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(this review was originally posted on the forum http://zegarkiclub.pl/forum/ )
This will not be the last review
Because I found that writing reviews makes me happy, and by the way makes it easier for me to specify my own feelings about the watch – I decided that I would do it more often. The better for you, because the watches that interest me and which I pay attention to are not too familiar and popular in our country – you will have the opportunity to discover them with me.
And again Microbrand , but with verve.
Zelos is a microbrand founded by a young man from Singapore, like many of these companies Zelos distinguish oneself on Kickstarter, an online platform used to carry out the collection for financing various projects. This is not another microbrand that makes Rolex Submariner- look alike watches which are already hundreds on the market, and very well because if it was so I certainly would not buy a watch from them. The company has its own very interesting projects and their watches are selling out very quickly already at the pre-sale stage.
What makes Zelos stand out ? The production of watches from non-standard materials – titanium, bronze, meteorite discs. But other brands has it too …
Zelos goes a step further, their new idea is a chronograph with a dial made of titanium engine nozzle feathers SR-71 Blackbird, the fastest aircraft ever made.
and watches with case made of damascus titanium, that is 2 titanium alloys of which each has a different color and additionally subjected to heat treatment acquires interesting colors:
(I asked the owner – Elshan Tang and I put them here with his permission, you are probably one of the few people who saw them)
No one has ever used damascus titanium to make watches (there are watches made of Damascus steel, e.g Sinn Damaszener ), Zelos will be the first.
Small but crazy
This could be a summary of this review, but don’t worry, the summary will be even more interesting.
I write about it for a different reason – I found information about this watch on one of Facebook groups and after a few photos and reading what parameters it have i decided almost immediately, and just in time because a day later it would be too late – watch sold out in all versions on which the edition was 100pcs (yes, the version of early bird is numbered) in speed of light. So what tempted me in this watch is the fact that:
1. The watch is made of bronze and I have not had any bronze watch yet
2. The watch has a meteorite dial and I did not have a meteorite watch yet
well and finally 3. The watch is 40mm in diameter and attention! 46mm Lug to Lug . Probably the first diver made of bronze wchich can put on people with really small wrists and it does not look like women watch at the same time.
My wrist does not belong to small (18cm) but I like smaller watches and I was curious how this case would look on my hand.
The watch in early bird costed $ 569 + Vat (shipment from Singapore) which resulted in a total of PLN 2,600. Versions with regular dials (by the way also very interesting) cost less by 150 $.
It’s probably time for the first photos of what I’m discussing here
Box
Well, watches do not come just like that, they usually have some boxes, in the case of Zelos there is no box, there is a small chest. Inside the chest is a travel case for 4 watches. Unfortunately, the case does not contain 4 watches but: a watch in a plastic protective package, a warranty card in bronze, an additional leather strap and tool for changing straps – all is a nice alternative to standard boxes, in contrast to them in addition to lying in the cabinet, these accessories can to be useful
The Case
Here I admit that I have a problem. The case is made of bronze and because I have not dealt with this alloy before, it’s hard for me to talk about polishing or brushing – does it have any cuts at all? Ok ok, but you can see something there – the transitions on the ears are polished and all the rest is brushed (I think).
Generally it looks very good, as a case material, i liked bronze immadiately- the color is different than steel (it’s obvious), and even a layman will recognize that it is natural and not given any coating. I like the rawness of the case, by the way Zelos is made of bronze CUSN8, an alloy known for its high resistance to corrosion, even in salt water.
It has a specific shape – short ears, unusual crown cover in the form of a thickening of the case on one side, the crown itself is also at 4 o’clock and not standard on 3. Here is the first minus – just because of this specific crown cover, screwed crown can be difficult to unscrew for people with thick fingers or long nails (no, not for me, my wife told me about these nails when she tried to set the hour).
Crown is also made of bronze, I like its shape, it is logged and what’s interesting, the logo is also filled with a luma – I like such tastes .
This is my another watch that has an WR at 500m – I think I have to start diving.
The Movement
Inside of the watch sits Sellita SW200, the case back is steel, so again I can not say much about the mechanism. In the first two weeks, it ran about + 10 seconds a day.
The Bezel
Bezel just like the case is made of bronze, the insert bezel is black matte ceramic – it is quite narrow and the indexes on it are filled with a luminescent mass in green.
It fits well with the whole watch, here everything is perfectly planned – it is high enough, the distance between the cuts are perfect.
Bezel has 120 clicks, it rotates counterclockwise – it grabs well and works very nice, not too easy and not too hard.
This is really a strong point of this watch, look at that!
The dial
The meteorite dial was supposed to be the main point of the program in this watch, but the case and bezel made the biggest impression on me . Not that something with the dial is wrong, it is very pretty, I was actually expecting it with a dial made of a meteorite, and for that I paid an extra $ . The pattern is very interesting and in the sun it makes you aware of the fact that it is “out of this earth” – it’s shimmering nice and it reminds me then of satellite images of the surface of some planet.
