Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere Review

Before we started Hourstriker a little under a year and a half ago I only knew Christopher Ward by name. I was very unfamiliar with the brand's offerings or history. Although I had been collecting watches for nearly 25 years and in the industry for 20 of those years my focus was on the established Swiss brands.

Along with Ulysse Nardin, Christopher Ward was the first brand to take a shot on us and send us in watches to review just under a year ago when they sent over a C60 Trident Pro 300 in blue. I walked away from that review with a new found respect for Christopher Ward and over the coming months I would become very versed on their timepieces.



Following the C60 Trident Pro, Christopher Ward sent us some truly amazing pieces including the incomparable Bel Canto, the Twelve and Twelve X integrated sports watches and even their off the wall collaboration with seconde/seconde/ in the Desk Diver. Each piece was executed just as well if not better than its Swiss counterparts costing multiples more. Of all the pieces we received from Christopher Ward to review the Twelve X was probably my personal favorite. The highlights of the Twelve X that really set it apart were its titanium construction and stunning in-house skeleton automatic movement with 5 days of power reserve.

In August of last year Christopher Ward released a trio of watches which might be my favorite release from the brand. While not offering an amazing complication like the Bel Canto or a new take on a classic design like the Twelve series, these watches came as close as any watch I've seen at perfecting dive watch design. The watches that I'm talking about are the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumieres.

While I'm a huge fan of the original dive watch in the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and even own a Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms, my favorite dive watches of all time are the Porsche Design by IWC Ocean 2000 and its successor the IWC GST Aquatimer 2000 in titanium. I own the GST Aquatimer and am looking for a good example of the Ocean 2000 just to prove how much I love these watches.



Released in 1998 the IWC GST Aquatimer might still be the best looking dive watch in my opinion. The watch was crafted out of titanium and had a 42 case diameter. Besides being lightweight and relatively small the GST Aquatimer was rated to an astounding depth of 2,000 meters. The case of the GST Aquatimer was satin finished grey titanium and featured a matte black bezel and dial. The hour markers and hands were done in a stark white to provide the most contrast possible. The GST Aquatimer took what Porsche Design and IWC did in the 1980's with the Ocean 2000 and evolved it for the 1990's and 2000's.

Why so much talk about a pair of old IWC watches when I'm reviewing a modern watch from Christopher Ward? Well besides the ridiculous depth ratings of the Ocean 2000 and GST Aquatimer the C60 Trident Lumiere has in my opinion taken the design language found in the GST Aquatimer 2000 and now evolved it to a current day watch. Something I'm sad to say IWC has strongly lost its way with over the last few generations of Aquatimers.

Like the GST Aquatimer, the Lumiere is crafted out of titanium and comes in just one millimeter smaller at 41 mm. The Lumiere also features a matte black ceramic bezel and a black dial, although in this case the dial has a gradient effect to it. While the Ocean 2000 and GST Aquatimer used tritium and later Luminova on their hands and indices, the Lumiere uses cutting edge solid blocks of Globolight XP for its dial markers and hands. Basically the C60 Trident Lumiere is what the GST Aquatimer 2000 would have been today if IWC kept its course with the Aquatimer. This is about as high of praise as I could personally give to a watch's design.



Before I get into the C60 Trident Lumiere, let's take a second and go over a brief history of Christopher Ward. Christopher Ward was started by three friends, Mike France, Peter Ellis and Chris Ward in 2005 in Berkshire England. Christopher Ward was chosen as the name for the brand since of the three founders Chris Ward sounded the most English.

Coming from businesses far removed from the watch industry, the founders saw a huge void in the industry where quality watches could be offered direct to the consumer at only three times cost of production and still be very profitable. Just by cutting out the retail network and marketing directly to the customer, Christopher Ward was able to make this pricing structure work and eventually flourish.

While it's easy to look at the Bel Canto and Twelve and see why Christopher Ward is so successful it's been a long journey for them to get here. Previous breakthroughs like their Light-catcher case and in-house movement, the first for a British brand in decades, really set the foundations for the modern Christopher Ward. The C60 Trident Lumiere is just the latest in a long list of successful collections.



