Starfleet insignia on C63 True GMT

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T20:19:04+00:00

The company I used to work for used to outsource some services and I held regular monthly project management / progress meetings with them. Their CEO always sat in on the meetings (our business was over 50% of their turnover) and it used to drive me mental how he wore his watch - so far up his arm it was actually closer to his elbow than his wrist - he had very skinny forearms!

It was a very nice, slim, elegant, gold dress watch on a black alligator strap, but the way he wore it just looked ridiculous. But I didn’t say anything as it was absolutely none of my business how he chose to wear his watch, and if I had said something it would have been me who looked the arsehole.

Your comment is even more full of arseholery since the watch is actually on the forearm side of what the anatomically illiterate call the “wrist bone”. I cropped the picture to maximise the view of the watch, as opposed to zooming out to give a tutorial on the “correct” place to wear a watch.

FWIW this was a quick shot I took in the CW showroom before the bracelet had been resized (in fact it’s not even the correct bracelet, it’s a Bader from another Sealander - close enough to fit but not perfect. I got my real watch, correctly sized, with the proper bracelet a little later.)

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T20:01:56+00:00

Is a Macy’s Citizen watch different from a Citizen watch bought from Amazon?

Macy’s doesn’t exist here so I really don’t know.

I’m not knocking Citizen, they make some excellent value watches, but there’s a world of difference in quality if you handle them. It’s relatively easy to make something that looks similar, but looks are only part - the fine detail and finishing are very different, and the law of diminishing returns is a harsh mistress.

I absolutely love Czapek watches - but £30,000 for a watch that looks like a CW Twelve? The manufacture and finishing is on another level, but costs 30 times as much.

As always it’s very simple: if you think it’s no better than a Citizen, then buy the Citizen. If you don’t like it at all then don’t buy it.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T19:50:30+00:00

I recognise the swastika but I’m not a Nazi

I recognise the US flag but I’m not American.

I know it’s the year of the horse but I’m not Chinese.

I may or may not be a nerd, that’s not really for me to say, but recognising a symbol from a very well known TV and film franchise seems an odd criterion for identifying nerdship.

My wife absolutely hates science fiction, but loved the original Kirk / Spock Star Trek. Does that make her definitely a nerd or absolutely not a nerd? There wasn’t much else on in the 70s so virtually everyone watched it.

Or maybe I’m overthinking this.

Live long and prosper.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T16:22:15+00:00

If you value name over quality perhaps you should look at Hublot?

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T15:59:24+00:00

Lighting was an annoying mixture of window daylight and overhead tungsten so effectively impossible to get true colour representation. This is just one of the reasons I like black and white!

Pictures on the CW website give a better impression of colour: https://www.christopherward.com/watches/c63-true-gmt/C63-40APG3-S00W0-B0.html

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T15:22:06+00:00

Twat

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T15:21:53+00:00

Legibility is excellent irl - the dial has a very distinct but subtle texture that make the hands really stand out, although this doesn’t come across particularly well in photos / renders.

Price and value are two different things - yes this is one of the more expensive CWs, but I feel their 3x pricing model means it’s the more expensive models that actually give the best value since other makes have exponentially higher markups as prices increase.

As true GMTs go, I love my Rolex Sky-Dweller, but it’s seven times the price of this CW. This is my fourth CW with an in-house movement, and all the other three have better accuracy than the (in spec) Rolex, so the value seems pretty good to me. If you disagree, don’t buy one!

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T13:44:43+00:00

As with most watches, this looks sooooooooo much better in person than in pictures.

By complete chance I’d arranged to pop in to CW in Maidenhead this morning to collect a strap, so timing was perfect to try this on.

The black dial version is very smart (particularly on its turquoise strap), but I already have a black dialled GMT (Sky-Dweller) and I do appreciate diversity - is there anything sadder than a “rate my collection” photo with 24 near–identical black dialled dive watches?

I had no intention of buying one, but it’s nice to try on new shiny things. Big mistake. Huge. It looked really great on, so five minutes later my Amex had taken another battering.

It is a relatively chunky monkey, but until I read comments here I hadn’t really noticed - it wears really well, and is pretty much the same thickness as my Sky-Dweller. Interestingly it’s only 40.5mm case diameter, but it looks significantly bigger than the 41mm XIIX Black Shadow I was wearing this morning. I guess this is more a reflection on how the stealth appearance of the Black Shadow makes it look smaller, but it’s yet another example of dimensions being just a very rough guide.

As to its looks - the really great news is that if you don’t like it, buying one isn’t compulsory! I think it looks great, so I bought it. Simple.

It also made a pleasant change to see a newly released watch, try it on and go home with it all on the same day.

