Business Class, Luxury Value: Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro 300 GMT Review

A staple of the dive watch world, travelers value GMT watches for their ability to track multiple time zones. Of course, they also work great if you work with teams across time zones and want a quick reference to the current time in another part of the world.

The Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro 300 GMT (yes, it’s a mouthful) brings tremendous value to the world of entry-level luxury watches. Launched in 2005 as the world’s first online-only direct-to-consumer watch brand, Christopher Ward rapidly gained a reputation for exceptional value.

With excellent finishing, attention to detail, and Swiss movements, its Trident line of dive watches cemented itself among budget-minded enthusiasts.

Granted, the term “budget” must be seen in context here. Most Christopher Ward watches land in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, which is by no means inexpensive. But they do compete directly with watches two to three times their price.

On August 1, Christopher Ward is relaunching its beloved GMT dive watch, the C60 Trident Pro 300 GMT. The brand sent me one to examine before launch, and I’ve been wearing it almost daily for 2 weeks. This is my unvarnished look at this capable, handsome tool watch.

In short: The Christopher Ward Trident Pro 300 GMT is luxurious, classic, and accurate enough to jet-set worldwide for business or pleasure. Finished as finely as more expensive watches, the tasteful yet rugged tool watch is just at home in a canoe as in professional settings. A small downside: the Sellita SW330-2 movement cannot adjust the hour hand independently, thus requiring travelers to spin through full hours when adjusting time zones for flights.

Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro GMT Review

Let’s start at the top down on this bad boy. The C60 Trident Pro GMT (hereafter, just the “C60”) has an inverted white triangle against a navy blue background indicating zero at the 12:00 position of the bezel when zeroed. Working down, twin batons mark the 12:00 watch face.

Single, three-dimensional batons indicate the rest of the hours. These have a white center and highly polished steel edges, providing sparkle and enhancing readablity. It complements the “light-catcher” case design, which combines fine linear brushing and diamond polishing for dazzling reflection in bright light.

The date is easily readable at the 6:00 position. A stubby, pointed hour hand, long minute hand, and delicately sweeping second hand give quick visional time reference. A fourth hand in light blue and white shares a second time zone on the 24-hour scale indicated on the attractive white and navy ceramic bezel. It really does look classy.

The watch face is capped by a five-piece, twin-flag logo at the 12 o’clock position. This is a nice upgrade to the old pre-2017 Christopher Ward wording and logo, in my opinion. It looks balanced and subtle.

The lume is good and effective, but not the brightest I’ve seen. It is enough to read the watch at night after a few hours but will fade by early morning.

My overall impression of the watch’s face and bezel is classic. The blend of colors and reflective metal isn’t going to offend anyone’s sensibilities, but it isn’t particularly trendsetting either. It’s a very nice, classy look.

I did get a couple of compliments on the watch during a professional gathering from watch enthusiasts. And this watch does deserve compliments. It should age well and will go well with a vast array of apparel. Yes, the C60 is versatile.

Timekeeping

The C60 has a 56-hour power reserve. That’s quite solid and enough to take the watch off on Friday evening and not have to reset the watch on Monday morning, if barely. But that’s a pretty nice feature, particularly for any watch with a date display.

The C60 GMT claims accuracy of plus or minus 20 seconds per day. No, it’s not chonometer accurate. But I found that the watch did keep good time, staying within a minute over 5 days.

Adjusting the watch is pleasant, with a nicely textured crown that unscrews easily. The Sellita SW330-2 GMT movement offers smooth action, and the crown pulls to each position with a positive click. Setting the hour and minute, the hands spin smoothly. When setting the GMT hand, the indicator moves with a click from hour to hour.

It works in the opposite direction of the date, so if you get swtiched around which way to spin the dial, you’ll find yourself resetting the date. It’s not a big deal, but a minor inconvenience until you’re familiar with the watch.

Some may find fault with the inability to quickly adjust the hour hand for time zone travel. While that feature is popular for travelers, the Sellita SW330-2 GMT doesn’t offer that ability. So unless Christopher Ward finds another movement or creates its own, it will probably not have that functionality any time soon.

It’s a minor inconvenience. Pretty much every traveler also carries a cellphone, so resetting a watch really shouldn’t put them out too much. But when it comes to significant investments, these are the details worth considering.

Caseback and Bracelet

A sapphire display caseback allows the user to see the pretty inner workings of the watch. Indeed, this is one of the only places the branding “Christopher Ward” is visible on the watch.

I tested the watch on the Consort five-link band. It’s quite decorative and is lovely in the way it dazzles in even low light.

I have a relatively small wrist at 6.5 inches. While dive watches tend to feel a little chunky for me, the 40mm size and thin 11.8mm thickness allowed it to sit low and wear smaller than expected.

It fits under shirt cuffs with no issue, which I can’t say about many dive watches. The bracelet is comfortable, and I did use the 3mm of microadjustment as I sized it a little too small initially. That extra adjustment allowed the watch to be comfortable enough even when too tightly fitted.

Unboxing

As a DTC brand, Christopher Ward needs to do a good job on the unboxing experience. Fortunately, it does.

I won’t spoil the surprise for you. But opening the Christopher Ward C60 Trident Pro 300 GMT was a treat. There are several clever touches, soft materials, and a sturdy bamboo display box. Overall, it reinforces the buy and will leave you confident that this is a quality product.

Should You Buy the Christopher Ward Trident Pro 300 GMT?

So, brass tacks: Should you buy one? I think this watch will appeal to a good number of specific shoppers.

Buy this (and any watch) because you love how it looks and makes you feel. Realistically, not many other folks are going to notice it. But if they do, it’ll be for its light-catching metallic sparkle and classic design.

Buy it if you are looking for a really nice Swiss-made watch that looks a lot more expensive than it is. Christopher Ward has a reputation for punching above its price class. And in this case, I think it holds true. For the price, you get a lot of value, including an excellent 5-year warranty on mechanical failures.

And thanks to its 300m of water resistance and rugged design, it should handle mindful outdoor use with no issue.

Of course, not every watch is for every person. If you are looking for a watch for actual diving, or a hard-use field watch, I’d probably look elsewhere. It’s a bit bulky (and flashy) for field use, and it lacks legibility and a unidirectional dial for true diving use.

But if you want a handsome, classic GMT dive watch that will keep good time and look great doing it while you zip across time zones, the C60 is a solid choice.

The C60 Trident Pro 300 GMT is available in light blue/blue and white/blue with a bicolor ceramic bezel, and turquoise/yellow with a steel relief bezel.

Priced from $1,195 on a tapered, FKM Aquaflex rubber strap, the watch is also available on the three-link Bader bracelet, featuring 10mm of microadjustment ($1,380), and the Consort (tested), a jewelry-like, five-link bracelet with a butterfly clasp and 3mm of micro-adjustment ($1,420).

Find it at Christopher Ward on August 1.