The Zodiac x eBay Super Sea Wolf limited edition reference ZO9311 watch is the third Zodiac watch I have been responsible for creating. This follows the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Aquamarine Dream and the later Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream. This project between Zodiac and eBay is one I both helped set up and also had the privilege of creatively directing, with the primary design elements being conceived by me. The Zodiac and eBay teams contributed to refining the concept, as well as experimenting with a variety of small style variations and tweaks. I am really happy with the overall outcome (though I did get a bit ambitious at times), as this Zodiac Super Sea Wolf x eBay timepiece is both cheerful-looking and feels like a classic tool watch. Let me explain more about the collaboration and what the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf x eBay design means to me.
Please note that while Zodiac (a part of the Fossil Group) and eBay are existing and/or former clients, aBlogtoWatch does not have a business relationship with the sale of these timepieces. I designed this watch out of my enthusiasm for Zodiac, and my veteran status as an eBay user. I am not trying to convince anyone to get this watch, I merely want to talk about the process of coming up with the design, and the complexity of translating a website platform into the basis for a limited edition watch design.
Why did Zodiac decide to make an eBay watch in the first place? Zodiac, like a few other watch brands, has brand-new products which are available to purchase directly from eBay. In essence, rather than third parties selling new or used Zodiac watches on the major platform, Zodiac itself has a storefront on eBay that allows users on the platform to purchase brand-new Zodiac watches at retail prices. To help celebrate this relationship, I offered to design an exclusive Zodiac watch that could only be purchased on eBay. The resulting outcome is this 300-piece limited edition Zodiac x eBay Super Sea Wolf watch, which users are only able to purchase on eBay (there is a link below). I am proud to have been a part of it.
When thinking about the design, I didn’t want to devote too much focus on watch enthusiasts, while ignoring the interest of mainstream consumers (as well as dedicated eBay fans and staff members). The goal was to have an affordable luxury timepiece product that would be satisfying to the largest number of people, and thus be both familiar but also distinctive enough to separate itself from the crowd. Another limitation was not being able to radically change anything about the Super Sea Wolf watch, as this is a relatively small production run. The one thing I really wanted but that didn’t make it to the final production watch was a selection of extra straps. My idea was either that each watch would come with four sets of colored straps (to represent eBay’s four-color logo), or a random colored strap so the user wouldn’t quite know if their watch was going to have a green, yellow, blue, or red additional rubber strap wearing option. The good news is that there are plenty of third-party 20mm wide rubber straps (available on eBay of course) in those colors, allowing owners of the Zodiac x eBay Super Sea Wolf watch to enhance the fashionability of the watch as they like. As it is, the watch comes with both a removable (on quick-release bars) steel bracelet (with spring-loaded comfort ends on the butterfly-style deployant clasp) and a black rubber tropic-style strap.
eBay doesn’t have much in terms of recognizable artwork, characters, or graphics (other than its logo), even for people who regularly use the platform. For that reason, it was challenging to come up with a design for the watch that would evoke a sense of “eBay-ness,” since its user interface doesn’t offer much direction. What I did was focus on the four colors that typify the eBay logos most people are familiar with, while also tying into the “rainbow dial” trend. Over the last few years, watch dials with a variety of bright colors (even rainbow hues) have become popular in a way that they have not been historically, especially for men. I thus wanted to connect that trend with eBay’s recognizable colors. The result was to create four quadrants on the dial out of the twelve hour markers, and use the same color for three hour markers in a row. What I am most happy about is that the resulting dial is legible, without becoming garish. Having too many colors can be a risk, but I think the predominance of conservative tones and finishes (such as the black dial and steel case) helps keep the overall design grounded and mature.
The rear of the watch is where you’ll find the eBay logo, as I felt no need to place it on the dial. I also decided to go with a no-date dial, for the obvious choice of preserving the important sense of symmetry and color balance. A fun little change to the design of the Super Sea Wolf watch on this eBay limited edition is the bezel. It looks like a standard diver’s timing bezel, but the numerals are reversed. That turns the bezel into a countdown timer, which allows you to use the watch to easily count down any time up to 60 minutes. This is meant to remind people of eBay auctions and the final thrilling minutes of a hot listing. Many of us carefully count down the moment until an auction ends, and this watch’s countdown timer bezel is my utilitarian nod to the actual experience of being on eBay. I am curious to hear how other long-time eBay users respond to this fun little design tweak.
The core Zodiac Super Sea Wolf watch is a fan-favorite vintage-style diver’s watch, with 200 meters of water resistance and a 40mm wide steel case. The watch has a sapphire crystal over the dial, and a black ceramic bezel. The applied hour markers and hands are painted with SuperLumiNova for darkness visibility. Inside the watch is an in-house Fossil Group Swiss Made STP 1-21 automatic movement. The movement operates at 4Hz, with a power reserve of 40 hours. This movement is also the recently upgraded version, which includes a silicon hairspring as part of the regulation system for increased performance and accuracy.
Many of the people I had in mind to enjoy this watch are actually not necessarily watch collectors and enthusiasts, but eBay devotees who perhaps have made a career on the platform. A large number of people over the years since eBay was first founded in the mid-1990s have used the important marketplace platform to earn a living. eBay is also responsible for allowing a large number of small to medium-sized businesses to thrive, allowing them to access customers (or items) on the platform. I had all of those people in mind when wanting to give them a classy and meaningful way to celebrate the importance that eBay has had for them. That doesn’t count the many people who work at eBay, who may be able to proudly wear one of these timepieces on a daily basis. This was a fun design project to work on, and I thank Zodiac and eBay for the opportunity to come up with another fun wristwatch design. I hope people enjoy it as well. The Zodiac x eBay Super Sea Wolf reference ZO9311 is a limited edition watch of 300 pieces with a price of $1,695 USD. It can be exclusively purchased on eBay here. Visit the Zodiac website here.
