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A stunning watch . It seems to have a perfect balance in the face design , with clear distinctive indices at the quarter hours and the scale is exactly right for a wrist , not too big , not too small , not brash and vulgar like so many I’ve seen . It does the job and looks cool and quietly efficient doing it , like all good designs and people, Plus it has a genuinely historic heritage that is reminiscent a powerfully emotive era and culturally significant times . Definitely on the top of my “ want” list . Like a great watch that does its job very well ,they’re usually all very well used ,so it’s a matter of finding one that hasn’t been swum up the Mekon at dusk ,or who knows what else in its life .
It should be noted that the bezel only having a 30 mark on it was intentional, so as to allow it to be used as either a count down OR a count up bezel!
Glad to see you get around to this legendary, yet nowdays underrated diver. As an owner of a modern Super Sea Wolf, I must say that it's a fantastic diver, devoid of superfluous weight and bulk, while not sacrificing its marine-going credentials. More elegant and more slender than many of today's dedicated dress watches. My model is the Hodinkee all-white with the no-date 3-6-9-12 dial and the dauphin hands.
Curious, do you dive ? Do you night dive? I'm not suggesting that you're wrong, if it works for you, fine. I'm glad you enjoy the watch. However, I've been living on a sailboat for the last 12 years. Learned to sail,and dive,in 1973. My go to dive watch is my Seiko turtle 6309 7049, which I've owned since 1984. I also own a Tag Aquaracer quartz, which i don't recommend for diving, but i wear it with a dress shirt. Does ok with that. I'm negotiating an Omega 300 and,while I realize it's a matter of taste,preference, affordability, and expectations of the watches ability to perform, i believe i have enough bottom time,as well as time at the helm,to give an educated perspective on performance. Could be old eyes,but I'll let you , and everyone , how the Omega actually functions,under what some would consider extreme conditions. Depends on how many,and how strong the hurricanes are this year,but I'll be scraping the bottom of the sailboat every 2 weeks, so there will be plenty of bottom time. I'm not suggesting that you made a poor choice. The history is interesting. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters. I just know, it wouldn't work for me. Peace
@@sailinbob11 I, too, am curious: why wouldn’t the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf work for you? And why doesn’t your TAG-Heuer Aquaracer work for you as a diving watch? Please elaborate why neither of these watches would suffice for you! I’m very interested in your opinion as you sound like a very seasoned diver with 50 years of experience under your belt.
When I was in the Marines in 1967 I was on a Navy Ship sailing to Puerto Rico, I had just won some money in a card game when one of my pals came up and said they are having a sale on watches at the Ships Store. Went there and looked at and bought the Sea Wolf for $120 they also had another watch on sale for $180, but I didn't want to spend an additional $60 bucks for it and didn't think it looked as nice as the Sea Wolf (still have that opinion) so I went on the Cheap. The other $180 watch was a Rolex Sub, boy, I had known then, what I know now?
Wouldn’t happen to remember a guy named Richard gibbons would you? He’s my grandfather and he gave me a sea wolf a few years back that he got while in the navy in Puerto Rico and engraved on the back is the date 1967. Good chance you guys were on the same ship
Those original Sea Wolf are so cool, almost bought one so many times over the years but strangely never got one. As an aside don't you just love those hand drawn watch images from the old advertising. Always love seeing advertising from that age. Cheers for the vid IDGuy.
FABULOUS video, ID Guy! Zodiac Watches truly are GLORIOUS. I'll put Zodiac Watches up against any other Swiss Made dive watch and, dollar for dollar, THEY WILL PREVAIL. Thank you for your content. It is, & you are, appreciated
Common misconception, Zodiac did not “go under”. Ken Genender was looking for a distributor for his Swiss line of Zodiac watches (he purchased out of bankruptcy from Willie Monnier) when he approached Fossil. Fossil made him an offer he couldn’t refuse as they were, coincidentally, looking to get into the Swiss watch making game. Fact of the matter is, Zodiac has been in near continuous production for well over a century.
