Wrist Game Or Crying Shame: Zodiac Super Sea Wolf
Are you ready to take the plunge with Wrist Game or Crying Game? Today we’ll look at a unique one with the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf. Before we dive into that one, though…
Last week, I regaled you with “what-if” scenarios for the Rolex Daytona Leopard. Very few of you joined me at the party, though, which is a bit sad and unfortunate. It’s 2021, you should all learn to live a little and dream. A mere 20% of you found the fun in this felonious feline. Pity… Well, this week’s Zodiac Sea Wolf ends the tom(cat)foolery, so let’s get serious.
The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf
The watch world is as wide as it is deep and there are always new areas to explore. On the other hand, there are familiar areas to revisit just when you’ve begun to forget about them. My personal collection is a good example of that. I branch out into new areas, but I do return to the same themes from time to time. One area of focus for me is when a watch stands out from the rest of the collection that a company was offering at the time. Another area is ’90s and early ’00s dive watches. When these themes come together, the magic happens — at least for me. A watch like the TAG (or non TAG) Heuer Super Professional is a great example. Today’s Zodiac Super Sea Wolf is very similar and it’s a piece that I will undoubtedly own one day.
Like a lot of historic watch companies, Zodiac has been through its share of ups and downs. Since being purchased by Fossil in 2001, things have been rosy, especially once the giant started to invest and bring back some iconic names and shapes. Prior to this, though, Zodiac had a three-year run under Genender International Inc. That’s a brief span, but it was during this period that we saw the Super Sea Wolf. Lore tells us that this watch was only around from 1999 – 2001.
A deep diver with a “sawtooth” bezel
The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf was a real aberration versus the other mainstream watches that the brand sold. Firstly, it’s a 1,000-meter diver with an imposing 4mm bead-blasted stainless steel case. There’s more, though, and that includes the characteristic “sawtooth” bezel with luminous material and black ink. The dial is black with splashes of orange. That includes a handset that is a spot-on recreation of a ’70s Super Sea Wolf. During this era, a quartz movement was pretty typical, but this model uses the venerable ETA 2824-2 automatic. Like the aforementioned Heuer, this watch shipped with a neat package including a rubber strap, dive table, and some other things.
There’s one interesting detail on the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf that’s worth mentioning. Note some peculiar numbers on the quadrants of the dial. This is yet another attempt at helping divers formulate their decompression times depending on depth. It uses the bezel and, admittedly, it seems relatively complex. Zodiac wasn’t the only company to use such a method with others such as Girard Perregaux adding this in the ’70s. I invite you to check out this fantastic post to understand more and see the original Zodiac table that came with the watch.
I like watches such as this Super Sea Wolf because they were bold and brought real specs to the table. From a product planning perspective, one has to wonder what they were trying to accomplish. Were they really going to take on the best of the best and transform the brand with this one semi-upmarket watch? Who knows what the thinking was, but as watch nerds, we’re all better off by having these types of watches out there. The Super Sea Wolf did not, in fact, conquer the watch world and as a result, they’re quite rare.
Today’s candidate
I was able to find one Zodiac Super Sea Wolf for sale and it resides on Chrono24. The owner, TodoReloj, is in Madrid and they deserve credit for the crystal clear photos. The watch looks like it’s in great shape and it does come with its original bracelet. The bracelet looks relatively short, though, so a small wrist like mine might be in order. The price sits at €2,490 and that’s a hard one for me to judge. I see pieces from a year or two back for far less, but they come up so infrequently, that this watch feels more like something to buy if you want it. With all that being said, where do you stand on this unique piece?