The C60 Trident Lumiere has been so successful that Christopher Ward was even having a hard time getting one over to us to review. Us getting the Desk Diver a week before its release while waiting months to get a Lumiere really illustrates this point. Even today the Lumiere is still on a two month wait list. I have to thank Andrew at Christopher Ward for putting up with my constant badgering though.

Even when a press sample of the Lumiere was finally ready and shipped to me something naturally came up. The watch was shipped during the days before Christmas and ran into some snags with DHL. On Christmas Eve I was faced with the watch not being allowed to be delivered and being sent back to Christopher Ward. Not sure what to do I reached out to Christopher Ward's US Brand Director Mike Pearson who took time out of his Christmas Eve to resolve the issue with DHL. The day after Christmas the C60 Trident Lumiere finally made it to us.



When the Lumiere arrived the first thing I noticed was the amazing dial. I guess what I didn't notice from the press shots was just how much of a gradient dial the Lumiere had. The dial goes from a near black at the outside around the minute track to a more grayish tone as you approach the center. While subtle this adds an interesting character to the dial. The stars of the show as it comes to the dial are of course the 3D block Globolight markers and hands. The hour markers are large stick markers with the 12 o'clock marker being a large triangle. The Christopher Ward twin flag is also done in Glogolight and is slightly recessed so that the hour hand can pass over it. Finally the skeleton hour and minute hands as well as the seconds hand are also crafted out of thick Globolight. These markers and hands just add a crazy amount of depth to the already handsome dial. It also goes without saying that when these markers are hit with UV light or are in low light they just give off an amazing bluish green glow.

The next thing I noticed during my initial time with the Lumiere was just how lightweight the watch was. Now with my personal collection only consisting of titanium, carbon and ceramic pieces I'm used to lightweight watches, but at 104 grams with the full titanium bracelet the Lumiere is a true featherweight. When you switch over to the rubber strap the weight goes down even more. Strangely enough I wore the Lumiere pretty much only on the bracelet during my time with it, even with my strong dislike of bracelets. That goes a long way to show how well the bracelet on the Lumiere is executed. The Lumiere is really one of those watches that disappear on the wrist while you're wearing it.



The final thing that grabbed my attention while first looking over the C60 Trident Lumiere was the newest version of Christopher Ward's Light-catcher case. The case is crafted out of grade 2 titanium and like previous Light-catcher cases uses a multi-faceted design that gives the case a great sense of light and shadow. The case uses a variety of angles and curves that really play with the light, hence the name. This case has also now become the hallmark of a Christopher Ward watch. The Lumiere also employs the thinnest version of the Light-catcher case at 10.85 mm, our measurements recorded 11.2 mm at the thickest point but still very impressive for an automatic dive watch with 300 meters of water resistance.

Now that we have gone over my initial impressions of the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere, let's take some time to look over the technical specifications of the watch. The Lumiere is crafted out of grade 2 titanium and has a case diameter of 41 mm and a lug to lug length of 47.6 mm. We measured the thickest part of the case at 11.2 mm and the watch weighs 104 grams on the titanium bracelet when sized for a 7.25 inch wrist. The watch head alone weighs a feather light 53 grams.



The Lumiere has a flat sapphire crystal that has anti-reflective coating applied to it. Under the crystal clear sapphire is the gradient black dial I spoke about earlier. Christopher Ward also offers the Lumiere in orange and blue dials if black isn't your color of choice. The dial also has the slightest amount of rough texturing to it, which enhances the gradient effect. Around the outside of the dial where the dial is its darkest is a printed minute ring. Each hour is set with a solid 3D block of Globolight XP with each hour marked by a stick marker and 12 o'clock being done in a large triangle.

Globolight XP is a luminous ceramic created by Xenoprint who are the creators of Super-LumiNova. Being a successor to Super-LumiNova as well as having much more surface area, the Globolight XP markers on the Lumiere glow twice as bright as other Tridents with traditional Super-LumiNova.

The hour markers are not the only dial elements crafted out of Globolight XP, the Christopher Ward twin flag logo at 12 o'clock along with the skeleton hour and minute hands are also created from this ceramic. The twin flag logo is slightly lower than the hour markers which allows the hour hand to pass over the logo. The minute hand is a long sword hand while the hour hand is an elongated triangle. Finally the tip of the running seconds hand is also capped with a Globolight XP triangle. The counter weight on the seconds hand is a trident which is a nod to the watch's name. Finishing off the dial is the "Chronometer 300m/1000ft" text at 6 o'clock.



