I will be honest and say it first, I had never heard of Christopher Ward and it sure wasn’t on my radar. Not until I was scrolling through Instagram reading posts about new releases and ran into a repost of the Christopher Ward C65 Super Compressor and man oh man was I intrigued. Immediately I went to their website and started my research, studied every pic, looked at every detail over and over. You know like any sane watch person would do. It isn’t just a watch with two crowns, but rather an actual working super compressor case just like the old Ervin Piquerez (EPSA) cases; almost every dive watch from the sixties and seventies utilized them, but with modern components. A quick summary of what a super compressor case does is that the deeper you go underwater the tighter the case back gets against an O-ring gasket or in this case a spring. If you read my previous review or follow me on Instagram, you know I’m a big Enicar fan and can’t help and see the resemblance. It reminds me a lot of the Ultra Dive and Super Dive. The one thing I never quite felt comfortable with my vintage Enicars was wearing them around my 2-year-old without fear of something catastrophic happening and this watch checks that box. This came into play a lot sooner than I expected. While trying to take some pictures outside for this review I was focused on getting the right camera settings and suddenly the watch went airborne and landed on the concrete. How did this happen you might ask? My 2-year-old of course. Out of all the places he could have thrown it; grass, dirt, and some floor padding, he chose the concrete slab. A few scratches here and there but nothing major and accuracy was not affected.

I’ve been wearing the Christopher Ward C65 Super Compressor for a week and so far, I’m impressed. It comes in at 41 mm and it wears comfortably because of its cushion case. The bracelet was a nice surprise, it is very well made and has micro adjustment to find the perfect fit. My two gripes on the bracelet are that it appears to be a different brushed finish than the case and the links use pins and sleeves. Not a big deal but it was extremely annoying to remove/add links to it and I would prefer screw pins. The ocean blue dial is better looking in person and the orange minute and second hand is a nice retro touch. A big mistake they made with the dial is that the orange word “super compressor” is not centered. At first, I didn’t notice but by the second day I saw it favors to the left. The internal bezel is controlled by the crosshatched top crown at 2 o’clock while the time function is at the 4 o’clock screw down crown. The 120 audible clicks from the inner rotating bezel is a great new feature that the vintage counterparts lack. I’m not a diver nor will I ever be one, but I like it. But if I were a diver, I would say that the crowns could be a bit bigger to get a better grip on them and in my humble opinion it would also balance out the look of it. If you are into exhibition case backs, then you are in luck because it has one. Personally, I’m impartial to them, but it’s a cool feature that you can see the spring that makes it a super compressor case. Overall, I have been fascinated with it with the exception of the dial issue. At less than $1,200 USD (not including import/duty tax) it’s the best bang for your buck in this price category. A win-win situation for every watch lover out there who admire the vintage super compressors but want 21st century materials, durability, and at a lower price point.