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Zodiac Z07402 dragon wing chronograph
i have looked at Zodiac watches for many years and have liked most of them although sometimes the designs are a bit odd or they have been too expensive at the time, when the opportunity of the Dragon Wing came up i jumped as it has the looks that i like and it was also the right price [ which is always useful
]
Zodiac as a brand has been going for a very long time and have at the moment got some stunning retro looking timepieces in their modern catalogue, well worth a look: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The Dragon Wing runs a Ronda Startech 5020B, this is a high quality 10 Jewel quartz that is serviceable and reparable
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
the startech movements have extended battery life, in this case its 54 months and this can be extended to 9 years if the crown is pulled when the watch is not in use, this is extraordinary for a standard 395 cell.
The face consists of center seconds chrono, running seconds at 3 and combined 2 hand register at 9 showing minutes up to 60 and hours up to 12, there is also the large date display at 6 which uses cleverly cutout date discs running on the same track, unlike some big dates out there this watch WONT show you the 39th of the month
the lume of the hours/minute hands and numbers are the usual bright pale green tritium and the dial is matt black so no glare, the crystal is 4mm domed mineral, i may have prefered sapphire, but mineral doesnt show finger prints the same so no big deal and it is optically very good with zero distortion.
the case measures 46mm not including the crown, but is very comfortable and is about 12mm deep with 22mm lug width, on both sides of the case there are separate steel panels that that are let into the case body, both are coated with what looks like [ and i cant find out for sure anywhere] Titanium Nitrate, which give the little panels a matt grey effect, this is the same as the center portions on the bracelets links.
surprisingly for a Pilots watch it has a screwdown crown, but the watch is only rated to 100 meters.......maybe this is for crash landings on open water
the caseback IMO is a belter and sealed the deal for me, its almost worth wearing it back to front............almost !
this is a watch i will wear a lot as it ticks all the right boxes for me from the size to the readability of the dial plus functions etc, but like everything in life its not perfect
for me the let down is the Titanium Nitrate coating...........as most will already know Ti is a really tough metal and very light and it greatly exceeds steel, aluminium and other commonly used metals, but the one big let down is its so easily marked..i find it is softer than aluminium, but so much more difficult to polish, some say Ti self heals.......it doesnt ! if you scratch it bright shiny metal is exposed and over time it oxidises and in doing so the scratch will fade slightly.....but it wont self heal.........ever! 
i am considering removing all the Ti coating and brush finishing the areas, i think this would look pretty good
anyway.....the important bit............the pics
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
i have looked at Zodiac watches for many years and have liked most of them although sometimes the designs are a bit odd or they have been too expensive at the time, when the opportunity of the Dragon Wing came up i jumped as it has the looks that i like and it was also the right price [ which is always useful
]Zodiac as a brand has been going for a very long time and have at the moment got some stunning retro looking timepieces in their modern catalogue, well worth a look: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The Dragon Wing runs a Ronda Startech 5020B, this is a high quality 10 Jewel quartz that is serviceable and reparable
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
the startech movements have extended battery life, in this case its 54 months and this can be extended to 9 years if the crown is pulled when the watch is not in use, this is extraordinary for a standard 395 cell.
The face consists of center seconds chrono, running seconds at 3 and combined 2 hand register at 9 showing minutes up to 60 and hours up to 12, there is also the large date display at 6 which uses cleverly cutout date discs running on the same track, unlike some big dates out there this watch WONT show you the 39th of the month
the lume of the hours/minute hands and numbers are the usual bright pale green tritium and the dial is matt black so no glare, the crystal is 4mm domed mineral, i may have prefered sapphire, but mineral doesnt show finger prints the same so no big deal and it is optically very good with zero distortion.
the case measures 46mm not including the crown, but is very comfortable and is about 12mm deep with 22mm lug width, on both sides of the case there are separate steel panels that that are let into the case body, both are coated with what looks like [ and i cant find out for sure anywhere] Titanium Nitrate, which give the little panels a matt grey effect, this is the same as the center portions on the bracelets links.
surprisingly for a Pilots watch it has a screwdown crown, but the watch is only rated to 100 meters.......maybe this is for crash landings on open water
the caseback IMO is a belter and sealed the deal for me, its almost worth wearing it back to front............almost !
this is a watch i will wear a lot as it ticks all the right boxes for me from the size to the readability of the dial plus functions etc, but like everything in life its not perfect
for me the let down is the Titanium Nitrate coating...........as most will already know Ti is a really tough metal and very light and it greatly exceeds steel, aluminium and other commonly used metals, but the one big let down is its so easily marked..i find it is softer than aluminium, but so much more difficult to polish, some say Ti self heals.......it doesnt ! if you scratch it bright shiny metal is exposed and over time it oxidises and in doing so the scratch will fade slightly.....but it wont self heal.........ever! i am considering removing all the Ti coating and brush finishing the areas, i think this would look pretty good
anyway.....the important bit............the pics
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
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