I met with skeptical opinions about the meteorite shield because “I do not want to believe that the watch for less than $ 1000 has a real meteor dial” – let’s not exaggerate … the meteorite is not that expensive or rare, lots of them have fallen on our land, and for example there is jewelry made of meteorite. For a few hundred dollars you can buy a ring made entirely of a meteorite, so why not a dial that is really a thin sheet with a diameter of 2.5 cm?
There is no doubt that the dial was made of a real meteorite, the minerals in the iron are arranged irregularly and crosswise, they are called Widmanstatten Figures – this can not be created in terrestrial conditions, something like that is forming in iron when it cools down a few degrees per million years, so …
It is probably painted, because the meteorite is naturally brighter, more steel – and its good because such a bright one would not match bronze case.
Round, applied bronze hour indexes blend well with the dial and the rest of the watch. At 12, 3, and 9 is an additional index in the shape of a shark tooth, it is probably a reference to the Mako shark from which the watch took its name – it is the fastest shark on earth. Minute indexes are dots of luma placed on the dial, because of the natural inequality of the shield they also when you look closely – are not perfect. Under the index of 12 o’clock there is also a Zelos logo that is also made of bronze.
On the edge of the dial there is a ring with minute and second markings. It’s hard for me to say whether he changes anything in this project, it was probably added because otherwise dots from the dial would blend too much with dots from bezel .
At 6 o’clock there is a date stamp, just as I like – discreet and under the color of the dial. Above it there is a white inscription “automatic” and above the red paint information on the level of water resistance. Here I mention that if it is difficult to read in the pictures what is written in red paint, it is even more difficult to read live. But I’m glad that this color of paint was used because this small amount of red greatly breaks the monotony of the dial
Of course, the hands are also made of bronze, they are filled with a green lume , additionally the lume on the second hand is of a different color – blue. I do not want to dwell on them, they are just ok, what is most important for me is fulfilled – the second hand is long enough. I have such a perversion about the second hand …
Since I mention about the lume , here Zelos did it well, luma on everything but the second hand and seconds index on the dial is green and there is a lot of it, the watch lights like a flashlight. All you have to do is go to a slightly darker place or even go down the sidewalk with the sun and it’s all green, this color suits it very well.
The crystal is a doomed sapphire with an inside anti-reflective coating . The curve is quite strong, looking at a certain angle the crystal and what under it looks like a dome above the city from the Sci-Fi films, bezel behind the crystal just disappears.
But you see how this case and the bronze bezel look like … something beautiful!
The case back
The case back is steel, because bronze is a very allergic alloy and in addition would react with the sweat that separates into the hands, most of the bronze watches have a steel case back. For the same reason, there are no bracelets made of bronze, wearing a watch made completely of bronze would be very uncomfortable.
On the case back is engraved image of a Mako shark and around it information about the watch.
Perhaps if I did not have Tourby at home which when it comes to the case back is unbeatable, I would pay more attention to him but now its just “ok”. It’s nice that it’s not completely flat or glazed … that’s it.
The strap
There are 2 straps in the set, the watch comes with a black rubber strap, in addition there is a vintage stylized leather strap , I will describe mainly the first one because I did not wear leather strap in and I do not intend to do it, I just dont get the idea of wearing leather strap in divers watches. I will just mention that the leather strap does not seem to be especially comfortable, it is quite stiff and thick, I would not give him great hopes.
The rubber tropic is another story, it is very soft, elastic and wearing this watch on it is pure pleasure, it’s a shame to take it off the wrist in the evening.
And to think that once I did not even consider wearing a rubber watch 🙂
A few dimensions of the watch because I did not mention all of them above
40mm in diameter,
46mm Lug to Lug
15mm high with glass
20mm between the ears
Summary:
My wife informed me every day that this watch does not fit me , and it was not about the size of the watch but the combination of bronze and black (you know its little like black-gold watches, they usually look like girls watches, especially if they are smaller in size) and I regret that I didn’t bought a version with a bezel insert also made of bronze – I think that would do the trick.
When Tomek made a session for this review, reviewing photos the love of my life suddenly realized that this watch is “so nice” … now wears it every day because it suits almost all clothes and in fact it’s true, because the colors are very universal and at the same time it is not elegant, unlike most women’s watches. Yes … have I told you that you can also be worn by people with small wrists? This also applies to women. She probably does not know what will happen to this bronze in a while … I will not tell her for now, let her be happy Maybe then she will give it back to me.
I regret this fact because the watch was supposed to be my summer diver, and he would be great in this role, it’s the most comfortable of my watches, rubber also has such properties that you can wear it loosely on a daily basis and when you go to the water for example , tighten one hole – it will still be comfortable and the watch will not move on the wrist. It has its own style, it is well made and it luminates great.
In the price of 2600 PLN, I value the quality / price ratio very highly, I do not know if I would buy this watch if I had to pay the retail price it will have after pre-sale ($ 949 for a meteor version), I think it will still be a good choice but I would personally look for it in the aftermarket for up to PLN 3,000, in my opinion, there is no competitor for him – especially considering its dimensions.
Konrad