Christopher Ward seconde/seconde/ Desk Diver Review

If you've been reading our reviews over the past few months, then there is a good chance that you've read one of our Christopher Ward reviews. We've reviewed a handful of Christopher Ward watches from the C60 Trident Pro dive watch to the chiming Bel Canto and various models in their Twelve collection. After spending tons of time with the newest releases from Christopher Ward and experiencing the quality of watches they release, we've become big fans of the brand.

It seems that every month or two Christopher Ward will come out with a new and exciting release. To be honest I was really eager to get my hands on one of their new C60 Trident Lumiere watches that had just recently been released when completely out of left field came another release I just had to get my hands on.



The release I'm referring to was their collaboration with French watch artist Romaric Andre, better known as seconde/second/. I had received the press release for the collaboration a few weeks before the watch came out and asked Christopher Ward if it would be possible to get one to review. I wasn't too sure I'd end up with one based on the lack of availability for the Lumiere's, but much to my surprise Christopher Ward said they'd ship me a prototype as soon as they arrived.

Before getting much into the details of the Christopher Ward seconde/seconde/ collaboration, let's first start with some background on seconde/seconde/. My first introduction to Romaric's work was the collaboration he did with Squale in taking their iconic 1521 dive watch and moving their shark logo a bit up the dial and then having a chunk of the hour hand bitten out. When the watch hour hand is set to 2 AM or PM, it looks as if the logo had taken a bite out of the hour hand. It's a pretty subtle design, but it really works.



I also really loved the work Romaric did with Australian watch brand Bausele in the limited edition Perspective. This was another subtle design by seconde/seconde/ where the seconds hand is replaced with an 8 bit shark fin and water line. It's just the fun kind of watch I get a kick out of.

The release seconde/seconde/ did with Spinnaker on the 50 Phantoms was probably my favorite collaboration Romaric has done. The Spinnaker Fleuss Automatic is already a tribute watch to the original Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and seconde/seconde/ managed to take a historically important design and turn it upside down. Romaric made a play on the name Fifty Fathoms and turned the watch into the 50 Phantoms complete with a dial set with 50 ghosts looking straight out of a SNES Mario game. The design idea was just pure brilliance. I kick myself often for missing out on this release, even more so now being the owner of a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms 500 Fathoms… hey maybe Romaric can do a version for me with 500 little ghosts on it ;)

Romaric Andre is French born and sort of fell into the watch industry. Having worked in finance he eventually formed a start up that added a tourbillion to a cellphone. The company even had watch visionary Richard Mille on their board, but the exorbitant price of the phone finally caused the company to not move forward. After this experience, Romaric was a bit lost and it was then when his wife suggested he started selling vintage watches that he could modify. Romaric noticed how much adding some fresh colors and designs to a dial that had heavy patina would bring the watch back to life. Initially Romaric would add a new seconds hand to a vintage watch and create something truly original and new.



In not much time, Romaric and then seconde/seconde/ became very well known and respected in the online watch world. This success and creativity of his designs led to watch brand after watch brand requesting to work with him. Initial collaborations were more straightforward like when Romaric was replacing the seconds hands on vintage pieces, but in time he started doing more and more with the watches. The 50 Phantoms project was probably the most ambitious design by seconde/seconde/ until his collaboration with Christopher Ward.

The starting place for the collaboration between Christopher Ward and seconde/seconde/ ended up being the C65 Aquitaine Automatic dive watch. Much like the Spinnaker Fleuss Automatic, the C65 Aquitaine Automatic takes much of its inspiration from the vintage dive watches of the 1950s like the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. Christopher Ward, seconde/seconde/ and every watch brand out there knows that dive watches and their water resistance means pretty much zero to 99.99% of the people who buy them. Most dive watches will be used and worn at such mundane places like an office, this fact is where the collaboration was born.

The result of the collaboration between Christopher Ward and seconde/seconde/ ended up being called the Desk Diver. There is so much going on with this watch, that I'm not really sure where to start. I think maybe I'll start with my initial impressions about the watch and then get more into what makes this watch the perfect watch for the office.



