In the mid-1950s, Zodiac, then a renowned and well-respected Swiss manufacture, introduced the Sea Wolf. While not really debuted until the early 1960s, the Sea Wolf is now considered to be among the first purpose-built dive watches to be manufactured, right alongside the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and the Rolex Submariner.
The success of the Sea Wolf ushered in a new era for Zodiac and allowed the brand to expand its design language to include other tool watches for different uses - such as the Zodia-Chron chronograph, World Time travel watches, and the Aerospace GMT.
Building on a very similar case design, Zodiac constructed a travelers watch with a similar function-forward approach, and combined features from their Aerospace GMTs - utilizing a 24-hour GMT function, date window at 3:00 and a bi-directional rotating click bezel with world cities.
This particular World Time features an excellent, sharp 35mm stainless steel case with an acrylic crystal, a signed crown, a matte grey Tritium dial with applied indices and a silver 24hr chapter ring, a matching handset, and a black acrylic bezel with world cities.
Powered by Zodiac's Calibre 75B automatic winding movement, it comes fitted to a steel multi-link bracelet with a signed blade clasp.
While there is no doubt a cult-enthusiast following, we feel that Zodiac is still underappreciated in the collector community. Be it the relative smaller size to their competition of the period, or the lack of household brand recognition - you might say that pieces like these are an undervalued bargain. We agree, and are delighted to have this fantastic example offered here.