What's the word on Zodiac watches???

[Whiteshark]

Wife got me a zodiac racer watch for Father's Day. What's the scoop on these? Swiss parts assembled in China? Owned by fossil is all I know. Thx for any info.

[drifter01]

This is from Wikipedia:
"In 1990 Willy Gad Monnier, formerly of TAG Heuer purchased the Zodiac brand, however this company, Montres Zodiac SA, went bankrupt in November 1997. In September 1998 Genender International, Inc. purchased the Zodiac inventory including their trademarks and registrations and other assets.[2] Genender discontinued all of the "Point" series models, the Swiss Formulas, the Sea Wolf, and most automatic watches and all of the Zodiac automatic chronographs. The only two 1990s models kept were the Super Sea Wolf and the Marine Life, both of which were updated with new metal bands.

On October 1, 2001 Fossil Inc. acquired the worldwide rights to the Zodiac brand name for approximately $4.7 million for use in connection with watches, clocks and other timekeeping devices.[3]
In April 2002, the new Zodiac line was introduced at the BaselWorld watch show in Switzerland, with the notable absence of any Sea Wolf model for the first time in 50 years."

And from Watchismo:
"All watches in the Zodiac collection are Swiss-made. To be certified and classified in this elite category, a watch must satisfy two main criteria. First, their movement must be both Swiss-crafted and cased in Switzerland. Second, the manufacturer must conduct the final inspection of the timepiece in Switzerland, and in accordance with the world's most rigorous standards for quality, precision and craftsmanship."

Hope this helps.

[Whiteshark]

Thx!

[77T]

Their website has a multimedia history page, too: http://www.zodiacwatches.com/store/Z...c_watches.html

[powerfunk]

I have a Fossil-era Zodiac. Totally decent quartz watch.

My dad had a vintage Seawolf; it's pretty cool and those seem to have a little bit of a following.

[drifter01]

Originally Posted by powerfunk

I have a Fossil-era Zodiac. Totally decent quartz watch.

My dad had a vintage Seawolf; it's pretty cool and those seem to have a little bit of a following.

The Seawolf was an excellent watch and one of those that proved you don't need a screw-down crown for water resistance. The onle problem with the old Zodiac aitosw was the floating cannon pinion. It was prone to get loose and that required a movement teardown to repair. Couldn't just remove the dial to fix like in most movements.
Zodiac was famous for innovative designs and quality watches....too bad that digitals and quartz watches forced the end, as with so many other marquees.