Due to being in lockdown and wanting to scratch my itch without killing the bank account, I started my research into various brands outside the large houses. Never in my wildest dreams, did I imagine it would lead me to my Zelos Nova 38mm Salmon Dial. Who are they you might ask? Zelos is based in Singapore and was founded by Elshan Tang back in 2014, and since then it has built up quite a following from what I can see. It seems that with each new model release, they are snapped up quickly. I think this is partly due to their unique designs, great customer service and also their sales structure (new releases are set at a discounted launch price, and then increase to a ‘normal price’ after a period).

So what did I pick up from Zelos? I caught a Salmon! More specifically the Zelos Nova 38mm Salmon Dial. This particular model was released with 6 different dials, the Salmon being the first dial being sold out almost immediately after launch. And I can tell you why. The dial draws you in with a beautiful guilloche salmon colour, small seconds, applied indices and presented in a perfect 38mm dress size. Its guts are powered by a handwound movement, ‘Top Grade’ ETA/Peseux 7001 and decorated with Côtes de Genève and blued screws. Whilst some watch fanatics are all about the movement or bracelet, I’m a tragic for beautiful dials and this truly sucked me in (I’m not saying I don’t care for anything else, but the dial is what we normally see first right?). Having already owned the Kiku and the Shippo, this Zelos Nova fits right in the family.

So how does it wear? Well, I’ve only had this piece for less than a week, but it wears perfectly on my 6.5inch wrist. I have read that some people would like to see a larger size because of their wrists, but I think being a dress watch, it’s within the perfect dress watch size specs. Further comments will have to be reserved until I wear it for longer.

Now for the bad… Having waited excitedly from ordering to delivery and finally unpacking the piece, I realised quickly that there seems to be an oversight with the positioning of the lug holes/lugs and the watch case. I’m one of those guys that are rather OCD and like to change out the OEM strap and use something else almost immediately to preserve the OEM band and to add my own style to the watch. What I found was that the OEM strap was already slightly worn from the case when I removed it, and this was confirmed once again when my Colareb strap began to wear out after a couple of hours. The straps are rubbing against the case. Not surprisingly this was reported by other owners of the Nova and appears to be a known issue from the factory as evident by filing down of the case on both ends.  To me, this is an oversight and was attempted to be addressed as an afterthought. Some suggested to get ‘curved pins’ or are happy to overlook this, but I don’t think that’s the point. With all due respect, the watch does come with a bracelet and the founder, Elshan did reach out and offered to send a thinner strap that I found was amazing – try getting this service from a larger brand! Overall I really wanted to love this brand and the watch, but perhaps its the OCD in me or my high expectations, but sadly the scraping issue took away from my first micro brand/indy experience. Maybe this Zelos Nova 38mm Salmon Dial is a catch and release?