Zelos Eagle 2 Review | Out Of This World Materials, But…
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4.5 billion years ago, when the earth was still just a cloud of dust, a couple of asteroids collided near Jupiter, and shattered fragments spread across the solar system. They eventually fell to earth a million years ago where they sat until 1906 when the Muonionalusta Meteorite was discovered. A sliver of this interplanetary body now sits upon my wrist today, nestled within the case of the Zelos Eagle 2 Titanium pilot’s watch.
It’s hard to comprehend the journey which this slice of rock has taken, but the alien crystalline structures are undeniably beautiful to behold. In some ways, it’s a shame Zelos didn’t just stop there with this watch - pausing for reverence and leaving some space to ponder the cosmos. But in today’s highly competitive micro-brand marketplace, Zelos decided to throw a whole heap of other exotic materials and textures at this timepiece and flog it at a hair under $1000. Does it work? Yes..and no..
Design
Before you notice the subtle dial texture, you’re immediately hit with classic Flieger “Type B” Pilot’s watch layout shrouded in a matte titanium case. Large white applied Arabic numerals denoting minutes dominate the outer scale with a triangle and two dots to identify 12 o’clock. Moving inwards, a bold applied blue metal circle separates the dial's interior section, within which printed Arabic hour numerals sit. A subtle Zelos logo nestles below the 12 o’clock marker.
The alpha-shaped hour and minute hands are partially skeletonized, heavily lumed, and a long seconds hand with a yellow painted arrow sweeps around a railroad track at the extreme edge of the dial. Zelos are well known for their strong lume game, and this watch doesn’t disappoint. The Superluminova is a mix of blue for the hands and applied digits, whilst the printed seconds track and hour numerals glow green in low light. The larger blue elements emit light for a long time, but the smaller quantities of green lose luminosity relatively quickly.
A 4mm signed crown sits very prominently at 3 o'clock. An unusual turbine-like knurling makes it easy to grip – and is one of several nods to aviation on this Pilot’s timepiece.
The Titanium multi-piece case is mostly sandblasted, with a hardened coating. Its dull grey hue closely resembles the extra-terrestrial dial on this particular model. Other models in the range have a slightly more bronzed tone. But all have the same case design which is very unusual and worth discussing later.
Movement
On the reverse, we have a sapphire display caseback revealing La Joux Perret's G100 Soigné movement. This movement faces some stiff competition with the ubiquitous ETA 2824, Sellita SW200 and Miyota 9015 movements. All share similar sizing and case compatibility. The G100 most closely resembles the Miyota 9015, and is a nice change to the normal microbrand go-tos. Props to Zelos for looking a little outside the box on this one.
Swiss made, the G100 has a few benefits over its Japanese competitor: Firstly, and probably most importantly, the G100 has a 68 hour power reserve versus the Miyota’s 42 hours (and similar for the Sellita SW200 and ETA 2824). This means you could take the Zelos off on Friday afternoon and pick it up on Monday morning without having to set or wind it again – useful if you have a few pieces in your rotation.
The G100 has concentric/cam screw adjustment for controlled fine-tuning of the regulator, whereas the 9015 relies purely on a careful ‘nudge’ of the watchmaker's tweezers. This little feature is useful for precise and controlled timekeeping regulation. Whilst not a watchmaker myself, I suspect this might also offer a touch more impact resistance.
Accuracy tolerances are also finer, with +/-12 seconds per day for the basic LJP G100 vs. -10/+30 for the Miyota 9015. However, it should be noted that Zelos have actually opted to give us an upgraded version of the G100 in ‘Soigné’ form – this is regulated to higher tolerances and average timekeeping is quoted at +/- 7 seconds per day. No doubt the concentric screw helps LJP deliver these accuracy improvements. During my testing, I found it to be running even more accurately at approximately -4 seconds per day.
La Joux Perret supplies this movement to several other affordable elevated microbrands including Anordain and Furlan Marri. I guess the added power reserve and attraction of a genuinely “Swiss made” movement is important to these brands who try to pack as much perceived value into their offerings as possible. It certainly felt like this was a better movement than a bog-standard Miyota 9015. You are certainly getting more for your money on the movement front.
