The brand name Zodiac has a rich history in the early days of the dive watch. It’s often lurking in the shadows of Rolex, Blancpain and Omega. Be that as it may, its contribution cannot be underestimated. Along with the Fifty Fathoms in 1953, the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf was one of the first dive watches with a rotating bezel. Zodiac and Blancpain are credited with producing the first commercially available dive watches. Both brands also suffered the same economic fate only to be resurrected years later.

Unfortunately, one brand remains more revered than the other, which is a shame. Fast forward to the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf (SSW) ZO9209. We have a faithful homage to the early SSW’s, specifically the 699 reference. Whilst the original had a white dial with a silver plated brass bezel, everything else is a carbon copy. I love this watch with it’s nod to the past with a flair in the present.

Perfectly sized at 40mm and a thickness of 11mm, it just sticks to the wrist. Being so thin, this can easily be worn in a formal setting under a shirt whilst living a tool watch life on the weekends. The bracelet has a vintage vibe with a stretch feature to allow for the variations in wrist size during the day.

With a lug width of 20mm this watch will take any strap you throw at it, the options are endless. Its powered by the STP 3-13 Automatic movement that gives it 44 hours of power reserve. Dial lume comes in the form of C3 Super Luminova, but unfortunately its longevity is lacking. It’s other negatives for me are firstly that the bracelet meets the end-links without a smooth and seamless transition. Secondly, the crown should have been a little larger for mine, just to help people like me with fat fingers. Overall, the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf ZO9209 offers incredible balance over other SSW’s that have retained the date feature. There is also a blue dialled version that’s equally as stunning. The watch presents quite a lot of bang for buck!