Zodiac Sea Wolf Datographic 722 - 916

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Probo

·Jan 14, 2024

Hello everyone.
I would like to share my little story.

I am a watch enthusiast, but even more so a photography entusiasm.
I visited the Don McCullin’s retrospective, a giant of reportage photography, in Rome.
His war photos are famous, especially from Vietnam. His professional ethics make him a legend of photojournalism. And also my personal one.
In the center of one room was a display case with various memorabilia, including the Nikon that saved his life by stopping an AK-47 shot intended for him.
Next to this I see his watch: a Zodiac Sea Wolf. Seeing it and wanting it were one and the same.
So I set out to find one exactly like it. A task that turns out to be more difficult than expected.
Thanks to Yuriy Vakulenko I deduced the reference, Sea Wolf Datographic 722-916, but here with the less common trapezoidal window.
Also its steel bracelet is not so common. Vakulenko sold one in exactly this configuration, but years ago.
I found a head on eBay but in really poor condition and at a price that in my opinion was very overestimated. My search continues. If anyone is kind enough to share useful information for research with me, I will be happy. There, that's all. The hunt continues.

Thanks for your attention.

I attach photos of the items

 

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Probo

·Jan 14, 2024

 

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JwRosenthal

·Jan 14, 2024

I have a soft spot for Seawolfs

The bracelet is not uncommon but was an accessory and didn’t hold up well to extreme conditions- thus have become harder to find.
The trapezoidal date window is not something I remember seeing but zodiac made subtle changes to their models every couple years with some mixing and matching of parts during transitional years- so probably one of many variants.

These watches aren’t rare as they were available in almost every PX at the time hence popular among service men (as were the Helbros “invincible” divers of the time- but finding them in good shape is very difficult as most saw hard duty.

There is a picture of Jim Lovell wearing his Seawolf floating around on the web that shows how much these were trusted beaters for those in service at the time (he also has a Rolex GMT, Accutron Astronaut and of course a Speedmaster among others I’m sure).
Once you get bitten by the Seawolf bug it’s hard to stop. I’ve ended up selling off a couple as you can spend years collecting all the variants.
From my left over unfinished project box

And of course can’t forget the Shewolf

 

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JwRosenthal

·Jan 14, 2024

And if you want a moving and beautifully done book on photojournalists who died during the Vietnam conflict-Requiem is the book to have.

It has been out of print for some time and I bought my copy when new. It’s one of the books I would grab if my house was on fire.

 

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Probo

·Jan 14, 2024

Thanks for clarifying my thoughts on this. For me the vintage Zodiac Sea Wolf are a recent discovery. Very grateful.
Also for the book suggestion.

 

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JwRosenthal

·Jan 14, 2024

Probo

Thanks for clarifying my thoughts on this. For me the vintage Zodiac Sea Wolf are a recent discovery. Very grateful.
Also for the book suggestion.

It’s important to note for anyone new to collecting Seawolfs (or vintage zodiac in general) that although the base movements were built on common platforms (like ASchild movements), zodiac would add their own special twist to them. So parts that “should” be an easy swap with a stock AS part of the same family usually is not.

It keeps it fun and exciting…always a treasure hunt and new mystery to unravel (it’s what I tell myself to keep from crying). When my watchmaker would tell me the very rare and very expensive parts I got on eBay -that were guaranteed to be correct by the oh-so expert eBay seller in Croatia- actually didn’t fit and I’m back at square one- “this is the fun of collecting Zodiac”, is what I have to keep repeating to myself.

 

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·Jan 15, 2024

Would you be so kind as to give me your opinion and assessment on a SW spotted on eBay?
The Sea Wolf writing can barely be read on the dial. I have some doubts about the bracelet and the clasp.
I will forward you additional photos.

