Vintage watch experience 古董手錶: Vintage ZRC & Triton diver watch

If you are a serious vintage diver watch collector, one of the must collect cult brand is the ZRC, a legendary French dive watch maker known for its association with Jacques Cousteau.

The ZRC divers from the '60s are coveted by collectors for good reasons, not least of which being that they were serious tools. The French Navy used these watches, and they were designed with both creative and practical features. The most obvious was that the crowns were affixed at the bottom of the case, and protected from accidental shearing by both the case and bracelet. The bezels were also designed to ratchet counter-clockwise only, preventing accidental rotation which could have led to timing problems.

Here is some further, interesting detail, taken from the recent introduction of the ZRC 300 re-edition:

In the early 1960s, Louis BRUNET and the Annecy diving team with the support of local figures such as Louis SERVETAZ, launched plans for an affordable and efficient diving watch. Messrs. PASTRES & DIGNE, watchmakers in Toulon, diving watch specialists contributed wholeheartedly to the creation of the Grands Fonds 300 which will be immediately approved by the French Navy. After several months of tests, the Navy asked ZRC to “modify” few things such as the 3 o’clock crown too vulnerable during the underwater manipulations. The Navy as well asked for a “smart” sizable metal band system together with a mean to protect the crown without impeding wrist movement and above all, to ensure it could not open under water. The team set work and developed the famous 6 o’clock crown, connected to the case using an exclusive system consisting of a canon cut from a single block, making the Grands Fonds 300 the first watch to be equipped with a 100% Monobloc case. Furthermore, the case is machined in a particular type of steel reinforced with molybdenum that is completely anti magnetic (an absolute necessity for the Mine Clearance Divers’ group). All watches therefore underwent a test period, being trialed in all possible conditions of “military-related harsh use”. The STCM in Paris approved the new equipment and entered it into the general equipment catalog for the commissariat, attributing it the 6645 family member for deep sea diving watch.

Motored with the 2472 ETA movement, the GF300 is more than reliable. Its super luminous MAGNUM hands provide a perfect legibility underwater. Revolutionary watch under many ways, the GF300 was issued to the Paris fire fighter department as well as the French waterskiing team. But it was above all the watch of the French Navy (Toulon diving school, 3rd division of Toulon Mine Clearance Group, the Hubert Commando) as well as the Italian Navy. It was also adopted by non-military units supported by the French Navy, including the famous CALYPSO of Commander COUSTEAU, which took the watch around the world and firmly established its reputation.

The ZRC Spartiale has the most colourful and futuristic design. These are currently under values and I believe the prices of these will escalate upwards in the future.

There are three versions of these namely the LE Jour, ZRC spartiale 300 and AMF. Of the two versions that I have, namely the Spartiale is with 25 jewels and another Le Jour ZRC300 is made for the US in 17 jewels. Both watches are in almost NOS conditions. The most important is with the metal bracelets, which is surprisingly comfortable to wear.

ZRC Spatiale 300, a limited-edition model released to celebrate the Apollo 8 Moon Orbit. Only 1000 units were produced, making them a rare find today.

ZRC gained recognition not only for this model but also for collaborating with Jacques Cousteau and the French Navy, which resulted in the creation of a plethora of iconic watches. The ZRC Spatiale 300 clinched a bronze medal at the 1968 Besançon International Watch Fair. It is powered by a 25-jewel mechanical self-winding PUW 1463 movement (Pforzheimer Uhren Werke). The date and crown are both at 4 o'clock and the day is at 9 o'clock.

Of all the ZRC watches, the one that commands premium is the ZRC Grands Fonds Series 2 as photo below with the signature dotted bezels and wide hour and minute hands.