I'm not sure what I was expecting when the watch arrived, but the watch looked and felt like a real dive watch. When sized for my 7.25 inch wrist the watch weighed in at 151 grams on our scale. Since the watch does not take itself seriously, I just thought it would be super lightweight. The watch is also mostly brushed in finish with polished chamfers, giving it a very tool watch look. The Desk Diver also has a very domed sapphire crystal which gives off nice vintage dive watch vibes. Finally, the watch has a curved sapphire bezel which isn't seen on many watches at all, especially not at this price point. The only other watch I can think of that has a curved sapphire bezel is the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. In all the Desk Diver is an impressive diver, regardless of the price or in this case intended function of the watch.

Second the Light Catcher case from Christopher Ward is just a special design. This case is the result of years of development by Christopher Ward to have a brand defining case that can be used across a wide range of collections. The Light Catcher was inspired by Aston Martin's DB9 curves and the soft lines of the car's design made it into the case. The design of the Light Catcher case also makes it adapt well to many wrist shapes for optimal comfort. I've spent a lot of time with various watches that feature the Light Catcher case, and each time I get another reminder of how well of a job Christopher Ward did with the design.

Finally the amount of work that seconde/seconde/ put into the dial, bezel and case back of the Desk Diver really stood out. Naturally Romaric's design is what makes the Desk Diver stand out, but being there is so much to cover, let's just get into each section of the watch and go over what has been added to transform the C65 Aquitaine Automatic into the Desk Diver.



The Desk Diver is crafted out of stainless steel and has a case diameter of 41 mm with a lug to lug length of 46.7 mm. The watch is only 12.5 mm thick even with the very pronounced domed sapphire crystal. As touched upon earlier the watch weighs in at 151 grams on the stainless steel bracelet when sized for a 7.25 inch wrist. The watch head only weights 71 grams, so putting the watch on the included Delugs strap will reduce the weight significantly. I would actually prefer to wear the watch on a rubber strap, since I'm not a huge fan of bracelets.

As mentioned before the Desk Diver comes with an overly domed sapphire box glass crystal. This gives the Desk Diver the look of the original dive watches from the 1950s like the Fifty Fathoms. Naturally there is going to be some distortion around the outside of the crystal where it meets the case. Some people might dislike this, but I actually see this as a feature not a con. The sapphire is also coated with an anti-reflective coating that does a great job of negating reflections.

Under the crystal is where all the fun starts on the dial. The dial is matte black and features a triangular hour marker at 12, stick indices at 3 and 9 and the rest of the hour markers are round. These applied markers have a polished stainless steel surround and are filled generous amounts of Super-LumiNova. The hour, minute and seconds hands are polished as well, also containing Super-LumiNova. At 12 o'clock you have a brushed steel Christopher Ward twin flag logo and our first taste of seconde/seconde/ changes with the small added "s" at the end of the logo signaling his signature. At 6 o'clock you also have two more touches from Romaric, with the first being the Post-it note with "The Desk Diver" being written on it. The second is the white backed date window with a little Easter egg hidden on the 31st day of the month, which now shows some coins representing pay day.



Next up the dial has a breakdown of the activities you should do during the work day along with for how long and how many times per day you should do each. The tasks go as follows: Break, 5 minutes, 3 times a day. Meeting, 15 minutes, not applicable. Gossip, 5 minutes, 1 time a day. Office Politics, 15 minutes, 1 time a day. Move, 5 minutes, 2 times a day. Doomscrolling, 15 minutes, 0 times a day.

When the bezel pointer is lined up with 12 o'clock then bezel icons are synced with their definition and times per day they are to be done. To operate the bezel you then rotate the bezel to line up the start of an activity with the current minute hand. Say you have a meeting starting, you line up the start of the meeting with the minute hand and then "Say Hi" for the first 4 minutes of the meeting, take a power nap for the next 7 minutes of the meeting and then "Say Bye" for the last 4 minutes of the meeting. The bezel and minutes hand will instruct you when to do each task.