I have 2 '70s style Super Seawolves; the regular one with dark blue dial and the saturation diver. Something about Zodiac I find fascinating as hell. Years ago, long before Zodiac's resurrection, I met a diver who had an original one. I had never heard of them, but, I liked it so much that I offered to trade him my Rolex GMT Master for it, but, he wouldn't budge; he said they were no longer made. Glad I was finally able to satisfy my Zodiac itch, even if it took 25 years, LOL!
5:50 I have the late 60's inspiration for this modern model (mine looks more like the limited Topper Edition), a 1968 Sea Wolf 1781-W with the pretty rare stainless dial. Insane how cheap the newer releases are now, I'm certainly tempted to pick one up.
I have 4 late 60's Sea Wolfs and 4 late 60's AeroSpace GMT. Restored to pristine orig. cond. All with correct stainless steel bands. 2 were with me in Viet Nam combat and the first one was cracked in the crystal during a firefight. I was smart enough to send it home and have it repaired. The 2nd one went with me for the rest of my combat tour. Priceless ? To me anyway.
I personally like them, a friend has 2 and calls them his holiday beach watches! The colours are great fun, but they do rather underestimate the watches primary use!
3 weeks ago I purchased a Super Sea Wolf new from the AD. Unfortunately after just one week my new watch stopped. I hope that is just a lemon that could happen to any brand. I had a strange feeling the first time that I wind it, the feeling was not good but I assumed the movement had that feeling as I do not have any experience with Zodiac watches. While it worked it was doing around +9 secs/day that does not seems great to me but seems good enough. The issue is currently been managed by the AD, they have requested a replacement unit but it seems they need 2 months to get it. The AD is very nice and has give me a lot of options, including to refund the watch, I have not taken a decision yet.
Carlos, unfortunately that is the state of almost all currently made watches. They’ve cheapened the movements and made almost all the movement components much thinner. According to my well respected and renowned watch maker this is synonymous in the Swiss watch making community. Good news is you purchased from an AD and if you’re diligent you’ll end up with a fine watch for the money. If you’re looking for true quality, a well serviced vintage Zodiac is the way to go.
I have always liked them the no date is perfection of the line for me. I like it in all 3 options..steel , black and white bezel its a difficult decision which I would choose
Lester Loves Watches, the Sea Chrono is one of my grail pieces. I remember when a fine example could have been snagged for a grand there abouts. I waited hoping a good deal would come along. Now good examples are hitting 5k. What a missed opportunity. Never let anyone tell you it’s a poor man’s Heuer. That whole line of BS is exactly that..., BS. Zodiac didn’t subcontract the assembly of their watches.
great content. It's good to see some light shed on the Zodiac brand. I also really like your design analysis, I think this is one of the most interesting and non-trivial watch related channels. I wish you all the success you deserve.
Love those vintage ads! And while I'd love a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, budget doesn't quite stretch at the moment. But if it did, I'd get one over a Rolex sub handsdown. I was, untypically for me slightly ahead of the curve for the Zodiac Super Seawolf 53 and got the last watermelon from the UK official AD and I absolutely love it and the finish and quality is amazing for the price point. I hope this isn't considered spamming, rather its genuine appreciation and wanting to spread the word but Clockbait lads did a great review of this a few weeks ago and if anyone is in London, Watch Chronicler with Page & Cooper are hosting Zodiac on 17 March at a ticket only event, to which I'm going, bought my own ticket and everything!
stueyx, love seeing this enthusiasm for Zodiac. I’ve been a vintage collector for some time and couldn’t fathom for the longest time why Fossil wasn’t dipping into the historical significance of these divers. They literally made my dreams come true when they started harking back to Zodiac’s roots.
My preference would always be the 1953 Blancpain fifty fathoms in design terms,but i have a pet hate which concerns all watches with a day or date complication.ALL should be colour matching the day/date wheels and not framing the aperture in order to have the best of both worlds and hopefully give a more balanced appearance to the design.No excuses,just do it...............................