The downside to using a less common movement is that parts may be harder to obtain than the more traditional competition. Servicing or repairs could be more expensive when the time comes. I'm sure LJP are working hard on this aspect of the business and personally, I think it would be a small price to pay for the far greater benefit of an entire extra day of power reserve.
Viewing the movement through the case back, it’s objectively minimalist – mostly dominated by large fixing plates, but a few jewels, cut-outs and gold-colored wheels are visible and contrast nicely with the dark metal plates and the winding wheels and balance wheel. Its understated quality is probably my favorite part of this watch. However, subtlety is thrown to the wind with an obvious turbine design printed on the tungsten winding rotor. Black paint picks out 'fan blades', whilst bright yellow accents at the edges of the blades conjure up jet fighter aesthetics and echo the yellow accent on the seconds hand.
Unscrewing the crown, position 0 winds the watch, but I was surprised to find position 1 seems to be a ghost-date position – with the crown spinning but not adjusting anything on the dateless dial. These ghost positions can often be deleted and with all the other boxes ticked by Zelos, it seems a shame to have this quirk remain. It's not a problem, but it can be disconcerting during the first few operations when you think something’s broken. It's only really a mild annoyance once you know it exists. Position 2 hacks the seconds which allows for accurate setting of the time.
Specifications
|
Case Diameter |
39.1mm |
|
Case Thickness (incl. Crystal) |
13.1mm |
|
Lug-to-Lug |
48mm |
|
Lug Width |
20mm |
|
Water Resistance |
100m |
|
Price |
$999 RRP |
Case Construction
One of the standout features of this watch is the curious case construction. Formed from multiple parts, there’s quite a lot to unpack. Between the Crystal and Caseback sits a barrel-shaped mid-case housing the movement, and engraved with a honeycomb pattern. This mid-case is enclosed within a skeletonized frame, formed from the lugs, which provides the fixing points for the caseback and bezel to sit in and hold everything in place. The lugs are angular and have cutouts allowing even greater visibility of the honeycomb barrel casing. A large bevel, flanking the lug tops is highly polished and catches the light nicely. Despite the stark looks, the case sits relatively comfortably on the wrist.
The sharp, angular lines and matte blasted finishing, combined with the advanced lightweight materials evoke the purposeful and uncompromising design of a modern military fast jet. It’s a brave, and likely expensive case package – titanium is significantly denser and harder to machine than Stainless Steel, so tooling for this unique case construction must have been pricey.
Despite the overall dimensions being conservative at 39mm, it's certainly not a subtle piece. Rather than flying under the radar, the Eagle 2 looks like it might cheat radar detection altogether through stealth technology. I think it delivers on what the designers aimed to achieve – an F35 for your wrist.
What I didn’t like:
TIME: The central hour markers are denoted by triangular hour pips, some of these pips do not appear to be printed as accurately as perhaps they should be. When the minute hand sits dead at 12 o’clock, the hour hand is not centered over the hour marker – they’re a few degrees out. Only at 2 minutes past does the center of the hour hand directly hover over the center of the hour marker. Ultimately this means that the watch is not indicating the correct time. This is not something you’re going to notice day to day or without a loupe. But when you’re spending $1000 for Zelos to print an arrow on a piece of outer space, you would think the quality controls might be a little better here.
CASE: Whilst interesting for the eyes, the practicality of the honeycomb finishing is not ideal for regular wear. If you look closely at our photos, the sections of mid-case on either side of the crown have started to accumulate dirt. The engraved pattern is quite roughly finished with micro-peaks and troughs; further exacerbating the dirt-collecting properties of the texture. The holes within the lugs also accumulate dust and lint quite quickly too. So depending on your levels of OCD, this piece is going to need more than the usual wipe from a t-shirt to keep it clean.
