Zodiac watches history

1953 was the year the dive watch was born. Sure, the quirky Art Deco OMEGA Marine went underwater in 1932 and (Rolex-cased) Panerais were on the wrists of Italian commandos in Word War II, but it was at the 1953 Basel watch fair that the first purpose-built dive watches appeared. While the Rolex Submariner wouldn’t make its official debut until the 1954 fair, two other brands proudly introduced their divers in ’53: Blancpain with its Fifty Fathoms and Zodiac with the Sea Wolf. They say history is written by the victors and indeed, Blancpain and Rolex have capitalized on their long lineages while the Sea Wolf was all but forgotten, other than its dubious distinction as the wrist-wear of a serial killer in the 1970s who took his watch fetish a little too far by calling himself “Zodiac.” With Zodiac’s forthcoming re-release of the Sea Wolf, it’s a good excuse to look back at the pioneering watch’s history and evaluate the new watch.

The Fifty Fathoms and Submariner today are regarded as upmarket luxury timepieces, but the Sea Wolf stayed true to its tool watch heritage throughout its history. Largely unchanged through the '50s and '60s, it only added a date function (the “Datographic”) and swapped the engraved metal bezel with a Bakelite ring. From its earliest incarnation, it kept its modest 35 mm case, thin lugs and snap-on case back, which, with the ornate script dial text, triangle hands, and colorful bezel options, gave it a quaint, almost delicate look, unlike the burly divers from OMEGA, Rolex, and others. Despite a snap-on case back and push-pull crown, the old Sea Wolf was rated to 20 ATM (~200 meters) from the start, the deepest in 1953, and proudly proclaimed “Especially Water-Tested” on the back.

While the Rolex Sub and the Fifty Fathoms may have been worn by elite military divers, the Sea Wolf was favored by regular enlisted soldiers serving in Southeast Asia thanks to its rugged build and affordable price. When the 750-meter-rated Super Sea Wolf was introduced in the early '70s, even the U.S. Navy SEALs adopted it, as Zodiac famously announced in magazine ads of the day. Then Zodiac fell on hard times, as did so many brands during the Quartz Crisis years. Notoriety from the brand’s connection with the San Francisco serial killer didn’t help. Zodiac faded away, changing hands and releasing some forgettable models more associated with mall fashion watches than with the brand’s former glory. When Fossil bought the Zodiac name in 2001, it used its vast resources to reinvent the brand, but gone for the first time was the Sea Wolf name.