Moving on we have the uni-directional bezel featuring a matte black ceramic insert. All markers on the dive bezel glow a matching bluish green to the lumed dial elements. The bezel requires 120 clicks to complete a full rotation and each click has a nice sound to it. The bezel is firm and requires a decent amount of force to move. The bezel action is satisfying and has very little back play. Around the outside of the bezel is nice scalloping that isn't too aggressive. The bezel is rather thin, so grip naturally isn't going to be as good as some divers with oversized bezels. I do believe there is another grip found on the Lumiere that it should be able to be operated with dive gloves on though.

The large surfaces on the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere's case have a brushed finish to them showing this watches intended purpose is that of a tool watch. As with other Christopher Ward Light-catcher cases the Lumiere has polished chamfers. These polished bits add a bit of luxury to the case as opposed to say the GST Aquatimer 2000 which is all satin finished.

The left hand side of the Lumiere's case features an integrated automatic helium relief valve which aids in the watch's 300 meter water resistance. The valve is integrated in such a subtle matter that I even missed it the first time I handled the watch. This valve is activated during deep dives and stops the watch from being damaged at extreme depths.



The right hand side of the watch features two bolted on crown guards as well as an oversized screw down crown. The crown guards are smaller and flow well with the case. They attach to the case with bolts that resemble the bolts used on the Twelve series. The crown also has nice scalloping on it and features the twin flag logo engraved on top.

When the crown is un-screwed it allows for manual winding in position one. There is no date on the Lumiere and it is nice to see that there is not ghost date setting in position one. The first and only crown position allows you to set the time. Pulling the crown out to position one also stops the seconds hand which allows you to precisely set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minute hand and getting the crown to catch while screwing it in needs no additional care catching every time.



While I'm a huge fan of calendar watches, in particular perpetual calendars, I don't feel like every watch needs a date window. In my daily life having a date window on a time only watch only adds to the time needed to set a watch each time I wear it. It also raises the chances of damaging the movement while advancing the date if the watch happens to be in the danger zone of 9 pm to 3 am. In the case of a dive watch where legibility is key, the date window only makes the dial that much harder to read. So I do applaud Christopher Ward's choice here to forgo the date window on the Lumiere.

The C60 Trident Lumiere has a lug width of 22 mm and comes on a bracelet made out of grade 2 titanium. Mirroring the case, the large areas of the bracelet have a brushed finish while the chamfers are polished. The bracelet uses a three part construction and the bracelet tapers down to 16.5 mm at the deployant clasp. Removing or adding links is done via screwed in links, which is our preferred method for fixing links. The bracelet feels very solid and doesn't have much side to side flex to it.



The bracelet is attached to a folding titanium clasp featuring the twin flag branding. A button on each side of the clasp releases the clasp where you can then see the micro adjustment system used by Christopher Ward. There is a button marked "Push" underneath the clasp that when pushed in allows you to slide the bracelet in and out reducing or expanding the bracelet sizing by 6 mm. This is a game changer for when going between hot and cool environments where your wrist swells and contracts. I used the micro-adjustments more often than I thought while wearing the Lumiere to be honest. It should be added the the Lumiere's bracelet does not have a dive extension, but that can be solved by just wearing the watch on its rubber strap when diving.

Speaking of rubber straps, the C60 Trident Lumiere is offered with either an orange or black and orange Aquaflex rubber strap. We received the black rubber strap with orange sides and backing. The rubber strap tapers down to 16 mm at the titanium pin buckle and is extremely supple requiring zero break in. The strap is smooth on the top side and has aggressive ridges on the bottom to grip your wrist better. The strap as well as the bracelet both feature quick release spring bars which makes swapping between the bracelet and rubber strap a breeze requiring no tools.



