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Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Discussion area for watches, clocks and all other timekeepers.
yinzburgher
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by yinzburgher »

Lunarlovegood wrote: Sat Feb 22, 2020 10:35 am I have this beautiful Zodiac but have no idea what model it is or even how old it is. I haven't been able to find another one like it anywhere. Does someone here maybe have an idea?
Welcome LLG! There are a lot of people out there that know more about vintage Zodiac but maybe I can help a little bit. Beautiful watch and seems to be in good condition. May I ask where you got it?

You probably noticed it has a red dot on the dial. Zodiac had a long-standing series of watches in the "Red Dot" or "Red Point" but it seems there is no real consensus about what the designation or series signified. You can find it on mechanical dress watches from the 1970s as well as quartz divers from the 90s. You can find some vague info about it out there on the internet but I'm not sure what info to trust. I'd be curious to see what the company has to say about it but I'm guessing they don't know much more without digging through the archives.

Most of the info I can find about your watch is HERE at a sales listing of this model from Big Ben Watches. It sold in September of 2008. You can see all of the specifications; 34mm diameter, 8mm thick, acrylic crystal, etc. The seller seems to think it is gold-filled rather than plated. I think the most notable thing however is that the movement is a 21 jewel Zodiac caliber 104 which is a rebranded ETA 2892. I don't know your familiarity with mechanical watches so I'll just say that the ETA 2892 is a very common Swiss automatic movement and is known for being thin and of a very high quality. You can find plenty of info about the movement online.

My guess is that your watch is from the 1970s. I really like the roman numerals, the beaded bezel, and the fact that the gold dial has no lume and seems to have some texture or pattern at certain angles. I'm impressed with the condition of the bracelet too. It's a really cool watch......enjoy it! I wouldn't hesitate to contact Zodiac about it and maybe post it on other forums to see what others have to say. Also, feel free to ask me any other general or specific questions you might have. I might not have the answers but you're not bothering me by asking. I'm a total nerd about watches and I enjoy this stuff.

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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Lunarlovegood »

That is so awesome thank you so much. It is really difficult finding what you're looking for through such a vast collection of watches. It's my husband's watch, he got it from a friend and it's been in a box for years. I feel like somewhat of an idiot but we both have never heard the name Zodiac before. Actual we know very little about watches in general. Until now at least.

They are currently my favourite so far.

Thanks again for your research and help. What is it worth do you think?
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by MoT »

Lunarlovegood wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2020 1:38 am What is it worth do you think?
Welcome again to this site, and thank you for joining.

My usual suggestion when it comes to valuation inquiries is to tell the person to browse completed, sold listings on eBay and the like for similar watches.
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Lpd041 »

Looking for suggestions

I have two relatively new zodiac grand rally’s and outside of this issue I love these watches. One on a leather strap and the other on the bracelet. The bracelet one was purchased on a sale at watch station and the quality of the bracelet alone was enough to justify the 225 price tag.

So with both of these being quartz the chrono hands have gotten a little misaligned and off by a few ticks at their starting position. In the instruction manual you’re instructed to put the crown in the 3 position then depress the A/B pushers for 2 seconds until the chrono hands rotates 360 degrees and that indicates you’re in the correction mode to adjust the chrono hands. Well I’ve tried countless times on both watches and can never get the chrono hand to spin 360 degrees to go in correction mode. Anyone else tried this with these watches with any success. I figured I’d check here prior to reaching out to customer service.

Thanks
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by yinzburgher »

Lpd041 wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 2:16 pm Looking for suggestions

I have two relatively new zodiac grand rally’s and outside of this issue I love these watches. One on a leather strap and the other on the bracelet. The bracelet one was purchased on a sale at watch station and the quality of the bracelet alone was enough to justify the 225 price tag.

So with both of these being quartz the chrono hands have gotten a little misaligned and off by a few ticks at their starting position. In the instruction manual you’re instructed to put the crown in the 3 position then depress the A/B pushers for 2 seconds until the chrono hands rotates 360 degrees and that indicates you’re in the correction mode to adjust the chrono hands. Well I’ve tried countless times on both watches and can never get the chrono hand to spin 360 degrees to go in correction mode. Anyone else tried this with these watches with any success. I figured I’d check here prior to reaching out to customer service.

Thanks
It should be an ISA 8371 movement. The instruction manual is HERE. But it's probably much easier to watch someone do it on video. There are a few youtube videos but the most helpful one seems to be the one below. It's a slightly different ISA movement but it should work the same way. The relevant part starts around 3:14. Have you gotten any of the subdials to do a revolution to show you are in re-calibration mode? I would try to avoid Zodiac/Watch Station service if possible. I think you'll get it on your own but let me know if you're still having trouble. Good luck and may the quartz be with you!

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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Lpd041 »

That absolutely did the trick.... thanks a ton.... I have no idea why it is listed the other way in the manual. Now I can go back to loving these watches 💪🏼
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Klaatu3 »

I’ll confess I’ve really fallen for the current lineup of Zodiac quartz watches due to their affordability, brand tradition, and sports/retro vibe. I know: some of you might say, “Ewwwwww, quartz.” Now, I love the cachet and craftmanship of a smooth-sweeping mechanical watch as much as anyone, but I’ve reached the point where I have enough spring-driven watches in my collection. We all know the pro/con arguments of quartz vs mech, which I won’t rehash here. Anyway I still mix it up on a daily basis, which is part of the fun.

Here’s the lovely Grandhydra on bracelet I acquired a few months back. There’s not a lot of info out there on this model, which Watchstation declares to be their exclusive. It appears to be based on the Sea Dragon 3-hand, with a Ronda quartz movement and unique colorways under the Grandhydra name. Whatever it is, I’m loving the heck out of it. Stock photos don’t do justice…it oozes quality, has great wrist presence & readability, 40mm case, the date window matches the dial (!), and the bracelet is super nice. The seconds hand hits on every mark, and the domed sapphire crystal imparts stunning depth & clarity to the dial. Also the bracelets can be resized without tools.

One weird thing about the selection--some colorways are only available on bracelet, and others only on strap. Maybe at these prices Zodiac/Fossil group assumes (hopes) people will buy more than one, then mix & match the bands.
PCMX2207ER2.jpg
So there it is. I also have two Grandrally chronos which I’ll post on soon, and I’ve just ordered a dressy Grandville to complete the “grand” trifecta. More on those later.
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Lpd041 »

Klaatu3 wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 3:35 pm I’ll confess I’ve really fallen for the current lineup of Zodiac quartz watches due to their affordability, brand tradition, and sports/retro vibe. I know: some of you might say, “Ewwwwww, quartz.” Now, I love the cachet and craftmanship of a smooth-sweeping mechanical watch as much as anyone, but I’ve reached the point where I have enough spring-driven watches in my collection. We all know the pro/con arguments of quartz vs mech, which I won’t rehash here. Anyway I still mix it up on a daily basis, which is part of the fun.

Here’s the lovely Grandhydra on bracelet I acquired a few months back. There’s not a lot of info out there on this model, which Watchstation declares to be their exclusive. It appears to be based on the Sea Dragon 3-hand, with a Ronda quartz movement and unique colorways under the Grandhydra name. Whatever it is, I’m loving the heck out of it. Stock photos don’t do justice…it oozes quality, has great wrist presence & readability, 40mm case, the date window matches the dial (!), and the bracelet is super nice. The seconds hand hits on every mark, and the domed sapphire crystal imparts stunning depth & clarity to the dial. Also the bracelets can be resized without tools.

One weird thing about the selection--some colorways are only available on bracelet, and others only on strap. Maybe at these prices Zodiac/Fossil group assumes (hopes) people will buy more than one, then mix & match the bands.

PCMX2207ER2.jpg

So there it is. I also have two Grandrally chronos which I’ll post on soon, and I’ve just ordered a dressy Grandville to complete the “grand” trifecta. More on those later.
So regarding that watch...how does the size compare to the grand rally. Only thing that has held me up on snagging it up was the size. Looks like it may be smaller than the grand rally. Also, does the bracelet have the same milled clasp and the same link resizing technique the grand rally does.

Only downside to my grand rally. I feel they could have added a little more anti reflective coating to the sapphire crystal. Makes it a pain to photograph at times.
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Klaatu3 »

Lpd041 wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 6:17 pm
So regarding that watch...how does the size compare to the grand rally. Only thing that has held me up on snagging it up was the size. Looks like it may be smaller than the grand rally. Also, does the bracelet have the same milled clasp and the same link resizing technique the grand rally does.

Only downside to my grand rally. I feel they could have added a little more anti reflective coating to the sapphire crystal. Makes it a pain to photograph at times.
[/quote]

Grandhydra case is 40mm across (3 to 9 o’clock) excluding crown, and 46.5mm lug to lug. Grandrally’s measurements are 41.5 and 47.6 respectively. Lug widths are both 20mm. Due to the case shapes they both seem to wear slightly larger, but comfortably on my 7.25 inch wrist. As for the bracelets, from the photos of the ‘rally bracelet they appear to have the same milled, branded clasp. Yes both have the snap-on/off links for sizing without tools. Also be aware the ‘hydra has polished center links…a.k.a. scratch magnets. :)

Cloudy/hazy here today, pardon the mediocre photos.
PCMX2210ER.jpg
PCMX2213ER.jpg
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Klaatu3 »

I received this Grandville a few weeks ago, it's an okay watch but I was disappointed with the looks and QC. Very little information is available online about this model. I took a chance during a deep discount at Watchstation. The seconds hand misses every hash mark (in my sample), and overall the impression was “meh,” very plain-jane. The brown leather strap was nice enough but had a dark stain from touching the soft lining of the factory box. I never even removed the stickers. If you want a conservative-looking 40mm Swiss quartz it might be worth a look, but I have better dressy watches, so this one went back.
PCMX2220ER.jpg
PCMX2222ER.jpg
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by yinzburgher »

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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by Bbrou33 »

yinzburgher wrote:
That's sexy. I call dibs

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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by yinzburgher »

Bbrou33 wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2020 1:52 pm
yinzburgher wrote:
That's sexy. I call dibs

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Thanks! I think you're too late though. [mention]recapt[/mention] already called dibs if me and the blue wolf part ways. I'll see what I got for you though buddy! 🤔⌚⌚⌚⌚⌚⌚⌚
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by yinzburgher »

Back to back Zodiac. The Super Sea Wolf ZO9204 and the Aerospace GMT ZO9401



yinzburgher
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Re: Got a Zodiac? Post it here!

Post by yinzburgher »

My red dial Sea Dragon!




And the new Zodiac Super Sea Wolf World Time

Model ZO9409
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Model ZO9410
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