You're killing me. Blancpain is not pronounced blankpon. Try blanc and don't pronounce the c and pain like pain in the neck but don't pronounce the n. Great video
@@IDKline. I am from Quebec, l prefer Blancpain. White bread sounds like a tasteless sandwich instead of a classic timepiece. Whatever makes you happy.
@@IDKline. Being from Quebec l speak French and English and am aware of the translation. When l hear English people pronounce watch brands improperly it drive me crazy. They can learn how to pronounce the company names on UA-cam. Maybe I'm wrong. I just can't watch the whole video....
@@IDKline. I adapted depending on where l am for the most part. On a UA-cam chanel it is insulting to pronounce incorrectly. That is why when pronouncing someone's name for the first time it is prefaced with an apology. If you know better that's ignorant. It is about respect that you learn how to pronounce it properly. Nice to hear a different opinion though.
I'm sorry, i couldn't read that watch. There's no contrast,between the hands, and the triangles? The modern version is not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
that thing he says at 1:26 is horsesh*t. When the Rolex first released in 1953 it cost $150. When the Sea Wolf released two months earlier it cost $100. And the Fifty Fathoms COST $90! the Sea Wolf wasn't "an every mans diver" or whatever he said. Zodiac was competitive in the market with those two. they just couldnt survive the quarts crisis(third industrial evolution... and its consequences) so theyve lost their name recognition since the 80s.
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A stunning watch . It seems to have a perfect balance in the face design , with clear distinctive indices at the quarter hours and the scale is exactly right for a wrist , not too big , not too small , not brash and vulgar like so many I’ve seen . It does the job and looks cool and quietly efficient doing it , like all good designs and people, Plus it has a genuinely historic heritage that is reminiscent a powerfully emotive era and culturally significant times . Definitely on the top of my “ want” list . Like a great watch that does its job very well ,they’re usually all very well used ,so it’s a matter of finding one that hasn’t been swum up the Mekon at dusk ,or who knows what else in its life .
It should be noted that the bezel only having a 30 mark on it was intentional, so as to allow it to be used as either a count down OR a count up bezel!
Glad to see you get around to this legendary, yet nowdays underrated diver. As an owner of a modern Super Sea Wolf, I must say that it's a fantastic diver, devoid of superfluous weight and bulk, while not sacrificing its marine-going credentials. More elegant and more slender than many of today's dedicated dress watches. My model is the Hodinkee all-white with the no-date 3-6-9-12 dial and the dauphin hands.
Curious, do you dive ? Do you night dive? I'm not suggesting that you're wrong, if it works for you, fine. I'm glad you enjoy the watch. However, I've been living on a sailboat for the last 12 years. Learned to sail,and dive,in 1973. My go to dive watch is my Seiko turtle 6309 7049, which I've owned since 1984. I also own a Tag Aquaracer quartz, which i don't recommend for diving, but i wear it with a dress shirt. Does ok with that. I'm negotiating an Omega 300 and,while I realize it's a matter of taste,preference, affordability, and expectations of the watches ability to perform, i believe i have enough bottom time,as well as time at the helm,to give an educated perspective on performance. Could be old eyes,but I'll let you , and everyone , how the Omega actually functions,under what some would consider extreme conditions. Depends on how many,and how strong the hurricanes are this year,but I'll be scraping the bottom of the sailboat every 2 weeks, so there will be plenty of bottom time. I'm not suggesting that you made a poor choice. The history is interesting. If you enjoy it, that's all that matters. I just know, it wouldn't work for me. Peace
I have the all white one also, got it from CW Sellors in UK. Put a Jubilee on it, have 13 NATO's , it's a strap monster. Can't stop wearing it.
@@sailinbob11 I, too, am curious: why wouldn’t the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf work for you? And why doesn’t your TAG-Heuer Aquaracer work for you as a diving watch? Please elaborate why neither of these watches would suffice for you! I’m very interested in your opinion as you sound like a very seasoned diver with 50 years of experience under your belt.
