One of the Very First Dive Watches Is Back — and Surprisingly Affordable

Zodiac resurrected an obscure vintage find that pre-dates even the Sea Wolf.

Published September 30, 2024

·

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

We’ve all heard the origin story of the modern dive watch by now.

Back in 1953, three brands — independently and, apparently, by coincidence — came up with a new type of tool watch. This game-changing watch genre was purpose-built for the then-new sport of scuba diving and combined a high water resistance rating with a rotating timing bezel and luminous hands and markers.

Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms is credited as the first of the three, but Rolex’s Submariner and Zodiac’s Sea Wolf weren’t far behind.

But the very first Zodiac dive watches launched in 1953 weren’t technically Sea Wolf divers. That name wouldn’t appear on a watch until a few years later; these very first Zodiac divers had no name on the dial and were known only by their reference number: 691.

Today, Zodiac has faithfully recreated the Ref. 691 diver with a few interesting modern updates, thanks to some help from the vintage watch experts at Craft & Tailored.

Zodiac Ref. 691

$1,695 at Zodiac

71 Years Later…

The new iteration of the pre-Sea Wolf is very similar to the original diver from 1953, but there are some key differences.

First, let’s go over the similarities. For one, the case size is still a compact 36mm, making this very small for a modern dive watch but also on trend thanks to the recent comeback of vintage-inspired midsize divers led by the Tudor Black Bay 54.

Next, the dial text remains the same, with no mention of Sea Wolf to be found, while the unique retro indices and dauphine hands have also carried over. Even the original dial colors, black and cream, have also been recreated — though the latter is available exclusively through Craft & Tailored.

zodiac watch on some rope — From the countdown bezel to the retro dial furniture, the new 691 diver is very similar to the 1953 original.

The stainless steel bezel remains in the countdown style more frequently seen on pilot’s watches, but it now has a more dive-appropriate unidirectional function rather than the bidirectional setup of the original.

Now, onto the differences. The new crown screws down, as you’ll find on any modern dive watch, and the water resistance has doubled from 100m to 200m. The domed crystal has also changed from acrylic to sapphire. The black-dial version features the same faux-rivet bracelet you’ll find on other modern Sea Wold Skin Divers, while the cream Craft & Tailor edition gets a bracelet sans rivets.

zodiac watch on a mans wrist — The 36mm case size not only mimics the original, but also makes the new Zodiac diver a great fit for nearly all wrists.

The biggest, most significant and most curious change, however, is found inside the watch. Instead of going with an automatic movement like the one found in the original ref. 691 — or every other Sea Wolf diver in Zodiac’s modern catalog — the new 691 houses a manually wound movement.

The STP1-21 caliber from Zodiac’s sister brand and Swiss-based manufacture STP features a 40-hour power reserve, and it marks the first time a hand-would movement has been used in any modern Zodiac watch. Why Zodiac chose a dive watch with a screw-down crown for this honor is a mystery to me, but the movement does help to further differentiate the watch from Zodiac’s other vintage-themed divers.

zodiac watch glowing in the dark — The dial of the reborn Ref. 691 is identical to the original, right down to its “unsigned” lack of a Sea Wolf logo.

Pricing and Availability

The new ref. 691 is limited to 400 examples in the black dial, which is available on Zodiac’s website, and just 100 units of the cream dial, which you can only get from Craft & Tailored.

Both styles have the same price, and despite the likelihood that these retro reissues will prove popular with collectors, Zodiac and C&T kept that SRP very reasonable. The new Zodiac Ref. 691 is listed at just $1,695.

That’s only $100 more than Zodiac’s standard Sea Wolf Skin Diver, and in my eyes is an absolute steal for such a well-thought-out and faithful (and not to mention rare) tribute to one of the very first modern dive watches.