Lately, Zodiac has been truly knocking it out of the park with their retro-inspired designs, as seen in their Heritage collection. They’re well finished, unique, and priced right — three traits you just can’t disagree with. This week, we had the pleasure of testing out one of their newer models, the Zodiac Heritage Sea Dragon ($995). Jam-packed with 70’s design cues and mechanical mojo, this watch is sure to impress vintage aficionados.
Zodiac Heritage Sea Dragon
At first glance, it’s clear that this watch has some serious retro styling cues. With its luminous stick style markers, italicized “automatic” font, and script font used to write Sea Dragon, the watch harkens back to several sports models from the 70s. The dial also features a sunburst finish, on all variations, which truly pops in the correct lighting. Two details that we especially liked, were the custard-colored chapter ring, which almost appears to be patina, and the domed sapphire crystal, which mimics the look of a plexiglass crystal.
Plexi-Style Sapphire Crystal
The case on the Sea Dragon is very well done. Firstly, the overall chunky shape, with rounded square edges, is really quite nice. Some might be skeptical of the short lugs, which can often make a watch dig into one’s wrist, but we found the Sea Dragon to be rather comfortable during extended periods of use. This is largely due to the way the case almost wraps around your wrist. Additionally, the case features a variety of different brushed, beveled, polished, and even sunburst finishes – as seen on the top of the case. Rather refreshingly, the watch measures exactly 39-millimeters across, which we feel helps maintain its sense of vintage inspiration.
Matching Buckle
Beating inside this watch, is a movement that’s somewhat of a mystery. This hand-winding and hacking 26-jewel automatic movement, is from Zodiac’s parent company Fossil, and is referred to as the “in-house” STP 1-11. While it may look like an ETA 2824-2 through the display caseback, they’re actually produced in Switzerland by Fossil’s own manufacture, Swiss Technology Production.
STP 1-11 Movement
Zodiac’s Heritage Sea Dragon is definitely an intriguing option in the market of sub-$1000 watches. It has just enough of a vintage-vibe, without going overboard, while still having some mechanical muscle to excite the horophiles. With 4 different versions available (green dial, blue dial, silver dial, and silver dial with a yellow gold case) there’s surely something to please anyone in this collection. As long time fans of Zodiac watches, we couldn’t be happier with the Heritage Sea Dragon, and can’t wait to see what they come out with next.
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