Today, the latest watch I created in collaboration with Zodiac debuts. This new piece is called the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream (reference ZO9295), and it was designed in parallel with the previously launched Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Aquamarine Dream (aBlogtoWatch hands-on) — reportedly Zodiac’s best-seller. aBlogtoWatch even gave a chance to audience members to win a Zodiac Aquamarine Dream timepiece (and I think we will try to do the same for the Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream in the near future). The Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream is not meant to be a limited edition but rather is a limited production watch Zodiac can produce more batches of based on market demand. This is my preferred way to collaborate with brands on new products.

Prior to discussing this beautiful watch and fun project, I want to quickly explain my business relationship with Zodiac. I think this is very important given the current context where pretty much all of aBlogtoWatch’s media competition has become watch stores that earn money based on the performance of sales. That’s all nice and good if you want to be an online store, but it is my professional assessment that a business is either a trusted media publication or a venue to sell goods. I don’t believe there is much merit to the argument that you can truly be both, and aBlogtoWatch has long since cemented the idea that we are a watch magazine and community voice, not a retailer. Accordingly, as with the Super Sea Wolf Aquamarine Dream, the Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream is available for sale from Zodiac and any of its authorized dealers who want to carry the products. I believe that nearly 40 international Zodiac watch dealers carried the Aquamarine Dream, which is exactly what I wished for (i.e. sharing profits with as much of the industry as possible, as opposed to siphoning funds that would normally go to distribution channels). Zodiac is an on-and-off advertising partner of aBlogtoWatch — so that is one side of the business relationship. For this and other watch design projects, I ask for a flat fee for my participation. That means I make the same money if one watch is sold or all of the watches are sold. This structure is very important to me so that I can not only retain credibility and transparency within the wristwatch community but also make sure I can judiciously separate the more academic watch reviewer part of my professional personality from the companion creative part of my personality.

I think this is a salient message to share with the audience so that no one suspects myself or aBlogtoWatch of earning more money by pushing this product via sales or a commission on sold watches. It is very important to me that aBlogtoWatch team members are valued for their creative input and possible ability to help with the generation of new products as category experts, but it is not my intention for aBlogtoWatch or its team members to be in the position of a salesperson. The only thing we want to sell you on is the appeal of the timepiece category in general and the value there is in keeping up to date with the latest timepiece releases and news. I am flattered when companies come to me for creative inspiration, and my rule when participating with them (aside from not being a sales partner) is that they allow me to do something more than simply change colors.

Both the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Aquamarine Dream and this Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream were designed by me in 2019 after finishing a watch + experience trip aBlogtoWatch giveaway we set up with Zodiac in the Bahamas. Zodiac had started doing more collaboration models and expressed interest in doing something together. I decided to be inspired by the natural world and some of the pleasant beauty that I experienced in Nassau, Bahamas. The Super Sea Wolf Aquamarine Dream was inspired by the beautiful colors of the ocean floor in the swimmable waters off the beach, and the Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream is inspired by tropical foliage of all types whose leaves are a deep green which fades to yellow at their tips. While the particular Aquamarine Dream’s underwater hues are more unique to the waters off Nassau, the plant colors that are emphasized in the Pineapple Dream are hues we see in foliage and fruit all over the world. For that reason, I wanted to give this watch a slightly more universal theme — and I decided to focus on the fascinating culture behind the pineapple, as a concept to tie the entire watch composition together.

Aside from the special watch colors, added palm leaves strap, and special packaging, the Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream shares the Aquamarine Dream’s dial design — a feature that you will not find in other Super Sea Wolf models. That includes special hour markers and hands which I designed to be softer, and easier on the eyes. The dial and bezel are meant to evoke the look of tropical plants and fruits. This includes different color hour markers that go from dark to lighter as you move up the dial, a gradient-effect green metallic dial, and of course a gradient-effect bezel (that I’ve never seen before) that helps tie the organic color theme together. Similar to the Aquamarine Dream dial, getting the colors, finishes, and overall look of the dial was a practice of doing many small tweaks and changes. I want to thank the larger Zodiac design team for the many rounds of changes and feedback — allowing us to get as close as possible to the desired visual effect.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but pineapples show up in design language, fashion, interior design, and architecture quite often. I’ve seen them as lamps, sconces, wallpaper patterns, and even as decoration on the exterior facades of buildings. Much of this is related to the historic status that pineapples had of being a very tasty and hard-to-come-by exotic fruit. Britains in particular developed a huge fondness for pineapples during Victorian era England. Until pineapples could be grown in greenhouses in the otherwise inappropriate English climate, they were vaunted signs of wealth and power at social events. So much so that the image of pineapples began to permeate design and culture. For this reason, I thought it would be appropriate to theme this green and yellow watch around the status of the pineapple, which cumulates on the rear of the case with a motif of a pineapple and a message to enjoy “A Slice Of The Good Life.” Wristwatches are most enjoyed as celebration items, and I thought the heritage around the pineapple and the pleasantness of tropical locales made for a great way to celebrate one’s self with this timepiece.

A final nod to the pineapple exists on the watch dial. It is hard to spot (intentionally), but if you look at the end of the seconds hand where it meets the center point, it has the shape of a small pineapple. I thought that was a fun little touch. I really do want people to make of these green and yellow colors what they will. My hope is that each person who enjoys this watch develops their own positive association with the colors. Speaking of colors, there was no way to distill down the best companion strap choice. The Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream comes with a metal bracelet (with comfort-adjust springs in the deployant) as well as a fabric strap. The bracelet now comes on quick-release spring bars for toolless removal. I personally wanted at least three different straps to be included in the kit, but Zodiac (probably correctly) pointed out that people might not want to pay the price premium for all that extra stuff. The watch does look very nice on a dark green matching rubber strap (which you’d have to get separately — 20mm wide straps fit). I very much wanted to also offer a fashionable tropical strap, which is where the palm leaf pattern on the fabric strap comes in. We experimented with various colors, including yellow and green, white and green, and lots of pattern styles. Having to choose just one, I opted for this white and green pattern as I like how it fits with the Pineapple Dream watch, but I also wanted people to consider matching it with other watches.

The Pineapple Dream watch itself uses a Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Compression watch case that is 40mm wide and 13.6mm thick in steel, and water resistant to 200 meters. Over the dial is a box-style AR-coated sapphire crystal, and a mineral crystal is used over the unidirectional rotating diver’s style bezel. Inside the watch is a Fossil Group-produced Swiss Made STP1-21 automatic movement, which operates at 4Hz with 42 hours of power reserve. The dial is designed to be clean and thus has no date window.

I’ve had a lot of fun wearing the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream on both the strap and the bracelet for the few weeks I’ve had my early sample prior to the commercial models being available. I’m very thankful to Zodiac and the other product launch partners who have demonstrated generous enthusiasm in promoting what is essentially my art. On the day this article is meant to be released, I should be wearing my Pineapple Dream and a Hawaiian shirt at the product’s launch event with Zodiac in Los Angeles at the Feldmar Watch Co. along with eBay (where the watches will be available at retail price directly from an authorized dealer). I am excited to see people’s responses to my latest creation. I hope people enjoy it along with the other pieces in their collection. The price for the Zodiac Super Sea Wolf Pineapple Dream watch set is $1,695 USD. Learn more at the Zodiac website.