Review: Zodiac Super Sea Wolf GMT
Zodiac is back with a new-and-improved movement and new colorways for its GMT line
In December, Zodiac introduced its STP 7-20 movement in a limited edition collaboration with Rowing Blazers. The movement is made in house, is self-winding, and features an independent GMT hand. As a limited edition of 282 pieces, it was never going to be possible for everyone who wanted one to get ahold of the watch. But now, Zodiac has introduced a GMT with the STP 7-20 movement to its regular catalogue.
The new Super Sea Wolf GMT continues to use the same design language of Zodiac’s previous GMTs and the Super Sea Wolf line in general—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
At 40mm, the case feels great on the wrist, with the appearance of an even smaller watch. The five-link, jubilee-style bracelet it comes with is comfortable and easy to adjust. Its butterfly clasp features spring-flex to give the bracelet the slightest bit of stretch at the clasp in case link adjustments can’t get you the perfect fit. It’s also helpful for the fluctuations in wrist size that occur as temperatures change.
The watch comes in two new colorways: a silver dial with black and gray bezel (ref. ZO9415) and a black dial with a white and pink bezel (ref. ZO9416). The former’s design comes straight from Zodiac’s archives, and is almost identical modern (and larger) update to the 1960s-1970s Zodiac Aerospace GMT. The Aerospace is a great-looking watch with a great name that Zodiac should consider reintroducing to their lineup.
The ZO9415 was a pleasure to wear, with a fun design that is as eye-catching as the ZO9416 but far more understated. The watch may have a comparatively muted palette but it has just as much fun with colors, with the silver, black, and gray meshing beautifully and the red GMT hand and teal bezel triangle providing nice pops of color. The ZO9415 has a real vintage vibe to it—understandable given its design provenance—that makes it stand out, particularly among other GMTs.
The mark of a successful GMT design is if it stands apart from the Rolex GMT-Master or looks like a GMT-Master knockoff. Both colorways of the new Zodiac GMT succeed on this front—they’re not trying to be Rolexes and would never be confused for one.
The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf GMT’s functions are incredibly easy to figure out. This was the first GMT watch I’ve ever handled, and without looking up instructions I was able to easily determine how to move the GMT hand. The date functions as normal, as do the main time hands.
And of course, the watch features also all the technical accomplishments we’ve come to expect from Zodiac: 200 meters of water resistance, a sapphire crystal, Super-LumiNova hands and markers, a screw-down crown, and the bidirectional bezel found in its GMT line.
The new Zodiac GMT is more expensive than its previous Soprod C125 GMT watches by $300, but that price increase gets you a new in-house movement and a high-quality metal bracelet instead of a strap. A closer comparison: it’s $200 cheaper than the Rowing Blazers collab that used the same movement and bracelet.
Zodiac has been producing arguably the best watches in the $1,000 to $2,000 range of any brand over the last few years. With this latest release, Zodiac shows once again that you just can’t get this level quality at this price point anywhere else.
The new Zodiac Super Sea Wolf GMT will be available to purchase starting April 8 in stores and at ZODIACWATCHES.COM.
More shots of the watch: