I joined the Forum a couple of days back and took delivery on this Ebay purchase the next day. This Zodiac Sea Wolf was acquired for not much cash outlay, a victim of both neglect and murky auction photography, as may be seen in the three photos above.

I've been intrigued by the Zodiac Sea Wolf for a long time. A Zodiac Rotographic resides here and has been a good, dependable automatic watch for many years. A second Rotographic was acquired for cheap as a spare for parts but it also runs fine, though not serviced. It would appear that the various vintage Zodiac models are good choices for a collection, dependable and with their own characteristic styling. After owning a couple and giving a third Rotographic acquisition to a watch collecting friend, the Zodiac became a watch for me to pay attention to.

Ongoing internet research had me hoping an early Sea Wolf would come up some day and this one does meet the characteristics of a really early one if the internet information may be believed. It has no date feature, something I heartily cheer as I don't like date features. It has no hacking feature, the hacking feature said to have been added not too long after the model was originally introduced. The hour and minute hand do not feature the characteristic line running the length of these hands, dividing the illumination feature. The bulk of the 50's-60's Sea Wolf production features the split lumed hands except for the really early ones.

This Sea Wolf came in a gray, grimy condition with a battered, scratched, and dull crystal but running and keeping time (probably 5 minutes slow over 24 hours). This movement is loud and sounds like a threshing machine but also sounds purposeful. Some time was spent carefully going over the watch, polishing the crystal which came out much improved. After rehab'ing the surface of the crystal the dial looked much better in person. It's surfaces are quite nice. The original lume is deader 'n a door nail though. The watch was set out in the sun for 10 minutes while I was doing a chore. A dark interior bathroom revealed no glow whatsoever.

I had thought that perhaps the dial might be re-lum'ed but apparently the 12, 3, 6, and 9 numerals are printed over the original lume so that there is no really good way to go about re-luming an original Sea Wolf dial.

After spending perhaps 45 minutes on the crystal I was pleased with the results. I've about determined to just leave the dial original. The watch gives a nice appearance as it is when viewed in person. It's not perfect but it's a survivor. I'm delighted with the size of this Sea Wolf diver. Though I'm fairly big, 6'3" and big boned, I don't like large watches; watches having wide bezels, busy with markings, knurling, or numerals. I've never much looked at divers but wanted to add one example to the collection. Because of its size, which is not so gargantuan as modern divers, the original Sea Wolf is endearing to me.

I've not made a decision on what to do for a band. Of course I'll keep an eye out for an original bracelet if I can determine which Zodiac Sea Wolf bracelet would have been sold on this watch. Whether or not the original bracelet would end up on this watch would be at my whim. I'm not too keen on bracelets, only having one watch on a bracelet. If a person went deep sea diving, it wouldn't seem that a bracelet would offer the best security for retaining the watch.

If y'all have any notions about various diving straps and what might look nice and would be serviceable I would welcome the input.

I've never dived, won't be starting now, but would like to have the watch serviced. It would be fun to know that it could operate at 660 foot depths if it needed to.

 

What a great looking watch!

 

Terrific watch. Dibs!

This model was tested by the US Navy Experimental Diving Unit in 1958, along with the Rolex Sub 6538, Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Milspec 1, Enicar Seapearl 600 and Enicar Sherpa Diver 600, and was approved for interim use by the USN until the new military submersible wristwatch being made by Bulova was available (see page 20 of the PDF you can download here).
The USN EDU did not love it though… the bezel didn't lock in place and was non-luminous, and the watch and band were too shiny (so as to be attractive to biting fish).

More about the contemporaneous Enicars here.

 

Oops… the real authorities over at MWR say that the watch tested by the USN was an earlier 10 ATM version.

But here is an ad from LIFE, November 30, 1962, with your watch, called ref 3080… there's the bracelet you're looking for.

 

I think the watch looks great but in what universe is 5 mins in 24 hours keeping time?

 

Didn't notice that. Those numbers only qualify as time-keeping if one is retired, or a subsistence farmer on an un-touristed Greek isle, or this guy, for whom "the moon was the minute hand, the seasons the hour hand":

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201409/the-last-true-hermit

 

Here's mine. Got it from a soldier who still has his "nam era black one. I can probably recommend a Zodiac expert if you're interested in trying.

 

BTW, myb seller may still have the GMT version in gold that apparently was produced for only two years. Not strictly a sea wolf.

 

If there was an expert available, particularly well-versed in Zodiacs, I would be grateful for the recommendation.

 

Not sure if you've found it, but the guys at vintagezodiacs.com can definitely help you out.

 

Here are my two

It's silly, but I hate that I have the Radium lume version - never wear it.
Interesting fact - the newer versions of the hands have little spines to prevent the luminous paint from cracking.

 

Nice read noelekal. There was a movie with a Zodiac playing a part??

 

Sorry for the late reply. i was recommended by my seller : paulswatchandclockrepair.com The watch I bought is stellar and they did some service to it. I believe he--the seller--- is on vintage zodiac, at least that's my recollection of how I found the watch. If you look at the zodiac site you will note they are very particular about who services their watches. As always, make sure you are specific about what you want done for repair. Great watches, I hope it works out for you. .

 

A quick revisit to this thread to show the Sea Wolf feeling all better with a rehab and with an oiled leather strap added. Would like to acquire a factory original bracelet, correct for the model. The strap might stay on for wearing use with the bracelet kept on hand as a nice original accessory

 

I've been on the hunt for an original bracelet myself for some time. Either they are stretched out beyond repair or missing the end links which cost as much as the damn bracelet.

Here is my Seawolf

 

A bracelet does make the watch. Mine is marked JB Champion. I can't swear it's original but it's looks good. Noelekal you have the earlier version of the watch based on the hands. The Zodiac site may be able to help. There are guys there with original purchased watches--my seller included. Regards, Bill