Thank you in advance for your time and attention

This is the web address

https://www.google.com/search?q=zod...lient=safari#vhid=xaeVv_CdWab4IM&vssid=l&ip=1

 

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Probo

·Jan 15, 2024

And a video

 

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JwRosenthal

·Jan 15, 2024

Parts watch, cheap Hong Kong bracelet- seller put one too many zeros on the price- hard pass

 

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·Jan 15, 2024

I'm no Zodiac expert but I had the same impression. Your confirmation is decisive.
If you have any advice for a good Sea Wolf 916 it would be nice to hear from you. Just in case.
In the meantime, thank you very much for your time

 

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Probo

·Jan 15, 2024

I would also like the details of the book that you indicated I'm better at finding books than watches. Thanks again.

 

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JwRosenthal

·Jan 15, 2024

Probo

I would also like the details of the book that you indicated I'm better at finding books than watches. Thanks again.

Here’s the info from my copy

 

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Probo

·Jan 15, 2024

Looks great.
Thank you a lot Jw.

 

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Dr.Sascha

·Jan 22, 2024

My mate, who is an historian of the Vietnam War and its impact on American society, gave me a copy of Requiem as a gift when we completed our PhDs at Emory University. We also had the pleasure of meeting Hugh Thompson, the officer credited with halting the My Lai Massacre. The Herr book he quotes is amazing, as is The Short-Timers. But, imho, it's Patrick O'Brian's short story "The Things They Carried" that stands as the best depiction of the conflict, at least from the American perspective.

Requiem is a remarkable work, and reminds us just how dangerous the job of being a war correspondent and/or photographer is. This is as true today as it was back then (to date, 83 journalists have died in the Israel-Gaza War, 76 Palestinian, 4 Israeli, and 3 Lebanese). But without their dedication, we would never see the true face of war and all its suffering.

Edited: Jan 22, 2024

 

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·Jan 22, 2024

Thank you for your contribution, Dr. Sascha.
I would like to respectfully comment on your text a quote by Don McCullin that Michael Herr's words brought to mind.

In recent years, McCullin has spoken of his move to the countryside as a salve. “The landscape became a kind of process of healing so I could forget about wars and revolutions and dying children, because I was beginning to take those memories to bed with me at night, and having terrible dreams, and terrible nightmares, and feeling guilty, and waking up in a sweat.” The photographs live on, however, lest we forget.

 

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Probo

·Jan 22, 2024

Don McCullin, Hue, (Vietnam War)

 

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·Oct 30, 2024

Good morning, a short update to close the hunt.

With the necessary time and patience and thanks to the kindness and availability of the OF members and other enthusiasts who helped me in the search, the Zodiac I was looking for finally arrived home in the exact configuration and with the same bracelet as the one worn by Don McCullin during his reports from Vietnam.

The watch has a great patina that shows the extreme use that has been made of it. The tropicalized dial reflects the light in a very different way and gives it great charm; this is a watch that tells a story.
I would add that it has received a complete overhaul that makes it still work accurately.

The added value of this research was to come into contact with other enthusiasts whose knowledge was a stimulus to delve deeper into what the wars in Indochina and Vietnam were.
Thanks to JW Rosenthal for his support and for making me discover a great photographic book whose research and purchase happily engaged me almost as much as the Zodiac in question.

 

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river rat

·Nov 1, 2024

Nice your hunt for a Zodiac diver is over. Here are a few photos my dad took when he was in Vietnam. He served in WW2, Korea and Vietnam.

 

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Probo

·Nov 2, 2024

Imo these photos are not only family memories but also a small piece of great history. And it sounds like your dad has seen a lot of history. thank you very much.

 

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JwRosenthal

·Nov 2, 2024

Probo

Imo these photos are not only family memories but also a small piece of great history. And it sounds like your dad has seen a lot of history. thank you very much.

Totally agreed. As a photographer and historian I think many people overlook the value of these “random” shots of streetscapes, civic/military buildings or shanties. But they tell us volumes about how people lived and worked in our ever changing (for good or bad) built environment.