Zodiac is a well known brand for diver watch enthusiast as it is one of the first brands which released recreational diver’s watches in 1950s. Fossil group acquisition gave the Zodiac a new birth and us collectors a chance to purchase this iconic brands new releases. Well, Fossil’s involvement brings questions in terms of quality and my experience with this limited edition proves my concerns.
Lets talk about the good stuff first. Fit and finish of the case is excellent. It has a Titanium case and with the lightweight Velcro strap you can not notice you have something on your wrist at all. Bezel aligns perfectly and has good action, marks on the bezel are sharp and evenly painted. Case scratches easily which means it has a lower grade titanium. Hamtun H1 case is more durable for example.
The best thing about this “limited edition” model is the dial. It perfectly resembles the original 1950s dial with dropping the date window. Symmetry is more appealing for me then having date on the dial, it is also hard to set the date each time if you have a large collection. We all have smartphones anyway right? Given it is a relatively expensive piece and limited edition and it carries Zodiac name, one expects good lume. Lume is absolutely horrible and my biggest disappointment for this watch. Green color makes you feel “wow it probably has C3” then you light it up, voila! it definitely sucks. 60$ Fossil watches probably has better lume than this.
Another very bad feature of this watch is the crown, it is razor sharp. It literally takes of your skin each time you try to unscrew and screw. It is also not smooth to screw in or out which does not help about the sharp edges of the crown. I congratulate Fossil and Zodiac about the crown design. A positive point for the crown is that it looks good and details are finished well.
Case-back is nicely finished and it won’t hurt you. It has the limited edition print and the number of the watch. One bad thing is the logo and the circle around it are polished. Titanium and polishing do not do well together, it scratches while you are trying to wipe it to clean. I wonder what grade titanium Fossil used for this watch. Another big bad surprise for me is the movement. It supposed to be a Chronometer grade STP 3-13 but it was gaining 5 minutes out of the box and completely stopped after a while. So this raises a big question about the quality control of Zodiac watches as they messed a 82 piece limited edition run. The rotor is very noisy, it feels like you broke something each time you move your arm. STP movements do that in general.
Velcro strap is well designed, soft and comfortable on the wrist. You can adjust it any way you want as both pieces are adjustable. It has “Super Sea Wolf” signed titanium buckle. Watch comes with a black and an army green strap.
To sum up, if you are hunting this watch for the sake of the dial layout be aware of the drawbacks. I think it would be better to get a deeply discounted stainless steel model instead of this one if you really want a Zodiac. It clearly does not deserve the price tag it has.
