For the year that Zodiac turns 140 years old, we have watched them celebrate with several firsts in their history, mainly in the utilisation of materials. Earlier in the year, they launched their “strongest and lightest” Super Sea Wolf to date with the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Titanium Pro-Diver Limited Edition engineered from lightweight and scratch resistant titanium. Shortly after, they debuted their first design with a meteorite dial. For the latest, the Swiss watch manufacturer turns to the popular watch material, ceramic, to launch the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic ZO9595.
Black ceramic watches are, and likely will be for some time, a popular design in the vast world of luxury timepieces. Why? Ceramic is a material made using inorganic powder, typically zirconium oxide, which is then fired at incredibly high temperatures until the powder becomes a mass of incredibly hard, shiny and smooth material. As well as looking stunning, ceramic offers a number of wear benefits. It is extremely lightweight, hypoallergenic and scratch resistant. Because of this, there is no shortage of ceramic watches on the market with most collectors having at least one in their collection. IWC Schaffhausen introduced the world’s first ceramic wristwatch in 1986 with their Da Vinci model which was since been followed by designs like the Chanel J12, the Longines HydroConquest, the Bell & Ross BR 03 and the Rado Captain Cook. But even with so many brands creating their own version of the ceramic watch, the price point is always more-or-less the same. With the new Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic ZO9595 watch, however, ceramic becomes significantly more accessible.
Sure enough, at a retail price of only £1,349, Zodiac have managed to create one of the most affordable ceramic watches on the market. How have they managed this you might be wondering? They have carefully employed ceramic on only certain aspects of the watch with ceramic coating on others – giving the effect the entire watch is made of ceramic. The inner case is actually engineered from stainless steel which is then fitted with a ceramic outer case, still allowing for all the lightweight and scratch resistant properties. There are still some elements of stainless steel touching the skin however, like the case back and lugs, so the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic ZO9595 watch does miss out on some of its hypoallergenic bragging rights.
The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic ZO9595 watch measures to 40mm in diameter and features many of the same characteristics of previous editions including sloping, downturned lugs, a signed screw down crown at 3 o’clock and a solid screw down case back. The latter enables a healthy water resistant rating of 200 metres. On top, the shiny black ceramic case is joined by a matching black unidirectional rotating bezel – a must have for any diver’s watch. It comes engraved with a 60 minute scale for measuring elapsed dive times and a luminous pip at 12 o’clock. Securing the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic watch to the wrist is a hypoallergenic Tropic caoutchouc 20mm rubber strap which Zodiac describes as being vanilla scented. An interesting add-on to say the least…
Housed beneath scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass, the dial breaks up the otherwise monochromatic look of the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic ZO9595 watch with a gorgeous midnight blue backdrop. As always, the dial is made extremely legible with a contrasting white minutes scale and matching white square-shaped indexes and baton hands. The hardware is applied with glow in the dark Superluminova, including the tip of the light grey seconds hand. Finally, a date complication is included at 3 o’clock, outlined in white with its own discreet black backdrop.
A nice addition to the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic watch is the chronometer-rated movement. The STP 1-11 automatic winding calibre powers the hours, minutes, seconds and date function while adding a decent 44 hour power reserve. There’s also 26 jewels and a frequency of 28,800vph. As mentioned, the movement kept hidden from view due to the screw down case back which instead greets us to a large engraving of the Zodiac logo.
The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Ceramic ZO9595 watch is a non-numbered limited edition of only 500 pieces and as far as we’re aware, many of these have already sold out. So, if you’re looking for an affordable ceramic watch, we urge you to act fast. You can order the design on the Jura Watches website here or by contacting our team. Call us on 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.
Specifications:
- Case Size: 40mm
- Case Material: Black ceramic and 316L stainless steel
- Bezel: Unidirectional with 60 minute scale
- Glass: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
- Crown: Screw in
- Case Back: Screw down
- Water Resistance: 200 metres
- Movement: STP 1-11 automatic winding
- COSC: Yes
- Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
- Power Reserve: 44 hours
- Jewels: 26
- Frequency: 28,800vph
- Dial: Midnight blue with Superluminova hardware
- Strap: Tropic caoutchouc rubber strap
- Buckle: Pin
- RRP: £1,349
- Limited Edition: 500 pieces
