Christopher Ward C65 Super Compressor Review

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Royston 64
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Re: Christopher Ward C65 Super Compressor Review

Post by Royston 64 »

albionphoto wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:21 pm I was taught in high school that the molar volume of a gas at standard temperature and pressure was approximately 22.4 litres. This soon led to discussions about expansion, compression, heat flow and finally the pit of despair that is thermodynamics. All you really need to know is that if you want to shovel gases into a small volume, use a compressor. To shovel a lot of gas into a small volume, use a super compressor. And I was happy to leave things like that until Christopher Ward released the C65 Super Compressor in late 2020.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (21) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

So what is a Super Compressor and why should Christopher Ward make one? It would be tedious in the extreme to write and then have you read a history of the Super Compressor watch case. The potted version is that it is a type of water resistant watch case developed by Ervin Piquerez which went through different versions culminating in the Super Compressor which featured a spring to help distribute the increasing pressure of the case onto gaskets as the watch descends deeper underwater. The tragedy of this technology is that the Oyster was developed in 1926 and is a much simpler concept and serves as the basis for most waterproof watch cases.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (16) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

So why introduce a Super Compressor case now? There have been numerous compressor cases in recent years but not super compressor. Again, why? Because it’s hard to do, it’s obsolete and unnecessary. It does give Christopher Ward to make a beautiful watch though with a unique selling point that watch nerds will love to hear about down the pub even if your friends won’t.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (17) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

Specifications and design
The C65 Super Compressor is part of the C65 retro diver range. It is an automatic, hacking, no date watch with a diameter of 41mm, a thickness of 13.7mm and a lug-tip to lug-tip measurement of 47mm (all measurements courtesy of the Worn and Wound review:
https://wornandwound.com/review/hands-o ... ompressor/
It is available with two dial colours. The first is a light blue and the second is a brown which is called black sand but which is more like wet sand than black sand. I have the black sand version. Sized for me on the bracelet it weighs 150g and has been running at a very acceptable + 3.5 seconds per day.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (24) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

The C65 range is Christopher Ward’s retro diver design collection. The C6 range started out as a homage to the Oris Divers Sixty-five range but has developed into a much more interesting and diverse range of watches. The design of the Super Compressor takes the C65 range in yet another direction. It features the new light catcher case now with an internal rotating bezel and two crowns. The top crown at 2:00 o’clock is cross hatched and ringed with an orange circle. This moves the bezel. The crown at 4:00 o’clock controls the movement. There’s no phantom date position and the crown is screw down. There’s no real need for the crown to be screw down but customers have been demanding it and so it here it is.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (08) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

The second crown features the twin flags logo embossed in the end. The machining of the twin flags logo into crown sometimes mean that your fingers feel a sharp edges of the logo when brushing past the crown. This is an odd tactile dissonance compared to the smooth lines of the case especially now it contrasts to the cross hatch finish of the upper crown.
The hand set is very simple and traditional. The hour and minute hands are simple batons. The hour hand is polished steel and the minute hand is painted orange. The second hand is orange tipped with the Trident counterweight on one end and a small square weight at the tip of the minute hand. The hand set looks like a refined version of the hands on a Doxa Sub 200 and is very legible.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (02) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

When I first saw the watch I was worried that the dial would be lost behind the bezel. The inner diameter is 36 mm and the bezel consumes 5mm of this on each side. The long indices mean that the word mark would not fit at the 9:00 o’clock position. The indices themselves are long and slender with small dots of lume at the end of the index and a notch filled with white lume. The lume dots at 12, 1, 2, 3, and 4 o’clock are painted with a yellow lume whilst the rest of them are white.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (03) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

The font on the bezel is tall and slim and looks like the font used on pressure gauges; a nice touch.
The lume is very good but the hands are slim and the index dots are very small. It’s no lume monster but what lume there is is very bright and much better than CWs of the past.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (26) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (27) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

The dial itself has a lighter brown in the centre fading to a darker brown as it extends under the indices. It’s a quite hypnotic dial to look at and helps to give the watch a very autumnal feel especially on the orange leather strap.

Strap v. bracelet
The C65 Super Compressor is offered on a brushed bracelet which features quick release pins and push-button micro-adjust and which is very comfortable and has the “Rolex squeak”. It’s also offered on a blue or an orange strap. I do like a dash of orange and fell for the orange strap immediately and so bought the strap when I bought the watch on the bracelet. Inevitably with a leather strap it doesn’t quite fit and I need a hole between the third and fourth holes for it to be fully comfortable. As of now I have resisted the temptation to punch another hole in the strap (this never goes entirely to plan) and wear it slightly loose on the fourth hole. Have Christopher Ward started to make their straps a bit shorter? Normally my 6.75” wrist is at the last or second from last hole and now I’m on the third or fourth one. This is a welcome change for me at least.

Vanity engineering and that case back
This is a project that Christopher Ward didn’t have to do. I remember how excited Mike France was about this project when I spoke with him last year. I didn’t get it. It was only when I saw the watch that I understood why Mike was so excited. Now I get it. If you’re going to resurrect an obsolete technology you might as well show it off. The other star of the C65 Super Compressor is the case back. No 1970s dive watch had a sapphire caseback. They’ve only been mainstream for a couple of years and the C65 caseback is another stunner.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (13) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

The back is dominated by the retaining ring used to hold the spring in place. In keeping with the Super Compressor tradition there is a representation of the diving bell helmet used by Ervin Piquerez on their super compressor cases. The caseback is the unseen icing on the super compressor case showcasing the Selitta SW200-1 with the rotor decorated in the Christopher Ward twin flag motif.

ImageChristopher Ward C65 Super Compressor (16) by Mark Wheeler, on Flickr

Niggles?
There are always some niggles with any watch. Normies won’t get it, neither will YouTube. The dial colours are unusual. The blue version is apparently much more popular than the black sand and so this variant might not last too long. The super compressor text isn’t properly placed on the dial on the early versions of the watch and I don’t for one second buy the argument that this will make them more valuable in the future. It was a mistake that shouldn’t have got through QA. Then having to choose between looks (orange strap) and comfort (bracelet).

Conclusions
I wasn’t very excited about this watch even after I saw it in Loupe. It was only when I saw it during a virtual showroom visit that I got the watched. I am in the minority in preferring the Black Sand variant which is more like wet sand but I suspect that the black sand variant will be the one that people keep long term.
It is a retro diver which contains a resurrected technology and puts it on display. The dial has a strong design which is very autumnal, especially on the orange leather strap. For me it’s a surprise hit and one that I find difficult to take off.
Excellent review - well played Mark 👍
CW’s - C63 sealander, C65 Chrono
Others - Rolex Submariner, Rolex Airking, Rolex Datejust, Jaeger LeCoultre Polaris, Bremont Airco Mach1, Duckworth Prestex Viewmatic and 1 or 2 others
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