Zodiac Oceanaire Review

Zodiac Oceanaire Review
by The TimeSurfer for webWatchWorld.com


Summary: Progeny of the famous and beloved Zodiac Seawolf of the 1960's, the Zodiac Oceanaire is worthy of continuing the legacy. But will it be the last of a long and storied line? Let's hope not!

Background
Let me start right off by saying that the Zodiac Oceanaire gets little respect, and that's just plain wrong. Maybe it's the dozens of Zodiac quartz watches that have flooded the market in recent years, which may have tainted the brand in the minds of some collectors. Maybe it's plain old watch snobbery or even jealousy, or the use of an other-than-ETA movement. Or maybe it's all of the above.

But the fact is that many watch collectors sniff when they hear the words "Zodiac" and "Oceanaire" used in the same sentence. Starting an Oceanaire thread on any watch forum is like poking a stick in a hornet's nest. The detractors will immediately focus on the Claro-Semag CL-888 movement that powers the Oceanaire as an issue, as if they'd really know the difference between it and any other basic automatic movement.

It's possible that like many other human biases, ignorance is to blame, because of the mysterious origins of the CL-888. It's rumored to be a Swiss-massaged version of the Chinese Sea-Gull ST16, but so far, this heritage hasn't been confirmed, at least to my satisfaction anyway.

But even if it was, so what? There probably isn't a single watch manufacturer in the world that makes all of its parts "in-house". It's all a matter of degrees, and whether or you believe in the myths developed by the watch manufacturers' marketing departments.

This is a movement which, by the way, meets Swiss regulations to carry the "Swiss Made" imprint, which should end all arguments right there. What you'll find is that something like, oh, 99.9% of the detractors do not own an Oceanaire and probably have never seen one. But, they have their firm opinions about the watch.

Well, I'm here to tell you they're wrong. As in Big-Time wrong. The Oceanaire is a fantastically solid piece and, at the bargain-basement prices it's currently going for, I'll even say it ranks up there as one of the best current watch deals to be found.





http://www.webwatchworld.com/zodiac-oceanaire/

Cool review.
Thanks for posting. Great watch.
I now have a new term to add to my vocabulary.
(as it might pertain to a Swiss Invicta)
"Swiss-massaged version"

TimeSurfer seems pretty defensive in his review of the Oceanaire. I always like the watch and yes I've read plenty of Review with the CL-888 stuttering issue. It seems like a hit or miss problem with this movement. Otherwise, I will own a white version in the future.

In general Zodiac / Fossil is not the same brand who once was, nor I think the Oceanaire is remotely in the Seawolf league, or have any Seawolf DNA... that been said and aside from the Claro mov.controversy, the Oceanaire is a pretty well designed and IMHO, offers excellent bang for the buck... like the early examples (great case back's) better than the current breed.