When I was in the Marines in 1967 I was on a Navy Ship sailing to Puerto Rico, I had just won some money in a card game when one of my pals came up and said they are having a sale on watches at the Ships Store. Went there and looked at and bought the Sea Wolf for $120 they also had another watch on sale for $180, but I didn't want to spend an additional $60 bucks for it and didn't think it looked as nice as the Sea Wolf (still have that opinion) so I went on the Cheap. The other $180 watch was a Rolex Sub, boy, I had known then, what I know now?
rolex sucks
Still a great purchase, Devildog! I wonder if your Zodiac was the one that was offered only through postal exchanges… 🤔
Wouldn’t happen to remember a guy named Richard gibbons would you? He’s my grandfather and he gave me a sea wolf a few years back that he got while in the navy in Puerto Rico and engraved on the back is the date 1967. Good chance you guys were on the same ship
An amazing brand, and a fantastic overview. Glad to see Zodiac recognized 👍🏼
I think that this is a great looking watch. I love the symmetry and prefer the no date versions.
Those original Sea Wolf are so cool, almost bought one so many times over the years but strangely never got one. As an aside don't you just love those hand drawn watch images from the old advertising. Always love seeing advertising from that age. Cheers for the vid IDGuy.
FABULOUS video, ID Guy!
Zodiac Watches truly are GLORIOUS.
I'll put Zodiac Watches up against any other Swiss Made dive watch and, dollar for dollar, THEY WILL PREVAIL.
Thank you for your content.
It is, & you are, appreciated
Great video IDGuy. This brand in general and the Super Sea Wolf in particular has intrigued me for a while now. Quite a good looking diver.
I've been looking at this brand for a while might be my next watch !! Love your channel , keep up the good work !!
Common misconception, Zodiac did not “go under”. Ken Genender was looking for a distributor for his Swiss line of Zodiac watches (he purchased out of bankruptcy from Willie Monnier) when he approached Fossil. Fossil made him an offer he couldn’t refuse as they were, coincidentally, looking to get into the Swiss watch making game. Fact of the matter is, Zodiac has been in near continuous production for well over a century.
Fabulous research regarding the Sea Wolf's past and incarnation in the present. Thanks for a great video.
I have 2 '70s style Super Seawolves; the regular one with dark blue dial and the saturation diver. Something about Zodiac I find fascinating as hell. Years ago, long before Zodiac's resurrection, I met a diver who had an original one. I had never heard of them, but, I liked it so much that I offered to trade him my Rolex GMT Master for it, but, he wouldn't budge; he said they were no longer made. Glad I was finally able to satisfy my Zodiac itch, even if it took 25 years, LOL!
Bravo IDG!
Great video. These are superb looking watches.
5:50 I have the late 60's inspiration for this modern model (mine looks more like the limited Topper Edition), a 1968 Sea Wolf 1781-W with the pretty rare stainless dial. Insane how cheap the newer releases are now, I'm certainly tempted to pick one up.
I have 4 late 60's Sea Wolfs and 4 late 60's AeroSpace GMT. Restored to pristine orig. cond. All with correct stainless steel bands. 2 were with me in Viet Nam combat and the first one was cracked in the crystal during a firefight. I was smart enough to send it home and have it repaired. The 2nd one went with me for the rest of my combat tour. Priceless ? To me anyway.
I personally like them, a friend has 2 and calls them his holiday beach watches! The colours are great fun, but they do rather underestimate the watches primary use!
3 weeks ago I purchased a Super Sea Wolf new from the AD. Unfortunately after just one week my new watch stopped. I hope that is just a lemon that could happen to any brand.
I had a strange feeling the first time that I wind it, the feeling was not good but I assumed the movement had that feeling as I do not have any experience with Zodiac watches. While it worked it was doing around +9 secs/day that does not seems great to me but seems good enough.
The issue is currently been managed by the AD, they have requested a replacement unit but it seems they need 2 months to get it. The AD is very nice and has give me a lot of options, including to refund the watch, I have not taken a decision yet.
