My thoughts:

The applied logo looks fantastic. I have high hopes for the FLE dial.

It seemed to me for some time that they were missing a bezelless GMT. Here it is. I think that it looks really good.

The white sand on camel canvas looks great.

For me there is virtually no difference between 38 and 39.

In the end, I think I still prefer the matte dial of the Sandhurst/Cranwell MKII.

gwells wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:34 pm ...
fwiw, not blown away here. there are some nice features, in particular the raised twin-flags logo. which feels several years too late, i think many of us said from the moment we saw the twin flags mark that it should be the primary marker at 12, it just took years for CW to see the light. gotta wonder if the timing of chris taking a step back is why this finally happened.

I don't know when they started trying to make the raised twin flags logo, but in the preview, the CW gang did say that it wasn't so easy to get the process right , so it took some time working with their suppliers.

gwells wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:34 pm there are some nice features, in particular the raised twin-flags logo. which feels several years too late, i think many of us said from the moment we saw the twin flags mark that it should be the primary marker at 12, it just took years for CW to see the light. gotta wonder if the timing of chris taking a step back is why this finally happened.

My understanding -- based only on public interviews with Mike F. -- is that they felt they had to use the twin flags logo WITH the word mark for a few years to avoid possible legal entanglements with another Swatch sub-brand that also uses the Swiss flag as its primary logo. To avoid that, they used both together for a while, after which their legal team suggested they would be in much safer waters legally. Happy to be corrected about this if I'm wrong, but I think that was the driving force behind the delay to using the twin flags only on the dials.

I was referring to the point after they had already decided to use the twin flags logo alone on the dial.

At some point thereafter, we don't know exactly when, they had thoughts of making the dial logo raised, but faced problems (per the zoom preview) with the process and only got the process nailed on in time for the Dune release.

The applied logo is a great move as part of the Twin Flags branding. Definitely a step above for CW. The 38mm case has long appealed to me; my first new CW acquired two years ago, a Vintage Mk2, sports the smaller Light Catcher and is among my most chosen watches. The Dune palette works well, particularly the black/sand GMT. I had been considering the Aquitaine GMT, but now I’m not so sure since the Dune GMT reveal. And I don’t feel I should plunge in with the FLE on deck. (Different watches, I know, but the cash outlay for yet another watch before the earlier has been delivered seems just a little reckless.)

Well done, CW: the C65 Dune is a winner!

Applied logo + 38mm + múltiple colors.
Just the gap between Aquitaine and C63. The problem now is to choose only one.. or maybe two.

nbg wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 1:01 pm Andrew I always find it best not to overthink, where types of watches are concerned.

I didn’t think I was. Let me try to clarify what I meant, as perhaps I muddled two different points.

Point 1: Regardless of how they chose to label the watch, I’m struggling understand its “raison d’être.” It’s basically an Aquitaine without the bezel. What’s the rationale behind this? Or is it simply, “hey, let’s offer a variation on a theme,” and nothing more? [As I read this back, maybe I am overthinking it! ]

Point 2: If they’re going to call it a field watch, I expect to see some fundamental details. The Dune doesn’t have those, begging the question why call it a field watch then?

^^^ Indeed.

Dive watches, chronograph watches and everything else is simply other.

It’s purpose is as a watch for people that prefer plots and a box crystal to batons and a flat crystal for a watch that isn’t a dive watch or chronograph….

Now CW may well describe the plain bezel Sealander as the do it all that is primarily smart (I put the GMT at the more rough end of the spectrum), but you can wear it doing anything.

With the Dune at the rough end of the spectrum of primarily casual, but can be smart.

To me they are simply two different watches with the same functionality.

I have no idea if I have any “field” watches - someone would need to look at them and tell me. Quite simply it is a term that I don’t use. To me it is pointless!

Neil

nbg wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:39 pm Now CW may well describe the plain bezel Sealander as the do it all that is primarily smart…, but you can wear it doing anything.

With the Dune at the rough end of the spectrum of primarily casual, but can be smart.

To me they are simply two different watches with the same functionality.

I think that’s it in a nutshell. That’s a very apt description of the two models and is where my thinking has been heading with the Dune.

nbg wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:39 pm
I have no idea if I have any “field” watches - someone would need to look at them and tell me. Quite simply it is a term that I don’t use. To me it is pointless!

Neil

The Sandhurst would be the closest to a traditional field watch I think. But like you say, it is splitting hairs.

I have wondered - and wondered again- about getting a Tudor BB36 over the past few years. I was hopeful when they announced new colours that they would go for a white dial but they went for silver. I wasn’t keen.

Here’s the Dune doing more than I hoped for. Yes - it’s a dive watch minus the bezel. I like it. I’m not massively keen on massive bezels. I don’t know how to classify it either but I still like it. It’s so classy with the more muted white sand colour. It’s a better case size for me than the BB36. Or the Sealander for that matter. 20mm vintage leather watch straps ahoy! I think I’d better get one ordered....

asqwerth wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 5:08 pm I was referring to the point after they had already decided to use the twin flags logo alone on the dial.

At some point thereafter, we don't know exactly when, they had thoughts of making the dial logo raised, but faced problems (per the zoom preview) with the process and only got the process nailed on in time for the Dune release.

sounds odd to me, though. it's not like they're the first company to ever do an applied logomark on a dial.

gwells wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 4:34 pm gotta wonder if the timing of chris taking a step back is why this finally happened.

Chris never favoured the 9 o’clock logo position. I would say he would have preferred his original first design at 12 o’clock.

Now we just need to wait a day or two for the new limited edition dial colors on the limited edition GMT if recent history is followed

Caller wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:12 pm With the exception of the Bel Canto and maybe two others, all CW watches have the same hands and one of two dial designs - with or without blobs. The Dune looks like an aquitaine to me sans bezel, nothing wrong with that, but not really a new model.

I really like the white sand version with the camel strap. But it's too small. 40 or 42mm please.

The bronze dune looks to me like it shares a case with the sandhurst. It's hard to tell exactly from just a head-on.