Zodiac Adds Bronze and 7750 Chronos to Their Line Up

Well, the “heritage” craze at Baselworld 2016 continues! Zodiac is another brand with a rich history that is continuing the fantastic trend of borrowing upon that history to produce new versions of vintage classics. This year Zodiac has put out quite a few models for Basel, but we’ll just concentrate on a couple of limited edition gems here, one diver and one chronograph.
The Zodiac Sea Dragon Chronograph is sporty, with a bit of that vintage racing chrono flair. The case is similar to the 3-handed version we reviewed with a squarish tonneau shape, nicely brushed top and sides, with a polished bezel. At 42mm wide with 22mm lugs, it’s a nice modern size without being too big. The dial is laid out with the sub-dials at 12, 6 and 9, and a day/date window at 3.

There will be several dial colors available, but the limited editions will come only in black or gray. Brushed hands and steel hour markers, both with Superluminova help out with low light visibility. The crystal is sapphire with an anti-reflective coating, and the screw down crown is signed with the Zodiac logo, which is always a nice touch. The limited editions will be powered by a COSC Chronometer rated Valjoux 7750 automatic movement, while the standard editions will have a non-COSC 7750.

The gray version will come with a hand-glazed gray alligator, a brown leather strap and a Zodiac logo signed deployant buckle, while the black version will come with a vintage racer inspired semi-bangle steel bracelet as well as leather strap. As mentioned above, these are very limited. The gray will be an edition of 82 pieces, with a price of $3195, while the black will come in an edition of only 18 pieces, with a corresponding higher MSRP of $3995.

Next up is the Super Sea Wolf 68 Bronze limited edition. The Super Sea Wolf 68 is a heritage piece that is a well done recreation of the famous Super Sea Wolf of the 1960’s. This special edition is limited to 82 pieces and will feature a 44mm wide bronze ‘egg’ shaped case that will provide a unique patina as it ages. The unidirectional, 60-click bezel has a cool security feature where you have to push the bezel down to turn it, then release it to lock. This was a feature that the original vintage diver had, and I’m glad to see it return.

The bronze Super Sea Wolf will have a brown dial with Superluminova filled applied indices, and the classic vintage style hands with the spade tipped minute hand. An anti-reflective coated sapphire crystal and signed screw-down crown bring the water resistance rating to a whopping 1000 meters. This vintage inspired beauty will be powered by a COSC Chronometer rated automatic caliber STP1-11 movement. The supplied strap is brown leather with a signed deployant buckle, but a Velcro closure olive green nylon strap will be an available option. An MSRP of $2095 makes this a reasonably affordable limited edition COSC rated bronze diver.

For those who prefer the steel case, the Super Sea Wolf 68 will also be available with a new orange bezel.