Photos by Ariel Adams and Ed Rhee
One of the more recent “summer color” versions of the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression Diver is this reference ZO9309 that combines a steel case, white ceramic bezel insert, white rubber strap, and luminant green color accents on the white dial, along with clever matte-black framed hour indices. This gives a very instrumental look to what is otherwise a fashionably colored lifestyle sports watch. For that reason, I’ve enjoyed wearing it, because it combines a warm visual pop with the comfortable utility I expect from a Zodiac Super Sea Wolf family product.
Zodiac has been playing with luminant quite a bit lately. The Fossil Group-owned company’s design team is fascinated with glow-in-the-dark features, between watches that have luminous material painted into grooves on the case and those with fully lumed bezels and/or dials. In large part, this is because the timepiece enthusiast community gets excited about SuperLumiNova, and other modern luminous materials and compounds out there. I just hope that Zodiac resists the urge to create a fully luminous watch case, which, in my opinion, is mainly an exercise in gratuitousness. But a glow-in-the-dark strap? That could be intriguing.
Aside from being equipped with the Fossil Group’s more recent in-house made STP 1-21 automatic movement (which adds a silicon hairspring to the 4Hz, two-day hour power reserve package), the ZO9309 is similar to other Super Sea Wolf collection timepieces in form and design. That includes a 40mm wide brushed steel case that is water resistant to 200 meters, and the attractive “tropic-style” natural rubber strap. I don’t know if it is just me, but this 20mm wide white rubber strap feels a bit thicker and more substantial than other Zodiac straps – though it might just be some small texture differences in the white rubber material. In any event, the Super Sea Wolf continues to be well-sized and comfortable on the wrist.
To complement the mostly white color palette of the watch, Zodiac applies green lume to the periphery of the dial and the minute hand. Mind you, the hour markers and hands are also lume-painted, but in a different color. The resulting glowing dial design (after being charged with light) is meant to increase low-light legibility by offering a full glowing minute scale as opposed to just lumed hour markers and hands.
Zodiac has created similar watches in the past but with a white ceramic case. Actually, it didn’t use a full ceramic case, but rather a sort of ceramic cap over a steel case base. I prefer a full ceramic case and that is perhaps what Zodiac will attempt in the future. For now, I think it was wise to give this ZO9309 model a steel case but to add plenty of white tones in other places. The overall outcome is a timepiece that feels white-color dominant, even though there are clearly other colors in the composition. In pictures, I didn’t appreciate the colors as much as I did when wearing them physically on my wrist.
Watches like these “summer color” Super Sea Wolf models are not limited editions, but are only made in batches for a particular time. This is a fun variation on the Super Sea Wolf, which is still very reasonably priced by today’s standards. That said, Zodiac has made it clear that it will be modestly increasing prices over the next few years. The good news is that I believe that will combine that promise with continued small-batch production of the models, meaning that the products will not be over-produced. Price for this fun Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression Diver reference ZO9309 watch is $1,395 USD. Learn more at the Zodiac watches website.
