Happy almost end of summer

Long time between posts, some outstanding news though which has rekindled my love of Zodiacs. Butch Dunn has brought back his Zodiac forum and the world of WISdom is a better place for it. Check it out.

http://www.vintagezodiacs.com/zforums/index.php

An update on my long forgotten orange Seawolf which I sent off to get repaired. It was an ebay pickup that I paid too much for, as the patented fuzzy ebay pic had me rolling the dice. Well it was nothing short of a wreck when I got it. Didn't run, rust in the movement, dial flaking and bezel shot. I finally got it back a few months ago, and its a mixed bag. Cosmetically, it looks real nice, I sent off a NOS orange/black dial with it and it looks spectacular, crisp and vibrant orange and black to offset it. The repair guy redid the hands and even painted the seconds hand metallic orange (!). He also installed a nice NOS burgundy bezel, the orange bezel that originally came with these watches is impossible to find. However I can't get the watch to run. Its obvious that he put a good bit of work into it but the watch still doesn't run. I don't want to send it back because lord knows when I'll get it back, the initial run took over a year and a half. Live and learn my friends.

One more observation, there have been several of these orange Seawolves on ebay recently, including a couple of fixer uppers that were really cheap. I think these are wonderful watches. In their heyday, top notch professional diving equipment with that extra panache/flair offered by the beautifully colored minute track and pastel orange bezel. I'm still looking for the silver dial variant in decent shape.

Orange Delight

Very surprised at how many orange Seawolves have been on ebay recently, as many as three/four in the last few months. Managed to snag a nice one in good condition though did have to take it to my local watchmaker for a service. Seller purchased it in either 1969 or 1970 and used it for diving for over a decade. The chapter ring and hour markers have lost their once vibrant orange color but the dial is really nicely preserved. This piece has lots of great character. This Seawolf is fitted with a quickset date as well, just press in the crown. Gaskets were goo, so no more diving for this vet but it'll take its place in my rotation. Looks great on a Nato.

Old "Pre Wolf" sold on ebay

Butch Dunn coined the phrase "Pre Wolf" to describe these which pop up every now and again. This example looked in good shape with an original riveted expansion bracelet to boot. Went for a shade over $200.00. I didn't bid on an excellent example a few years back cuz I thought it was a fake, sigh. Went for a ridiculously low price too.

Nice Seawolf story

Wanted to share another nice story from Paul aka dbluefish about his Seawolf.

"I bought mine originally in 1964 on a Navy ship. It took years of abuse and ran fine until one day it just stopped. I could not find anyone to do the work so it sat in my drawer for the past 10 - 15 years.

Bought a 'restored' version off the 'bay that the stem fell out the day i got it and it wouldn't run either. So I shipped both to a watch repair shop who works with Zodiacs, and using my case, my caseback, donor watch dial and hands both relumed, my signed crown, and a mix of parts from both watches and it runs fine now.

Mine hacks but does not have quick set date.

When I bought it I was told that often these were sold on ships and PX's with aftermarket bands and mine has a 40yr old speidel band.

Love the watch and love its history."



Great story Paul and lovely watch, great restoration of a vintage beauty. Interesting regarding Seawolves being sold with aftermarket bracelets, didn't know that at all. Would explain the many Seawolves that I've seen with Speidels and other bands.

Thanks again for sharing.

Zodiac Postcard

Wanted to share this cool little postcard that I snagged off of ebay a while back. What a trio. Interesting bracelet on the GMT, wonder if the photographer took some creative license with a non Zodiac bracelet or if that was an option for the GMT, never seen one like it. Looks like a fancy Speidel.

These are older Wolves too, (late 50's?). Note the hands without the line bisecting them and the smaller font on the hour markers.

One more for 2008

I wanted to share this great Seawolf story from Ron Otto in Richmond VA.

Here's Ron's story.

"I love watches also, “real watches” the automatics mostly .. anyway I’m a diver because of my dad and when he passed my mom gave me the watch because of the five children I was the only diver “also the youngest” but to get back to the watch and story. We were not rich by any stretch of the word and I remember when he bought it …a lot of money at that time. I was very young and the money could have been used for more useful things but he wanted a Zodiac Seawolf and he bought one, he wore that watch for many many years, more then thirty I would say, but it finally stopped. Well some years latter he took it to a jeweler /watch maker and it was cleaned and brought back to life ..again he wore it for years daily and each time he went diving the watch was with him , so heres the pictures of this well worn Seawolf it was loved and USED daily for years. The age of the watch was would be a guess ..but forty five would be my guess. Ron Otto Richmond VA

I wanted to thank Ron for sharing his story. I think the old watchmakers at Zodiac who helped create the Sea Wolf would surely smile if they knew how many of their creations still survive and tick on despite many years of tough, honest use like Ron's well loved Sea Wolf.

Happy New Year

Awful, blustery snowy day here in New York City. Only good thing is that the Jets can't lose any more close games (boo hiss).

Got another email from a nice gent asking for information on his Dad's old Seawolf. Always wondered how many of these great old watches were out there, forgotten in a drawer somewhere or in a box in the attic.

All is quiet on ebay, not a lot of new activity except a couple of primo restored examples from ebay seller, rai-justina.

Wanted to share a couple of quick pics. The top watch is my current wearer, its on a green nato strap that came on a CWC quartz G-10 I bought from Silverman's a few years ago. The watch was serviced by a local watch repair guy here in Chinatown. Nice enough gent who does decent work though he has left lint on more than one dial (grrr...). Its a 70's version Seawolf with the enamel bezel which is in darned good shape considering how the dial looks. The dial has suffered water damage. I thought about replacing it but the only black Seawolf dials I have, all have a gold cast to the hour markers while the correct dial for this Seawolf should have a silver-ish cast. I decided to leave it as is and wait for a correct dial somewhere and then I'd replace the dial and crystal all in one shot. It runs well and has a certain charm to it despite the dial looking like a victim of Davy Jones' Locker.

The second watch I picked up dirt cheap. Runs for a few seconds and then stops, so another one for the fixer pile. There is something about these old veterans though, if only they could talk. The nice thing is that it came with an old Zodiac oyster expansion bracelet that though a few of the springs are weak, is complete and working. I had thought that these expansion bracelets were only available on older Seawolves but I recently got a great advertising poster on ebay that showed enamel bezel Seawolves from the 1970's with the option of the jubilee bracelet or the expansion oyster.

I have more parts and fixer upper watches then I know what to do with. Maybe when I retire, I can learn watch repair and bring some of these veterans back to life.