With how well done and low weight the titanium bracelet is, surprisingly I found myself wearing the Lumiere exclusively on the titanium bracelet. The bracelet really didn't add much bulk and weight to the watch and just fit so well with the micro adjustment system. The watch stayed centered on my wrist and for the most part disappeared while I was wearing it. Also with my preferred lug to lug length being just over 50 mm and the Lumiere being a few millimeters smaller, I liked how the watch wore slightly larger when on the bracelet compared to when it was on the rubber strap.

Flipping the watch over shows off the screw down case back featuring a sapphire crystal where you can see the Sellita SW300-1. Underneath the crystal is a Christopher Ward branded rotor featuring a repeating twin flag logo motif. The SW300-1 is a Swiss Made automatic movement that runs at 28,800 VPH (4Hz) and features 56 hours of power reserve. The SW300-1 in the Lumiere is a certified Chronometer and on our timegrapher it had an average accuracy of -1 second per day averaged out over several positions. This isn't too much of a surprise to us since most Christopher Ward watches we've reviewed that feature a Sellita movement have shown similar stellar accuracy.



Being a tool watch, the finishing on the movement of the C60 Trident Lumiere isn't too extravagant. Besides the decoration on the winding rotor, the movement also features nice usage of perlage and Geneva stripes. The movement is handsome enough to warrant the usage of a display back and doesn't seem to effect the water resistance much since the watch still boasts a 300 meter rating.

For the time I had the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere I tried to wear it as my sole watch. This mostly included fairly mundane tasks like running everyday errands and going to dinner and drinks. Having a black dial and bezel while being worn on a metal bracelet meant the Lumiere was just as at home running to the grocery store as it was going to a nice dinner. The watch just dresses up or down perfectly. My standard dress of black hoodies and t-shirts with sweats or shorts and sneakers just fit perfectly with the aesthetic of the Lumiere as well.



To test the legibility of a watch I see how much effort is needed to tell the time at a glance while driving. Being a dive watch where an easy to decipher dial is key and featuring large white 3D markers on a black dial this test was easily passed by the Lumiere. Like I've mentioned before I love using dive bezels for timing events more than I enjoy using a chronograph. For time intervals less than 60 minutes you can just set the bezel to the current minute and then look at the bezel to see the elapsed time since starting. I use the often for cooking pasta and timing tea.

While we are in the middle of winter I had no chance to put the Lumiere to good use and get the watch wet. I could only imagine the Lumiere would be a great watch for a day at the pool or beach and be a great traveling companion. The watch wouldn't attract the wrong attention and with how lightweight it is, would never be a pain on the wrist or give you any wrist fatigue over extended wears.

The C60 Trident Lumiere pretty much flew under the radar while I was wearing it out, only having two people ask about the watch. With the watch having a black dial and the case and bracelet being the muted grey color of titanium that really isn't too much of a surprise. If I was to wear the watch on the orange rubber strap or more so if the watch was the blue or especially orange dial variant I feel the opposite would be the norm and a lot of peoples' eyes would be attracted to the watch. I do like wearing a watch that is seen, but on the same hand I also like stealth watches. Personally it would be a hard choice for me to pick between the black or orange dial. Both are stunning and both really speak to me. The friends and two strangers I showed the watch to really liked it. They only had positive things to say about the watch and were pretty blown away by its price. I think the lume (my wife carries a small UV light in her purse) and lightness of the watch were probably what was commented on the most.



When it comes to value for the money I feel the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere is an amazing value. On the titanium bracelet the Lumiere retails for $2,390 and on the rubber strap the retail is only $1,975. For that price you get a stunning case crafted out of grade 2 titanium, a super accurate Sellita movement and a more than adequate power reserve. You also get a stunning dial with cutting edge lume in the Globolight XP ceramic material. Now would be a good time to look at some other watches that offer similar specs to the Lumiere and see how it stacks up.

The first watch that comes to mind when thinking about the C60 Trident Lumiere is the Rolex Yacht-Master 42 in titanium. The Yacht-Master has a case size of 42 mm and is rated to a depth of 100 meters. The watch is powered by an in-house caliber 3235 automatic movement with 70 hours of power reserve. The titanium Yacht-Master has a very similar look to the Lumiere with a mate black bezel and dial with large luminous hour markers. The Rolex goes for a lot more than the Christopher Ward at $14,800 and is nearly impossible to purchase at retail, with secondhand prices nearly twice as much as retail.