Most of the other tasks are straight forward and the bezel only tracks how long you should do each task such as gossip, office politics, move and break. The other part of the day's activities that the bezel gives you more guidance on is the doomscrolling part of the bezel. Although seconde/seconde/ recommends you do not partake in doomscrolling during the work day and gives you 0 units for it, if you do spend your 15 minutes doomscrolling the news or social media, you will start with Faith in Humanity which after 2 minutes will transition over to Dopamine Toxicity after just a short time of taking in the worst of what the internet has to offer. Finally being made out of sapphire, various parts of the bezel can be fully lumed with no fear of chipping and flaking off. The Power Nap and Dopamine Toxicity sections of the bezel are heavily lumed, beneficial if you're taking a nap and need to see when it's time to wake up…

As you can see seconde/seconde/ really went to town when it came to the dial and bezel of the Desk Diver. This is by far Romaric's most ambitious collaboration that doesn't just alter the look of a watch, but actually alters the function. Long gone is the traditional 60 minute dive bezel being replaced with a bezel more in tune to get you through your day at the office. I would highly recommend using a dive computer in conjunction with the Desk Diver if actually diving, since you know there really is no way to time your dive with it. Especially when you're diving down to depths of 200 meters with it, as we all are going to ;)



As I touched upon earlier, the Desk Diver uses Chrisopher Ward's Light Catcher case which is fully brushed on the top surfaces with polished chamfers. The side of the case is a mix of polished and brushed finishes, really giving the case an interesting dynamic to it. On the right hand side of the case you have an oversized crown with small yet grippy grooves cut into it. The top of the crown also features the Christopher Ward twin flag logo. The crown is screw down and when un-screwed allows for manual winding. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the time, while pulling the crown out to position two allows you to set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the minutes hand and the crown screws in with no fuss or additional care to line up.

Flipping the watch over shows the solid screw in case back. The screw down crown and case back help the Desk Diver boast a water resistance of 200 meters. The case back is also individually numbered with the watches number out of the 500 production units. With the watch we're reviewing being a prototype, the watch was labeled as 000/500. It's pretty cool to see this number on a watch if I'm being honest. The final seconde/seconde/ touch is also seen on the case back, where you have the image of a scuba diver complete with a paperclip for an oxygen tank. "The Desk Diver" text is also present here as is the phrase "How to dominate from 9 to 5". It's just one more touch that nobody will see except the owner that shows the humor of Romaric Andre.



Beating inside of the Desk Diver is the Sellita SW200-1 automatic Swiss Made movement. The SW200-1 beats at 28,800 vph (4Hz) and has a power reserve of 38 hours. On our timegrapher the movement showed an accuracy of +5 seconds per day. This is just inside of chronometer specs of +6 seconds per day but is not as accurate as other Sellita movements we've got from Christopher Ward in the past. With this Desk Diver being a prototype, we'd bet the movement isn't as regulated as the production versions are. There are also some printing differences on the prototype that were cleaned up for production, so having a difference in the movement wouldn't shock me. Even at +5 seconds a day, the movement is well within the +/- 20 seconds per day Christopher Ward quotes for the SW200-1.

The Desk Diver has a lug width of 22 mm and comes on a brushed stainless steel bracelet. The bracelet has a three part construction and the links use screws for the removable links. The bracelet tapers down to 16.5 mm at the stainless steel deployant clasp. The clasp features the Christopher Ward twin flag logo and requires both buttons to be depressed to release the clasp. The clasp also offers micro-adjustments through a button located under the clasp that allows about a full links worth of adjustment. The bracelet is also built with a quick release system that requires no tools to quickly remove the bracelet.



