough in your macro shots. Those crown guards are meh too, it certainly could do without those Allen screws. I like that blocky solid lume a lot, but not the glowing logo.
I love the orange one but like you talked about I am not sure about the dial markers. I think if they had a slight recess into the dial so the markers looked to be sitting into the dial and a slight recessed border around each marker it would look a lot more cohesive
Hi Gary, it may be the first time used in a Big-er brand (!!??), but in the microbrand world there are also the US based Aragon ( former known as Android ) watches which has models with something called 3D printed lume indices - Hero 3D Lume springs to my mind. Good work on the reviews Gary!
I’ll have to check them out…thanks
Eh, Zelos Thresher anyone?
Cool my Zelos Thresher has this kind of applied indices for a quarter of the price 😆
The Farer Bradfield I have uses solid Lumicast (ceramic mixed with SuperLuminova) numerical indices, but puts a dark blue top coat on them, creating a very unique back glow effect, and also avoiding the Minecraft look.
It's half the price of the CW. Not COSC but elabore grade SW200 that runs pretty close to that mark. A pilot style, but nicely crafted.
Appreciate this review given that I've strongly considered that Ward. A pass for me at this point, although I love the brand's efforts, and own several from their early years that still perform very well.
A similarly priced Trident chronograph was my first ever pricey (for me) piece, aiming to scratch my Planet Ocean fix, and I wasn't disappointed at all. It was back when few micros even existed yet.
I'd love their Bel Canto if that ever panned out to afford.
Wearing my Forteller today, thanks to your review! 👍
I’ll check it out! Thanks
Lovely watch, tried one on when I visited their showroom, but Ti watches aren't for me, felt too light (yes, I get that lightness is the point of Ti watches).
Would love a steel version!!
You came to Maidenhead! And you didn’t pop in for a coffee 😂
If I was comparing this new to the pelagos new I would buy this, but the problem is you can get a slightly used pelagos for not much more than this. I can't see them selling enough of these that you will be able to get much of a saving buying one used.
As I sit, watching your video, I'm reminded of the 60 click bezel action on my Vero Open Water. I'll trust divers if they say 120 click bezel is better, but my Vero does quite well with a 60 click bezel that aligns perfectly. If there's no technical reason for 120 clicks, it feels lazy in a $2000 to choose 120 click bezels.
Would much prefer a 12 click bezel.
Then I could count the clicks to position it to the hour without looking, for that perfect addition to the almost non-existent 60 minute chronograph.
The Glycine Combat Sub is slimmer, with a standard Sellita movement inside. No doubt, CW has done well to keep this so compact with the exhibition caseback, though. Thanks for the review.
Nice but that gray dial and bezel just fade into that gray Ti bracelet.
Grade 2 pure Titanium as opposed to grade 5 alloy contains no Aluminum which may cause allergic response.
Good to know!
The side of the crown guard looks quite rough though .
I actually think this is actually a brilliant proper tool/diver
And I thought it was named after the little candelabra in "The beauty and the beast"🤣
CW’s emails have a knack of winding me up plus I can’t bear crown guards. Mind you though, that lume - credit where credit’s due.
Although… the lume on my Sinn chronograph may never have jumped out to say look at me but is always legible for time reading duties when I wake up in the morning after only being charged by ambient room lighting the night before.
Great macro photography, no watch is safe under you camera 😁. I'd be interested to know how robust blocks of lume are to shocks, I can imagine dropping that and finding the minute hand has broken off or finding indices loose one the dial. It does look great in the dark though.
I didn’t get approval to drop it sadly…😂
@ilikewatches 🤣
Absolutely luuuuurve this watch!!! Those fully-lumed indices and hands are exquisite.............. A bit out of my price range, so how about it St. Martin.......??
lol….trying to get me into trouble 😂
Christopher ward watches are amazing ! I have the moon glow and bel cante . Love them !
Price is a bit...well, it's a lot of money. I do like the color of grade 2 titanium on this design though, but I think that in 316L stainless with a bit more weight and no escape valve they might be able to shave an extra mm off the height and maybe off the price as well. It would definitely make it feel a bit more hefty and 200m of water resistente would suffice for most desks, I'd guess.
Nice watch, for sure.