Next up we have the Master from Squale which is also crafted out of titanium and has a case diameter of 42 mm. The Master ups the water resistance significantly to 1,200 meters but is powered by a lower end Sellita movement than the Lumiere with the SW200-1 which only offers 38 hours of power reserve. The Master might also be more of an acquired taste with its sandwich dial and aged lume. The Squale Matic comes in a bit more than the Lumiere at $2,500.

Moving on is the Omega Seamaster No Time to Die which is again crafted out of titanium and has a 42 mm case diameter. The No Time to Die has the same water resistance as the Lumiere at 300 meters and is powered by the in-house Omega calibre 8806 which is an automatic movement with 55 hours of power reserve. Like the Squale, the No Time to Die has a slightly polarizing design which uses aged lume as well. The Seamaster No Time to Die is much more expensive than the C60 Trident Lumiere at $10,000.



Finally there is the Pelagos FXD from Tudor which has a 42 mm case that is crafted out of titanium. The Pelagos FXD has a similar aesthetic to the Lumiere and Yacht-Master with a matte black bezel and dial set with large white hour markers. The Pelagos has 100 meters less water resistance than the Lumiere at 200 meters and runs off the manufacture automatic calibre MT5602 which has 70 hours of power reserve. The Tudor also comes in at nearly twice the price of the Christopher Ward at $4,325.

The above four watches compare very well with the C60 Trident Lumiere specs wise and the Lumiere is by far the least expensive of the bunch. To be honest I really like all of the watches and feel they are well priced. Saying that I like the Lumiere the most and that is cost a fraction of three of the watches says a ton. This comparison just illustrates how big of a giant killer Christopher Ward has created with the Lumiere.



So in the end is the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Lumiere for me? Well the Lumiere is my favorite watch from Christopher Ward and Christopher Ward is one of my favorite brands, so of course it's for me. The biggest problem would be to pick between the black and orange dials, but I feel the black would be a better choice, even though I absolutely love orange. The well under 50 mm lug to lug was a bit concerning to me, but on the bracelet the watch wears similar to how many of my 50 mm watches wear while on a strap. The gradient dial with the Globolight XP blocks of lume are really game changing in my opinion and make my favorite diver of all time, the IWC GST Aquatimer 2000, seem a bit dull in comparison. Having the exceptionally accurate Sellita SW300-1 powering the watch is just a nice added bonus. Finally the Lumiere is the only watch I can think of that I prefer to wear on the bracelet versus a strap. As you can see I don't wear my GST Aquatimer 2000 on the titanium bracelet but rather the OEM Velcro strap.

It should be obvious then that I would highly recommend the C60 Trident Lumiere to anyone looking for a quality dive watch. The design of the Lumiere is not polarizing at all and with three dial color options the watch pretty much covers all the bases style wise. I actually showed a few pictures of the Lumiere to a local watch group I'm part of and one of the members ended up purchasing a Lumiere along with a Twelve X which I also shared images and thoughts on. The Lumiere is really just the Goldilocks of dive watches with 300 meters of water resistance, extremely legible dial in all lighting conditions and a solid reliable movement. That it does all of this for thousands less than the competition makes the Lumiere a no brainer.



I'd really like to thank Christopher Ward for sending us this C60 Trident Lumiere to review. Going into the review I was pretty sure I was really going to like the watch and after my suspicion was confirmed. This will be one of those watches that is really tough to send back! With 2025 just starting I really can't wait to see what Christopher Ward has in store for the rest of the year.

For more information about the C60 Trident Lumiere please visit : Christopher Ward

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: C60-41C3H31T0KK0-B0

Retail Price: $2,390 on Bracelet, $1,975 on Rubber Strap

Case Size: 41 mm

Lug to Lug: 47.6 mm

Thickness: 11.2 mm

Weight: 104 Grams (On Titanium Bracelet)

Case Material: Grade 2 Titanium

Bezel: Uni-Directional Ceramic

Strap: Grade 2 Titanium Bracelet with Micro-Adjustable Clasp

Movement: Sellita SW300-1 Swiss Made Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds

Power Reserve: 56 Hours

Water Resistance: 300 Meters