The Desk Diver also comes with a bright yellow Delugs rubber strap. The strap also features a quick release system and comes with an ingenious spring loaded deployant clasp. The strap is incredibly supple and requires zero break in to be comfortable. The way the strap attaches to the clasp does require you to cut the strap to achieve the correct fit. Even though three straps are included with the watch, I'd say make sure you measure three or four times before cutting or just take one piece of strap off at a time until you reach the desired fit. I do need to say that the spring loaded clasp is one of the nicest feeling clasps I've tried before. I might be looking at getting some Delugs straps and deployants for some of my personal watches after paying around with their strap for the Desk Diver.

I don't always receive the full retail packaging with review pieces, but Christopher Ward did make sure I got the full kit with the Desk Diver. The watch comes in the familiar wood and soft touch material box that modern Christopher Ward watches come in, but added a little extra bonus. The Desk Diver also comes with a complete set of office tools branded for Christopher Ward, The Desk Diver and seconde/seconde/. They include a pad of Post-it notes, two number 2 pencils, paperclips, pushpins and a yellow highlighter. It's just a super fun addition to an already super fun watch that shows Christopher Ward and seconde/seconde/ went all in on this release.



Now I have to admit that I haven't had an office job since the mid 2000s and have pretty much worked from home for nearly two decades. I also don't wear a watch around the house because I'd just end up beating it up, especially the clasp would get destroyed while at the computer. I could try discussing some office politics and gossip with our nearly two year old twin daughters, but I feel most of the talk would be about the color "Yellow" and "Teddy Bears".

I did however wear the watch out a few times and had a lot of comments about the watch from the friends and acquaintances I showed it to. Most wouldn't know what to do with a dive bezel, so having the explanation of the bezel on the dial demystified the Desk Diver to the watch novices I showed the watch to. Overall the comments I got about the watch were all positive, everyone loved the playful nature of the watch.



When I posted some pictures of the watch I took right after it arrived online, I got a mixed bag of responses. It was pretty black or while, with people really getting it or people just not understanding the watch. I can see both view points on this one. I think the people that didn't get the watch couldn't understand why you would spend $1,395 on a watch that doesn't really do anything, meaning the dive bezel has been removed, so it's really not a functional tool watch. They have the frame of mind that if you're spending over $1,000 on a watch there are tons of watches that would be a better use of their money. That's a fair argument, but this watch isn't meant to be serious or be your daily or only watch. It is also definitely not meant to be a diver either, hence the name…

The Desk Diver is meant to compliment your already existing collection. I'm not even sure this watch is meant to be a second watch, maybe a 5th or 6th watch. Just like the 50 Phantoms, this watch is meant to be playful and fun. It's a watch your break out from time to time for a laugh. Sure $1,395 is a decent amount for a watch, but you are also getting a real watch with a solid Sellita movement, stainless steel construction, curved sapphire bezel and a stunning case. Christopher Ward will sell you a non seconde/seconde/ C65 Aquitaine Automatic for $200 less if you're after a buttoned down dive watch, but that's not the point with this release. Obviously 500 people understood what Christopher Ward and seconde/seconde/ were going for with this release, since all the available watches were sold out a few days after its release. I also had a few people message me after posting pictures of the watch saying they had ordered the watch after looking at my pictures.



The Desk Diver also does just work fine at being a watch that tells time. Sure you lose some functionality not having the dive bezel present, but unless a watch is a GMT, features a tachymeter or is a dive watch there really isn't a need for a bezel. The Desk Diver looks amazing, feels great on wrist and functions just fine as time only with date timepiece. Also besides being a lighthearted watch that pokes fun at the office environment, the Desk Diver would make a great summer watch when paired with the Delugs strap. Remember the watch does have 200 meters of water resistance and a super durable sapphire bezel and crystal, meaning it can pretty much take everything you can throw at it.