I think the lume block indices would look better if they had a metal outline, maybe at their bases. It might've given the watch a more premium feel.
I own a few watches and this is by far and away my favourite
Cool looking watch. Kind of drawn to it. The price.......not so much. Think it may be a bit over priced? Think some of their other divers are better value. Over all, I think their watches are great, and a little different.
The lume shot was a surprise. Thought it would last much longer than it did.
For fun, I do lume wars at home. The two winners are always the m300.
Very good looking watch, the quick adjudt clasp seems to be a slightly different design to that on my white dial c60. The clasp being quite mong on both though is a bit of a gripe for me.
Love mine but the clasp is the one thing that id like to see them change. This might be a new version but its still a bit of a let down for me, for the price I think they could do a better clasp now.
If I had 2 grand to drop on a watch this would be top of the list. I love it personally.
Wow, ok….nice
Great review Gary, but I have to ask was the bee offended with the comparison ;)
BBC BIG Bee’s Co@k 😂
Pretty good brand they have good quality and idk about this specific watch, but overall their prices are good for alternative watches and even original ones.
I see Pelagos, I see Seamster 1957, I see Hamilton, I see Charlie Paris. I like it....I think
It looks like they've stuck some mints on the dial, I think it makes the watch more interesting and it stands out from the usual facsimile diving watch designs we see everywhere. Personally I'd spend a little more and get the Sinn U50 if i wanted this movement but still a really interesting watch
😂
Beautiful, want it in blue
I've seen sharper printing on a $20 Casio.
Yeah it’s the textured dial I think
Never really liked CW, not sure if it's the name, logo brand designs or price. It's too expensive for microbrand, but I rather spend more and have a known brand with deep heritage like breitling
Super bold indices and hands.
Love it.
If we could have it as a date & GMT “diver” I would pull the trigger in a heartbeat
We are at peak Christopher Ward era at present I feel.
But what about the lume???
I have owned many CW watches, and still own 2, and they are great watches. I just bought a Maurice Lacroix Aikon, and it knocks spots off of anything I have owned from CW
Love the lume on the watch, but im bored with divers atm
What about the lume, Gary? How did you forget to mention it??
😂…stick around to the end, I think I included a clip then
If I wanted so much lume I'd buy some Citizen, which I don't. CW's 36 mm
explorer and GMT aren't bad though.
Finally someone said something about the logo it does look like minecraft
It looks fresh and nice. A serious divewatch that does not looks for old folks
That watch looks awesome!
TBH I prefer this over the Pelagos but if I was getting a tudor, it'd be the BB58/54
I like the blocky look. It's something different in a world of bland dive watches. I'm not a fan of titanium watches though; CW have developed a bit of a fetish with it recently.
I'll wait for the 39mm version 😅
Should have compared the lume vs regular c60
I love this watch and would love to own one but att the price I will have to wait till I win the lottery. 😢
MAMACOO's always amazes me how much beauty and precision are added to the parts of watch 99% of people will never see.
Nice watch, but no way is the brand on par, at that price, with a used Omega, Breitling, or Tudor. To say CW will kill Tudor is the most ridiculous thing I've heard all year.
That’s what gets said….not by me though
To be honest lume is,nt the first thing I look for in a watch, while this is great on this one I think I will stick with my dragonfly dial sealander for half the money
Tudor don't need to worry, pefhaps it's the light or a quirk of the filming but the indices look liks they are made of cheese. The screw on crown guards look like an afterthought added after they thought it was finished. They are no longer a value proposition.
Luv the watch,wish i could afford one
Any bets on how long until Seestern or Proxima ship homage versions of this in stainless steel with an NH35? I'd buy one! :-)
Certainly a beautiful watch IMO .
just when i was wondering the same thing you show up to answer them xD
Glad it helped!
I am a huge fan of lume owning a fair few LumTecs over the years as well as Seiko etc but on reflection this doesn’t cut it, especially when the whole design is centred around the lume.
The polishing on most $1k Seikos is far better, the edges on a $1,500 Longines are crisper, and a Sellita SW300? Please. Even the blocky applied markers are stolen from Fortis (who does it better). No thanks - at that price, I can think of a dozen better choices.