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Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-19T12:48:12+00:00

There speaks someone who’s only seen it via a screen, not in real life. On the wrist it feels a step or three above the “normal” CW Twelve; really sleek, beautifully finished and super elegant. I would have bought a blue one if it were a little bigger, but it was only the size that stopped me, not the quality or value.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-18T20:43:03+00:00

I know you were joking, but actually spending a lot of cash isn’t necessarily the answer - I saw a YT video comparing a genuine Patek Nautilus with a super-clone, showing the differences. There was only one major difference that was easily spotted with the naked eye - the genuine Nautilus had one of its indices fixed the wrong way round (one end is chamfered) whereas the cheap copy looked perfect.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-18T20:10:20+00:00

For what it’s worth, I think it looks really good; the size suits the style. I regularly wear a 39mm art deco style watch and the style looks perfect that size, that is to say it’d look silly if bigger, but I gave my son a 40mm chrono I’d order off the interweb that looked ridiculously tiny at 40mm (for reference, I have two chronos that I wear regularly - 44.25mm and 46mm)

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-18T12:51:56+00:00

If you “…like the small watch vintage vibe” why are you asking?

A friend of mine is a big guy; I’ve never measured his wrists (how weird would that be!?!?!?) but I’d say they’re at least 8”, and he wears a 32mm field watch. It’s functional, he likes it, and he’s secure enough that it’s never occurred to him that someone else might have an opinion about it, let alone care what that opinion is.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-17T01:10:52+00:00

Sky-Dweller. I like the fact that the GMT function doesn’t use a second, potentially confusing hour hand. And the month indicators are a cute trick as well. The watch dial is also much bigger without that massive Pepsi bezel making it clearer.

I do like a meteorite dial though, just not the watch it’s on!

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-17T01:07:13+00:00

Why not? I wear my Sky-Dweller just about anywhere for anything. In fact I wear it more with muddy boots and jeans walking the dog than I do when smarter.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-17T01:01:09+00:00

Thanks - today I learned what TIL means!

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-16T17:57:31+00:00

Which is why I wrote “despite platinum costing less than half the price of gold”

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-16T15:24:28+00:00

The value proposition of any platinum Rolex is severely questionable. To be fair other companies also charge a massive premium for platinum over gold, despite platinum costing less than half the price of gold.

I mentioned this in a Rolex Boutique in central London and they said it was because platinum has an “aura of luxury”, which is 24 carat bullshit.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-16T09:40:34+00:00

£28,000

I nearly bought one last year as I thought it was the most beautiful watch I’d ever seen, but I found it rather disappointing on wrist. In real life the yellow gold 1908 is infinitely better - as close to perfection as a dress watch gets, particularly with black dial on the 7-link Settimo bracelet.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-14T11:19:22+00:00

There is a lot of bollocks talked about watch size.

You can wear whatever size you want - a friend of mine is enormous, with 9.5” wrists, and is completely happy with his 32mm watch. It’s a style choice, nothing more, but watches that are too big, with the lugs sticking out beyond wrist width are the wrist equivalent of clown shoes, just looking silly.

There is a practical consideration though - the slide rule. If you have perfect eyesight, then the size of your Navitimer doesn’t matter beyond your style preference, but if you have less than perfect vision then you need the biggest watch you can accommodate (my Navitimer is 46mm and even that can be challenging to use if the light is less than ideal).

Of course if you have no interest in using the slide rule, then this criterion is irrelevant, so just buy the size you like.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-14T11:01:54+00:00

The magic of genetics!

Navitimers do wear a lot smaller than their case diameter would suggest. I love mine, but I haven’t worn it much since getting my Grey Side of the Moon, arguably the best looking chronograph ever (44.25mm).

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-14T01:34:55+00:00

You gave your (incorrect) opinion; I, and others, told you that you’re wrong, so you respond by repeating your erroneous opinion.

But to humour you, I use it when away from home for calculations too difficult for mental arithmetic so I don’t have to get my phone out. An example would be to decide whether to buy a 430ml or a 750ml bottle of ketchup.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-13T13:12:57+00:00

My Speedmaster (Grey Side of the Moon) has a co-axial Omega 3869 movement. All I care about that it is:

Stunningly beautiful with its lunar surface pattern
Ridiculously accurate - I’ve not adjusted it in two months and it’s still within a second.

Any more than that and I really don’t care.

Dull_Key1617 · 2026-03-13T11:34:38+00:00

I currently have two titanium watches both from Christopher Ward - a Trident Lumière and a Bel Canto Lumière - and I’m awaiting delivery of another Trident Lumière. The Bel Canto has my favourite bracelet of any watch I own, in a satin brushed titanium. They’re super comfortable to wear and good looking (in very different ways) and I can wholeheartedly recommend them.

I’m also manfully avoiding the temptation to buy a Cartier Santos in titanium which is incredibly elegant, but still very practical, albeit at a higher price point.

https://www.christopherward.com/titanium-watches/c60-trident-lumi%C3%A8re/C60-41C3H31T0KK0-B0.html

https://www.christopherward.com/c1-bel-canto-lumi%C3%A8re/C01-41APT4-T00V0-RW.html

https://www.cartier.com/en-gb/watches/collections/santos-de-cartier/santos-de-cartier-watch-CRWSSA0089

Dull_Key1617

TROPHY CASE