As an avid swimmer and a watch-enthusiast which owns more then 10 watches it is striking that I only had one diver in my collection, the Seiko SKX173. A great watch, very solid and still working after taking more than one severe hit. But it was time for a second diver in my collection, and because of the positive experiences I had my other Christopher Ward watches, I ordered the new Christopher Ward Kingfisher:
Technical Details
- 5 Jewel Swiss quartz movement, Ronda 715
- Diameter: 42mm
- Height: 13mm
- Weight: 140g
- sapphire crystal
- Case: Stainless steel with sandblasted finish (316L)
- Hands and indexes with super-luminova
- Strap: Silicon Rubber (22mm) other straps and bracelets available
Case and crown
When I first held the Kingfisher in my hands the case felt very heavy, but once I put it on my wrist, it was very comfortable, the case is curved nicely to match the wrist:
The case can take 300m of water-pressure, and to make sure you won't leave the bottom of the ocean too quickly, there is a NDL-table on the back of the case:
The Kingfisher has a large crown with CW-signature that is easy to handle and can be screwed-down:
Movement
This is my first watch with quartz-movement, all the others are automatics, which I greatly prefer. I know nothing about quartz-movements, but I have to say, it's kinda nice that after a week the watch hasn't gained or lost a second. The great thing is that Christopher Ward has agreed to make a special edition Kingfisher with blue dial and automatic movement (ETA 2824-2)!
Dial and hands
The dial of the Kingfisher is available in the colors black, white, yellow, orange and blue. Thanks to the superluminova on hands and indexes the watch can still easily be read during the night.
Strap & buckle
There are four types of straps available for the Kingfisher: the silicon rubber strap, a leather strap and two kinds of steel bracelets. I bought mine with the rubber-strap, it wears very comfortable and integrates nicely into the case. It is so much better than those horrible Seiko rubber ones, this rubber strap is much more flexible. The buckle is very simple but feels solid and does the job:
Conclusions
This is my new daily beater, I won't be wearing the Seiko for a while when swimming! There is so much I like about this watch, and not in the least the price: £135,- (approx.: €193,- / $276,-) seems very reasonable to me. There is only one thing I have to get used to, and that is the quartz-movement. But as said earlier, this also has it's advantages, and there is hope: Christopher Ward will produce 100 pieces of a Limited Kingfisher with mechanical movement especially for the Christopher Ward Forum!
Hans