Even the watch with lume capsules can't beat mighty MM 300 and that's normal cuz Mm 300 is the only watch I ever owned with lume which last whole night.
A beez what?!
😂
Nice💯👍
Palegos, is that the new model from Guanqin?
I wonder what using Grade 5 Titanium would have made this watch cost. Does anybody have any idea?
YES!!!! Now, make it in steel, and I'll be all over it! LUME!!!!
Good call!
The $180 Cronos L6029 has way better finishing. I’m biased, but I think CW is totally overrated. If you took any of their designs and said “new aliexpress homage brand” no one would bat an eye. Sure the movement is better, but I really don’t understand why they are the new darlings of the watch world. They’re fine, but many people act like they are a gift from the heavens.
Lumed ceramic..
You gotta have a UV pen in the pocket when wearing this watch.
I still prefer my grade 5 titanium San Martin at a third of the price .
Really like this one. Their logo has grown on me over time, but I still don't like trident seconds hand, which eliminates most of their lineup for me unfortunately.
Really nice, but for me not "£2000 nice". The hands are interesting, a bit unique, but look very G-SHOCK. I don't appreciate expensive movements and all the extra work to get a couple mm's thinner, and expensive boxes and packaging. Some do and that's great.
Is this a general thought on all watches @ 2k? I presume you wouldn’t think that Tudor’s are not worth the money either?
Currently wearing a Tudor 58 GMT, I sold my C65 Aquitaine a few weeks before I picked it up. Was the Aquitaine a BB58 killer like some reviewers have suggested . . . no, not for me.
The C65 is a nice watch but it felt similar to the Traskas I'd had before. I'd definitely pick up another if it was cheap enough as a 2nd watch.
Comparing Traska to this is nonsense. Traska's case design is way too simple. Also, no COSC movements. They also don't make watches in TI.
@Emaratilfy thanks for the comment, tell someone who cares.
Chr Ward has really gone upmarket. Sadly out of my hands.
Under macro that's the worst finished CW I've seen in years. I get that titanium is harder to work with but I've seen much better finished cases in titanium. Swiss watch company polish their titanium much better for half the price. I still really like the watch though.
I was surprised at some of the surfaces
best sealander but no way 2.5k usd
Are you mad? The lume is the main feature on this watch, every review features it🤷🏼♂️
I didn’t say they didn’t feature it I said they didn’t focus on it enough, watch Britt Pearce and Adrian’s videos…they focused on Tudor more than the lume.
Would rather drop 2k on a 2nd hand Tudor personally, there's something I just don't like about that logo
Zelos Thresher worldtimer anyone?
...thats not a diver because it has no minute markers 😉
On-the-fly clasp system copied from Nodus
Mornin bud
@ilikewatches Morning dude 😎🤙
Literally every brand has similar micro adjust. I know everyone that likes Nodus is whining about it, but it was around before Nodus and if they'd truly pioneered it-they'd have patented it...but they didn't...because it wasn't new. They simply came up with a catchy name for it and stamped it on the button. So silly.
@jaredstephenson6468 Show me another brand that used the same system
@@jaredstephenson6468 This is simply not true. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion though, even when their opinion is wrong.
Overpriced again, Nezumi Baleine has similar design elements at a fraction or the price. CW trying to be a luxury brand....not there imo.
lol better to buy tissot in this price range!
It looks like CW paid these RUclipsrs a lot to promote their brand!!
Male end-links? Surely not.
I just don't like the lumed logo... Unnecessary and turned me off
Its a bees what?
😂
Too expensive. I prefer the $100 Watchdives Pelagos... lol
I love it
Lume is just silly. 99% of the time the watch is looked at during daytime.
I'd never own anything with an English flag on the dial. How could I live with that from day to day? Looking at my English flag on my wrist...yeah no thanks.
You mean Swiss Flag…it’s the Swiss Cross not the St George’s Cross
It's both the English and Swiss flags. Designed in England build in Switzeland.
"Ingeniously English, Unsurprisingly Swiss".
Blocky and childish would be good descriptions for those white indicies.
Looks like cheap white plastic.
I'm a CW fan, by the way, but it's a no from me on this one.
Yeah, i'm surprised no one else has really mentioned that