The design of the C65 Light Catcher case is very compact, so even though the case measures 41 mm, the lugs are very short and the watch only has a 46.7 mm lug to lug. This means the watch can fit a large variety of wrist sizes. I typically prefer my watches to be 50 mm or larger lug to lug, but on the bracelet the watch wears a little bigger and suited my wrist just fine. The Desk Diver also stayed perfectly centered on my wrist. With the weather in Austin still deep in the 90s with high humidity, the Desk Diver was a treat to wear since I could micro-adjust the bracelet up and down to work both in cool indoor situations as well as being outdoors and having my wrist swell. The watch does have a decent heft to it but didn't cause any wrist fatigue. Also swapping the watch over to the rubber strap would take almost half of the weight away.



Normally in this part of the review I would take a look at some of the competitors for the watch I'm reviewing. The issue with the Desk Diver is that there really aren't any watches to compare it to. The closest you could get in just the functionality of the watch would be the regular Christopher Ward C65 Aquitaine Automatic that it is based off of. This watch basically loses off of the touches seconde/seconde/ added to the watch and retails for a bit less than the Desk Diver did when it was available.

Next you would have watches that are more out there in the way they display time and have a more whimsical take on timepieces. Here you would have pieces like some of Mr. Jones offerings, the Wristmons from Konstantin Chaykin and the Crazy Hours from Franck Muller. There is no rhyme or reason to even compare these to the Desk Diver besides the sense of humor in their design.



Finally you'd have the watches that seconde/seconde/ designed in collaboration with other watch brands. There once again is really no reason to compare these past creations with the Desk Diver either… mainly since like the Desk Diver they are long sold out.

So would the Desk Diver work for me personally? Yes and No. The Desk Diver would fit perfectly into my collection as a fun watch to take for a night out or on the rubber strap as a great vacation watch. I don't think I'd wear it regularly in my everyday rotation. That is no dig on the watch at all, just a watch like this has its purpose and in my opinion it is more of an occasional piece than a daily wearer. I do really like the watch and will miss it when I send it back to Christopher Ward though. I really also like how this is the most seconde/seconde/ has modified a watch to my awareness.

Would I recommend to the Desk Diver to others? I totally would if they had a sense of humor. This isn't a watch to be taken too seriously, which is where some of the divisiveness came in when I posted pictures of the watch online. Not that my suggestion would mean much since the watch is sold out. I do see some popping up in the aftermarket for well over double retail. This isn't too surprising seeing a lot of seconde/seconde/ collaborations do fetch a big premium after they have sold out.



I would also like to address the stigma around limited edition watches. The Desk Diver was limited to 500 pieces and took around two days to sell out. I'm used to clothes and sneakers selling out in less than ten seconds, with most of that time being spent processing the order. This was nothing like that, if you really wanted the Desk Diver there was more than enough time to get it, making it a fair release. I guess this was the first limited edition watch release I actually paid attention to, but I'd guess with the popularity of Christopher Ward and seconde/seconde/ and only 500 pieces, this was considered a rather fast sellout.

Overall I was very impressed with what Christopher Ward and Romaric Andre have put together with the Desk Diver. Par for the course, Romaric delivered another super interesting limited edition watch that sold out in short order. The joke behind a dive watch being used so infrequently for its intended purpose and instead being worn by office workers at their cubicle is extremely funny and refreshing. Taking the design of the watch past just some office jokes and making the bezel add functionality to office tasks is just awesome. Finally I'd really like to thank Christopher Ward for sending us this Desk Diver to review and also always I can't wait to see what is next from both Christopher Ward as well as seconde/seconde/.



For more information about the Desk Diver please visit : Christopher Ward

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: C65-41ADA2-DDK-B0

Retail Price: $1,395

Case Size: 41 mm

Lug to Lug: 46.7 mm

Thickness: 12.5 mm

Weight: 151 Grams (On Bracelet) / 71 Grams (Watch Head)

Case Material: Stainless Steel

Bezel: Curved Sapphire

Strap: Stainless Steel with adjustable Deployant Clasp / Delugs Yellow Rubber Strap With Deployant Clasp

Movement: Sellita SW200-1 Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date, Office Tasks

Power Reserve: 38 Hours

Water Resistance: 200 Meters