Carlos, unfortunately that is the state of almost all currently made watches. They’ve cheapened the movements and made almost all the movement components much thinner. According to my well respected and renowned watch maker this is synonymous in the Swiss watch making community. Good news is you purchased from an AD and if you’re diligent you’ll end up with a fine watch for the money. If you’re looking for true quality, a well serviced vintage Zodiac is the way to go.
I have always liked them the no date is perfection of the line for me. I like it in all 3 options..steel , black and white bezel its a difficult decision which I would choose
Well, get at least 2 of them; I did.
I have a 1960s Zodiac Sea Chron, which is similarly very studied in its design, and a slightly more contemporary size.
Lester Loves Watches, the Sea Chrono is one of my grail pieces. I remember when a fine example could have been snagged for a grand there abouts. I waited hoping a good deal would come along. Now good examples are hitting 5k. What a missed opportunity. Never let anyone tell you it’s a poor man’s Heuer. That whole line of BS is exactly that..., BS. Zodiac didn’t subcontract the assembly of their watches.
great content. It's good to see some light shed on the Zodiac brand. I also really like your design analysis, I think this is one of the most interesting and non-trivial watch related channels. I wish you all the success you deserve.
great review, very well made! thanks much
Great brand, great history and great watch :ZODIAC Swiss Made
Great video!
Love those vintage ads! And while I'd love a Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, budget doesn't quite stretch at the moment. But if it did, I'd get one over a Rolex sub handsdown. I was, untypically for me slightly ahead of the curve for the Zodiac Super Seawolf 53 and got the last watermelon from the UK official AD and I absolutely love it and the finish and quality is amazing for the price point. I hope this isn't considered spamming, rather its genuine appreciation and wanting to spread the word but Clockbait lads did a great review of this a few weeks ago and if anyone is in London, Watch Chronicler with Page & Cooper are hosting Zodiac on 17 March at a ticket only event, to which I'm going, bought my own ticket and everything!
stueyx, love seeing this enthusiasm for Zodiac. I’ve been a vintage collector for some time and couldn’t fathom for the longest time why Fossil wasn’t dipping into the historical significance of these divers. They literally made my dreams come true when they started harking back to Zodiac’s roots.
Woo!
Is a zodiac sea wolf worth having restored?
Vostok 420se has a similar look to the sea wolf in my opinion.
My preference would always be the 1953 Blancpain fifty fathoms in design terms,but i have a pet hate which concerns all watches with a day or date complication.ALL should be colour matching the day/date wheels and not framing the aperture in order to have the best of both worlds and hopefully give a more balanced appearance to the design.No excuses,just do it...............................
You're killing me. Blancpain is not pronounced blankpon. Try blanc and don't pronounce the c and pain like pain in the neck but don't pronounce the n. Great video
Derek Shearer Thanks for this..the world is better now Sherlock
@@sandman6617. Glad to help any time.
@@IDKline. I am from Quebec, l prefer Blancpain. White bread sounds like a tasteless sandwich instead of a classic timepiece. Whatever makes you happy.
@@IDKline. Being from Quebec l speak French and English and am aware of the translation. When l hear English people pronounce watch brands improperly it drive me crazy. They can learn how to pronounce the company names on UA-cam. Maybe I'm wrong. I just can't watch the whole video....
@@IDKline. I adapted depending on where l am for the most part. On a UA-cam chanel it is insulting to pronounce incorrectly. That is why when pronouncing someone's name for the first time it is prefaced with an apology. If you know better that's ignorant. It is about respect that you learn how to pronounce it properly. Nice to hear a different opinion though.
I'm sorry, i couldn't read that watch. There's no contrast,between the hands, and the triangles? The modern version is not particularly attractive, in my opinion.
that thing he says at 1:26 is horsesh*t. When the Rolex first released in 1953 it cost $150. When the Sea Wolf released two months earlier it cost $100. And the Fifty Fathoms COST $90! the Sea Wolf wasn't "an every mans diver" or whatever he said. Zodiac was competitive in the market with those two. they just couldnt survive the quarts crisis(third industrial evolution... and its consequences) so theyve lost their name recognition since the 80s.