I wasn’t around the brand during the Kingfisher era. While among my watches I have some early CW models, this one doesn’t really draw me in. I’d reserve judgment until I see the result but my initial reaction is I’m happy with the newer styles of C60 Tridents I already have.

I owned the Blue version of the Kingfisher back in the day

The dial colour and hue was one of the most striking and rich variants on any watch ive owned
The case and lug to lug size were the sole reasons i eventually parted with mine


The style imho isnt particularly outdated as its pretty much a simplistic face and indices and after all this model was kind of a run in to the Trident series
Imho The Bezel upgrade would be welcome and improve durability plus a lightcatcher case style would upgrade the luxury feel

Similair colour ranges ie Deep Blue, Burnt Orange and perhaps one or two new shades would sell well i think ... but my over riding thought is the case size would be better at say 41mm or if larger.. say 42mm then the lug to lug articulation would need to be more flexible

I reckon even a limited run along these lines would go pretty well certainly amongst the Forum and perhaps attract general sales as a bonus

All just my thoughts off the bat

Regards
Rich T

I am a big fan of the Kingfisher range and bought 4 of them earlier this year to satisfy my nostalgia for them. I think doing a "revival" model of one of them, e.g. the C6 FLE, is a great idea for a couple of reasons:

o There are a lot of new CW customers in recent years, on the back of Bel Canto, who are unaware of CW's older models. CW seem to be trying to show that they have a very interesting and varied back-book of previous models, as shown by the posters they are displaying at the various meet-ups that are happening. Introducing some further "revival" models to reinforce that seems like an obvious next step, perhaps as limited editions. These would appeal to long-standing fans (like me), but also to some of the new customer base.

o It gives an opportunity to iron out some of the less-attractive quirks in the original designs with some more modern solutions/materials/designs. For example, the C5 Revival solved the issue of the slab-sidedness of the original model. The C6 Revival could similarly resolve its chunkiness problem by using the Trident Pro 300 case.

Addressing Kip's questions...

Is the overall style too outdated?

I don't think so. However, some elements would need to be upgraded, e.g. the black plastic bezel inserts and the overall bezel quality. It's important not to change too much of the design though, otherwise it won't be a Kingfisher anymore. So the hands and indices should be very similar, and I would retain the original v1 logo (as the C5 Revival did).

Would it degrade the FLE version of 16 years ago?

I don't think so. Two different watches of their time. I don't think anyone buying the C5 Revival thought that the original C5 was diminished in any way.

Does it have possibilities even as a limited run?

Yes, definitely. It's likely to be more successful as a limited run than as an open series. If the initial colour is very successful then additional limited runs of other colours could then be done in the future. One of the key attractions of the C6 series was the range of glorious colours, so emulating that seems entirely reasonable to me.

What would you change?
Better bezel, with more robust and elegant black inserts.
Better movement. The C6 FLE pioneered the use of an automatic movement in the C6 case. I would do the same pioneering change here by using an upgraded movement, e.g. the SW300.

Keep it 300m WR, so using the Trident Pro 300 case.
Keep the bead-blasted nature. If there is some way to give this additional scratch-protection, then even better.
Keep the option of a bracelet with black centre links, possibly in something hard-wearing.
Keep the blue lume if directly emulating the C6 FLE.

^^^^ @welshlad

That says it all, Steve.

No need for me to add anything, other than to say that my idea, of yesterday, to use a ceramic case won't work on the grounds of being too expensive.

Guy

Sent from my Galaxy S23 Ultra using Tapatalk

Having spent a good part of a sunny Sunday thinking about this, I want to say that I'm more invested in this watch than I am with the Twelve variants - providing there's more to this than the word KINGFISHER worked across a Twelve case or any of the sub 39mm cases.

I can see the twin flags replacing the original logo quite nicely.

Some great thoughts reflecting my own have already been posted here, so apologies if there’s some repetition.

I am fairly sure I’ve posted somewhere before that I’d like a revival of the Kingfisher line. I’ve even tried to consider some of the recent releases as new versions:



Sadly the C60s I’ve tried didn’t have the right proportions (for me) so didn’t stay. 40mm and 14mm thick is a different proposition to the thinner C6s. The yellow CWE C60 300 (which I missed so haven’t seen) may be the nearest thing to a revival we’ve had so far.

I was wearing a Kingfisher almost daily for more than ten years. Only recently have my yellow quartz and orange auto been retired for daily duties in favour of the C63 FLE. Yes, the Kingfishers are a bit dated but they still occasionally got interest. Yes, they’re slab sided, but as they were thin I always found them less so than a modern BB58. I love them and would buy a revival.



What would I want to see? A colourful dial in a modern C60 300 light catcher style case. The current hands and indices could be used but painted black (though I really like the original hand set and find them some of the most legible I own). I think that would get you a good way there. I love the original bezels; they’re so unique, though the plastic being prone to scratches is a touch annoying. And it would be interesting to see the case bead blasted rather than shiny. (Or titanium would get the same effect and be lovely!) The Kingfishers always struck me as colourful tool watches and I used them as such. In workshops, offices, on boats and in the water. The finish hid the few scratches they picked up. Though… the details of the light catcher case may get lost in this finish, and perhaps that’s why the slab sided nature worked.

A domed sapphire again would be fun (and it’d be nice if it gave them a reason to stock spares for the old watches again! It would be nice to be able to replace my scratched crystal!).

CW could just offer more colourful versions of the Trident 300 and be most of the way there. And no, I’m not fussed which logo iteration is on it!

Oh, it shouldn’t be too expensive. I know times have changed in 15 years but I got my first one for £160 I think (nearly new and quartz, admittedly). A Four figure price tag wouldn’t be great or in keeping. A Quartz revival would be fine.

Is the overall style too outdated?

No. As above, the BB58 has slab sides and is modern. The hands and indices look similar to other watches on the market. You could argue the bezel ages it a bit but I’ve also never seen a bezel like it. Just using the light catcher case though would modernise it straight away without doing much else to the original design.

Would it degrade the FLE version of 16 years ago?

No. People who bought that probably aren’t wearing it that much now and may not be that active with CW anymore to even know about a rerelease.

Besides, CW said they’d not make another quartz but did.

Does it have possibilities even as a limited run?

Yes, though it would then have to be more than someone could just achieve as a special request run on the trident 300. If it’s an LE, a simple colour change on the dial of a regular watch wouldn’t be enough IMO.

What would you change?

See above. Mainly bead blasted or titanium light catcher case. Otherwise I loved the Kingfisher line the way it was.


Right, I’m off to source another C6.

For anyone with a hankering for a Kingfisher T3 LE rather sooner, there’s this in (apparently) near-new condition just come up on the bay.

The CW design language has moved so far since those days that I don’t think it would sit well against the current range. An interesting idea though.

There are many watches from the past that I would like to see a modern version of…

But the Kingfisher isn’t one of them and neither are any other CWs.

Neil