Reply With QuoteThey were a well respected tool watch brand from the 60s and 70s, the Sea Wolf has a bit of a following cult following.
lots of watches from the 70s and 80s are very similar to the Heuers of the same era. They are now owned my Fossil.
Just got an e-mail from Jura watches saying that they are now exclusive UK dealers for Zodiac Watches. Never heard of them!!! Should I have?
Swiss made, whatever that means these days. OK looking - very retro 60s & 70s style mainly, and the asking prices are in the hundreds rather than thousands thankfully.
They were a well respected tool watch brand from the 60s and 70s, the Sea Wolf has a bit of a following cult following.
lots of watches from the 70s and 80s are very similar to the Heuers of the same era. They are now owned my Fossil.
Got the same e-mail they were sold by Page and Cooper in the past and always wanted to pick one up (Is it wrong of me to want that gold Oympos watch?)
I’ve had five pass through my hands in the last few years,I found they lost quite a bit of money on resale,in fact I gave two away to mates.
I liked a lot of the old Zodiac watches, especially the chronos, some were quite unique but the modern versions I have seen were just retro styled quartz.
Cheers,
Neil.
I always wanted to try the Sea Wolf 53 Skin 're-issue' but they were never available in the UK.
They use Fossil's in-house STP 1-11 movement and I can't find any meaningful reviews or info on the movement's reliability or servicing potential, i.e. does it need to go to Fossil every time or can an indy service it?
Nice looking watches but a bit of an unknown quantity
Had a few V Wolfs in the past.
Just quartz but I wish I had kept them now.
Decent watches as I recall.
If anyone has one kicking around please let me know.....
I've always fancied a Seawolf. Cool watches. Vietnam connection.
Also worn by Arthur Leigh Allen, the most likely suspect in the Zodiac murders, thought to have taken his nickname from the watch...
From what I understand, it’s the upgraded STP3-13 movement in the latest ones.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the STP 1-11 or 3-13 are ETA clones, so shouldn't be an issue surely?
He signed the cryptic letters to the police with the target logo as well...Originally Posted by Pagan
I had one of those,got it from the usa.I always wanted to try the Sea Wolf 53 Skin 're-issue' but they were never available in the UK.
They use Fossil's in-house STP 1-11 movement and I can't find any meaningful reviews or info on the movement's reliability or servicing potential, i.e. does it need to go to Fossil every time or can an indy service it?
Nice looking watches but a bit of an unknown quantity
Yes!
I like the black dial Grand Rallye a lot, very nice indeed and OK at 41.5mm.
It’s unfortunate and completely irrational but I just find I’ve got a mental block on Zodiac because of their association to a particularly grotesque serial killer.
Same as Shinola watches...no matter how good they were, I just couldn’t get over the brand name.
Are they still? Had sea dragon few years ago (Quartz chrono) and it was obvious that it is a fossil product.
However lately they bumped up the prices and seems like quality too. Due to the fact, not sure if it's still owned by Fossil.
Perhaps just new chief / designer / leadership
It's not irrational. There's likely a direct connection.
I want to be your mate.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They are to an extent but also have a blued swans neck regulator rather than the usual regulator.
I think there may be an extra jewel in there somewhere aswell.
I'm not sure on their production quality compared to ETA, but upon some research there appears to be some teething problems with the newer movements akin to the issues with soprod.
The official repair process also seems to be more complex than it ought to be.
The watches themselves look great though imo!
Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
Lol,no you don’t,trust me
Reading your experience it seems more to do with P&C (There is a very long thread on the company here) what is slightly more worrying are your comments about the movement and quality. I have seen a few Zodiac watches up for sale in the past they always appeared pretty nice.
Worth a try :-)Lol,no you don’t,trust me
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Here's a couple of vintage original Zodiacs.
A Sea Wolf and Mystery dial.
Cheers,
Neil.
I have owned a few from different eras but never the new Fossil ones.
90s Valjoux 7750 chronograph
90s Monnin Quartz & 90s Quartz GMT
37mm Late 80s / early 90s automatic diver
Most recently I have started collecting the 70s Super Seawolf saturation divers. This is with cal 134 movement:
I just sourced a perfect case, bezel and flexlink BOR bracelet for the 72b movement SSW
(seen here https://www.instagram.com/p/CF_8z7-H..._web_copy_link)
The 90s watches have a non-standard crown and it is difficult to replace with the correct branded one. However, if the crown wears out you can install a generic unbranded 6,5mm crown used in Heuer 980.006. This requires a watchsmith to drill off the old tube and mount a new one. It is somewhat amazing that not everyone does this anymore. This applies to both 7750 chrono and the Monnin divers.
The 80s and 90s Monnins represent a very affordable entry point to the world of vintage and can recommend them to everyone. I have sold all of the 90s Monnins to get started with 60s and 70s watches.
I cannot recommend Zodiac forums though. The owner tries to scare newbies into using his own business and plays totally unnecessary cloak dagger game with his oh-so-secret-but-not-so-secret watchsmith who can repair Zodiac. The forums are one of the most unwelcoming and downright hostile places I have encountered.
Last edited by ollipekka; 8th October 2020 at 06:59.
That first chrono is just stunning
Would you consider selling?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think Zodiac have a great range and a great look. Here's mine:
At risk of O/T - strongly agree, "Shinola" is an entirely bizarre choice of brand name to revive for luxury goods - a brand of shoe polish only remembered for its sometimes pretty racist advertising and as an idiom where it's contrasted with, or euphemistically substituted for, "sh*t"...
They do look nice, have to give them that.
I had three objections about the quality:
- finicky and soon afterwards malfunctioning crown/winding mechanism (that particular issue fixed by Brendan by changing the set lever spring)
- plasticky feel of the bezel and crown (I got a confirmation from Zodiac, though, that these components were made of stainless steel, just as the case)
- satin finish that leaves an impression of concavity on the case sides, which to me looked rather unprofessional (but I later noticed that same kind of finish on many other watches from different brands, notably Casio SS square; not that it's anything redeeming, but I think it deserves a mention)
There's a Sea Wolf thread on WUS, and the amount of posts dealing with quality issues (IIRC, mainly with the movement, but not exclusively) is rather telling.
Last edited by rodia77; 8th October 2020 at 18:16.
Posting Permissions
