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At Craft + Tailored we’ve been fans of the Zodiac brand for a long time, writing about vintage pieces, and even featuring a number of the modern vintage reissues in our shop and on our wrists for years. A couple of years ago after publishing some of this content the folks at Zodiac reached out to us about the potential of a collaboration watch of some kind – we will be honest in saying that we were hesitant at first but decided to keep an open mind and put together a proposal of what we think a collaboration watch would look like. This initial pitch is almost exactly what you can buy today.
One of the main things we knew we wanted to do with this collaboration was to avoid making just another bezel variation or a minor dial change – if we were going to come at this as true enthusiasts we needed to ask for the moon. So we did. Our proposal was for Zodiac to completely re-tool their production apparatus, create an entirely new vintage accurate 36mm case and a new matching tapered bracelet – no problem right? This new vintage-inspired case would house Zodiac’s first ever modern manual-wind movement and bring the brand back to its roots, in this case, the literal very first model, 1953’s Reference 691 – The “unsigned” Sea Wolf produced before the brand had named their iconic watch the Sea Wolf.
Our friends at Zodiac were immediately willing to fight for this vision and understood the importance of not making concessions when it came to a watch that we intended to create for the vintage enthusiast community, small details make all the difference to collectors like us, so we wanted to make sure to make a watch we’d all be proud of – and we’re happy to report that we did just that.
When collecting vintage watches, and vintage Zodiac watches in particular it’s important to pay attention to all of the small intricacies and elements that might be easily overlooked. We wanted to take inspiration from the original Ref. 691 in as many ways as possible while still producing a watch that can be worn and enjoyed – we’ve talked about diving with vintage watches at length recently and wanted to make sure to deliver a piece that we could wear out and enjoy. The new reissue is definitely a modern watch in all the ways you want it to be, its rugged, ready for the water and features the kind of fit and finish you expect from a modern timepiece, but at the same time it’s a 36mm case size, features a manual movement and a few small details like an “unsigned” dial, countdown bezel and a direct recreation of the iconic original 691’s index marker layout.
We firmly believe that watches are to be worn and we aimed to help re-introduce an iconic timepiece from a legendary brand that has stood for adventure and action since its inception. We encourage that same 1950s Zodiac adventurous spirit with this reissue – while you may not be skin diving to depths that push the limit of the timepiece, you can wear it out and put some stories into it. Please do and get back to us with photos and travel journals! We’d love to hear from you.
This limited-edition timepiece is available exclusively via Craft + Tailored for $1695. Available now.
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