Combining Rolex Explorer character with vintage touches, the C65 Dune GMT is one of Christopher Ward’s subtler offerings

In recent years, Chistopher Ward has built a reputation for producing exciting, on-trend luxury watches at a relatively affordable price, with models like the Bel Canto and The Twelve seemingly specifically designed to capture the imagination of discerning enthusiasts.

It’s a feat that’s taken the British brand some time to get right – but its most recent efforts seem honed in on what most customers want from an entry-level luxury timepiece.

If The Twelve was designed to ride the wave of enthusiasm for integrated-bracelet 1970s sports watches and the Bel Canto enthusiasts’ fondness for complication, then the C65 Dune GMT is pitched at the other end of the taste spectrum.

Case and bracelet

The Dune GMT is a small watch at 38mm across. It’s light too; on the leather strap fitted to our review sample, it weighs just 68g.

The size and weight together help lend a vintage feel to what is an ostensibly vintage-leaning design, sitting somewhere between ‘Dirty Dozen’ WW2 field watch and Rolex Explorer II – the latter more so on the optional Oyster-like bracelet. The optional leather strap is high-quality but lacks fine adjustment; we struggled to get a comfortable fit for a seven-inch wrist.

Case finishing is as excellent as we’ve come to expect from the brand, with high-polished elements set off against more practical brushed surfaces. Christopher Ward calls this combination ‘light-catcher’ – not exactly ideal for a field watch in its traditional military setting, but just about right for a dressier modern interpretation.

Movement and dial

The muted tones on the dial give the watch a worn-in look. A sandy beige dial is paired with applied dot indices filled with lume designed to look aged; just as with deliberately patinated old cars, furniture or guitars, it’s an approach that can divide opinion. It looks neat here however, especially in combination with the olive green chapter ring and GMT hand.

The Dune has a small, low-contrast dial so some may struggle to read the time at a glance, but there’s a nice balance of vintage and modern here that many will find appealing.

Under that dial there’s a great movement for the price. The Sellita SW330-2 is a Swiss-made automatic GMT movement. For the uninitiated, GMT stands for Greenwich Meantime; in the world of horology, it’s used to denote a watch that can display the time in two or more timezones at once.

There are two common types of GMT movement – ‘flyer’, whereby the local hour hand can be set independently, and ‘caller’ with the GMT hand set individually. The Dune GMT falls into the latter category and so is most useful for tracking another timezone away from home, rather than travelling through timezones while keeping track of home time as with the flyer type.

The movement feels solid in its operation via the screw-down crown, with a satisfying snap to the GMT hand and a smooth hand-winding action.

Christopher Ward C65 Dune GMT: our verdict

Small, lightweight and unassuming, the Dune GMT seems designed to fade into the background, with a muted vintage colour palette that’s quite opposite to the rainbow of bold options available elsewhere in the range. Add in the usual Christopher Ward attributes of build and specification and the result is an appealing package for around £1000.

While the leather strap we tested adds a dose of vintage appeal – as does the standard canvas item – we suspect the optional bracelet will be the best option for those looking for the most precise fit.

Christopher Ward C65 Dune GMT specifications

Manufacturer
Christopher Ward

RRP
£1,005 (with camel vintage oak leather strap)

Case
‘Light-catcher’ marine-grade stainless steel case

Dimensions
38mm diameter, 11.9mm thickness, 43.7mm lug-to-lug, 20mm lug width

Crystal
Box sapphire crystal

Bezel
Stainless steel, polished

Lume
SLN X1 BL Light Old Radium

Bracelet
Camel vintage oak leather, quick-release spring bars

Movement
Sellita SW330-2 automatic, GMT, 4Hz, 56-hour power reserve

Water resistance
150m