A new feature to the Tic-Tok Shop is our new Watch Review blog. Every week we will take a watch and write a thorough review. There are plenty of amazing watch blogs out there, our goal is to write this from a collector’s point of view. Even though we are a retailer, we are watch enthusiasts at heart, and would still have a passion for them even if we didn’t have them in our store. The Tic-Tok Shop allows us to pursue our passion of watches, we hope you find our reviews useful.
Watch of the Week: Zodiac Super Sea Wolf White Ceramic
First of all, what an amazing week to have Zodiac at the store. Those of you that attended on Saturday got a chance to get hands on with the new white ceramic Super Sea Wolf before they were launched to the public. As always, Michael Pearson gave an incredible presentation during the Zodiac Masterclass. His enthusiasm, passion, and knowledge are unrivaled, and it was an honor to have him at the store. We are so fortunate to be Wisconsin’s only Zodiac authorized dealer and are glad to bring these watches to the Milwaukee area. Onto the watch.
Zodiac has a history of big, bold color and these new releases do not disappoint. The classic Super Sea Wolf design with that case shape and hands that scream Zodiac. One of the reasons we think Zodiac is so successful is that this Super Sea Wolf is their core. If you were to view a silhouette of the watch without any branding, you would immediately know what the watch is.
We had the chance to take the watch for a drive over the weekend. The picture you see here is on a 7.25” wrist. Before we get to how she wears, and performs, we wanted to list out some important measurements taken by hand in-store, rather than relying on any published measurements.
Diameter: 41mm
Lug-to-Lug: 51mm
Thickness: 13.8mm*
Weight: 98.9 grams**
*We measure the thickness is measured from the case back to the crystal. Some publications have listed it thinner, but we feel the true thickness is from what touches your wrist, to how high it will sit.
** The weight of the watch is measured with the strap
First Impressions
Very comfortable on the wrist. The tropic strap is incredibly soft and supple. While 51mm lug-to-lug is on the longer size, the way the lugs curve allow the watch to wear a little shorter on the wrist. I (Peter here) have owned a Nomos Club Campus 38 before and those lugs measure about 49mm, but are straight. I found this to be shorter on the wrist than the Nomos.
For those of you that think of ceramic and think of a watch that is very light weight, this is not necessarily that type of watch. As a matter of fact, at 98.9 grams, it is actually slightly heavier than the all steel Super Sea Wolf. We weighed the Aquamarine Dream, reference ZO9283, just to compare weight of another COSC, no-date Zodiac offering on a tropic strap. That watch weighs only 90 grams.
These white ceramics have a stainless steel core, with a bit of white ceramic over the top. It is not MoonSwatch plastic like in feel, nor is it exactly like the all ceramic Omega Speedmaster models. It feels like a steel watch all the way through, it just has the ceramic overlay .
watch in action
I took this watch hiking, swimming, and golfing, trying to be as active as I could to get a feel for it as a “tool” using the timing bezel on more than one occasion.
The bezel is outstanding. Very sharp to the touch, one of the sharpest bezels I’ve handled in a while. 120-click with firm, loud clicks. I compared the bezel action to my Aquis UpCycle and if you own an Aquis, this Super Sea Wolf bezel is similar in how it clicks and handles. The only numbers on the bezel are at 30, with individual minutes between 00 and 15. Personally, I am so used to using a timing bezel that it doesn’t take any extra effort to calculate the time, but some wearers find it easier to track their timing bezel with more numbers.
In the water, the tropic strap is excellent. I’ll swim with a NATO or other rubber strap, but the tropic strap is a level above. There’s a certain way a normal rubber strap sticks to the wrist in the water that I didn’t notice with the tropic strap, I felt it was a lot more comfortable. In terms of legibility under water, it’s no surprise that a white and blue watch is not the easiest to read at a quick glance the same way my orange Seiko Monster might be.
If you wear the watch outside, you notice a blue sunburst pattern that is proving to be very difficult to replicate in photos. Another small change to these models is that Zodiac have opted for entire lume blocks for each hour marker. The lume is SuperLuminova and is a blue lume on this model. After spending a few hours in the sun, it is noticeably bright indoors for about 20-30 minutes.
performance
The white ceramics house Zodiac’s STP 1-11 automatic movement. which has a 44 hour power reserve. Zodiac has also chosen to make each of these COSC certified, making it a really nice value as the selection for COSC certified watches from major brands that are under $2,000 are few and far between.
I set the watch to exact time on 08:00 Sunday and after 48 hours of wear, I lost only 2.5 seconds. During those 48 hours I wore the watch non-stop, except to sleep, in which case I kept the watch face up on my night stand. Before setting the watch, I manually wound it 25 times to make sure it was powered up enough to get me going.
Collector Details
Zodiac have said that while not a limited-edition, these watches are limited production of about 750 pieces. While not numbered in the way that limited editions can be, you can find the specific number of your watch on the case back. After SWISS MADE you see the sequence 23 0XXX with the last 3 digits being the specific number of the watch. In our case, this watch is #40.
The watch comes with Zodiac’s standard 2-year warranty, and also includes the COSC certificate in the box.
final thoughts
Overall a fun release from Zodiac that feels every bit right for the brand. There will be those that lament the fact that it’s not fully ceramic, which is understandable, but the way this is set up, you get a really quality feeling watch. While $1795 is on the higher end of the Zodiac pricing, you’re still getting a COSC certified Swiss watch with 44 hours of reserve in white ceramic. These need to be seen in person to really get the feel for, as of this writing we have one of each color left in stock and would love to take the time to walk you through them face-to-face.
You can also find this watch for sale on our site here: Zodiac Super Sea Wolf White Ceramic
What’s next?
Next week we will be reviewing the Oris Aquis UpCycle. If there is any measurement or mention we missed in this review, drop us a note in the comments and we will make sure to add it to future reviews. These reviews are for you, not for us, so be sure to tell us the things you would like to know.