CROWN: The crown is a significant ‘feature’ of the watch. Sitting significantly proud of the case when screwed in (approximately 4mm), when fully extended, the crown extends a full 9mm from the mid-case to the the tip of the crown. In the model tested, I experienced some wobble of the crown when unscrewed. I’ve experienced this with Miyota movements too and I’m not sure it’s anything to be worried about, or fixed, per se. But given the sheer length of this crown, the range of motion is accentuated, deflecting by at least 0.5mm. Not catastrophic, but not the solid feeling you should expect for a $1000 watch.
BLUEING: Subjective, and certainly a personal gripe: The blueing of the dial furniture is not authentic heat blued steel. It’s a lighter hue of blue, either stained or anodised. Looking very closely at the circular ring on the dial, you can even see a ring of silver metal skirting the bottom of the applied piece. Some folks may really love the pop of color on an otherwise very grey watch. Personally, I found it somewhat jarring and the fact it’s an obvious short-cut to heat blueing cheapens the watch - a shame given the effort Zelos have gone to for many other aspects of the package. The other Eagle 2 models have different colored hands and dial elements which work better in my eyes.
STRAP: I have yet to find a perfect rubber strap. There are certainly some lovely soft, subtle Silicone aftermarket examples out there, but this FKM Rubber offering from Zelos is not one of them. Rubber’s propensity to return to it’s original form, means it tends to want to sit perfectly circular when fastened on a wrist. If you have a more circular wrist cross-section, I’m sure this suits you well. But for a flat-wrister like me, I find thicker rubber straps like the one accompanying the Eagle 2 put a lot of pressure and wear on the sides of my wrist. I inevitably ended-up reaching for a fabric strap and wondered to myself why Zelos hadn’t gone for something more Flieger-inspired – either a technical fabric, embossed leather, or even a nice bracelet could have been expected for the price point. Fortunately, the Zelos strap has quick-release springbars so you can get rid of this thing pronto.
What I liked:
As you may have recognised, I am enamored with the meteorite dial. It’s a material usually reserved for watches 10x more expensive. So to see this on a sub $1000 watch is really cool.
The movement is above average for a watch at this price-point; Both in terms of power reserve, and accuracy, Zelos are rightly proud to print LJP on the caseback of this model. The G100 Soigné is a solid piece of kit for the money.
Not only is this case titanium, but it has also been surface hardened - solving a common issue of titanium scratching and oxidizing easily. Not only that, but then Zelos went and did this whole skeletonized-multipart case thing. And then they’ve created the honeycomb texture around the mid-case. This is not cheap or easy to do, so once again, you’re getting a lot of design and engineering for your money.
Alternatives
There are several different colorways of the Zelos Eagle 2 Titanium. Of the series, I’d probably try to let the case and Flieger numerals do most of the talking and opt for a less flashy dial material – either the Arctic White or Aventurine versions would work here.
If Fliegers are your thing, but you’re looking for less afterburners, and more propellers and shearling, take a look at Laco’s 39mm Speyer model for a more, classic Pilot’s watch vibe.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think Zelos ticked a lot of boxes with this model. Value is certainly there; a higher than average quality movement, an interesting and genuinely unique dial, plus plenty of attention to detail on the case.
However, the overall package feels incongruous:
The historical Flieger arabics designed for the visibility of a WWII pilot didn’t suit the distracting angular Titanium case reminiscent of a 5th Gen fighter jet. The short-cut faux-heat blued hands felt cheap when attached to a 4 billion-year-old dial face. The low quality rubber strap on the $1000 watch.
Sometimes, less is more, particularly for a Flieger, where crystal clarity is the name of the game. I think Zelos went overboard on the box-ticking exercise and it feels a little bit like a parts bin-build. They threw everything at it and the end result is, as Zelos describe it; "visually complex". There is plenty to enjoy, but it’s far from a purist’s watch.
If you’re looking for objective value for money; a unique titanium case, with limited edition dials and above-average movement, this certainly punches above its weight.
But if you’re looking for a classic and balanced watch which will stand the test of time, this might not be the timepiece for you.
The reviewed model is a Limited Edition Run of 150 and is sold out online, but other versions in the line are still available at the time of writing.