Independents
Alex introduces ZZ Watches, a new independent brand, and shares his personal experience with their 'Tornade' model. His post highlights the appeal of discovering small, passionate brands and the unique design elements that make the Tornade stand out, particularly its alternative time display and the founders' story.
I can’t get enough when it comes to watches ! I don’t mean buying - even though I wish I had a tree with leaves made of 1000 dollar bills growing in my back yard – but rather in searching about them. And nothing gives me more pleasure than finding a new, small brand which strikes the right chords.
ZZ Watches is one of them.
I stumbled on a photo in Feb or March while surfing the net and I was immediately struck by the visually strong design and most of all the alternative time display with jump hours (at noon) and wondering minutes via an aperture at the bottom.
I found their web site and emailed asking about the watches and price. I rapidly got a response saying that the brand would officially be launched mid April but that they would be happy to show me their pieces. What got me really excited was that it was actually a watch I could afford without having to sell any vital organs (not that said organs actually have any function left it my body J ).
Anyway to make a long story short I met for lunch with the founders of ZZ Watches (a husband and wife thus ZZ being their initials) and what was supposed to be a rapid presentation ended up being a most pleasant 3 hours lunch.
What I find appealing in a watch is obviously the object in itself but also the people behind it and the latter is almost as important as the former and this can make or break it.
With ZZ it was definitely a maker!
The founders are a young couple who love and collect watches but were not from the watch world – which probably explains their crazy venture into horology in these troubled times but also the fact that they had totally fresh ideas!
Without further ado I present to you my Tornado from ZZ Watch
I was first attracted to the Cyclone hereunder with a 39mm case but after trying the larger Tornado (43mm) I opted for the later
theunderdial, notce the circular Geneva waves
The Tornado uses a Soprod base movement with an additional jump hour / wandering minutes module. Thechange of hours is really smooth with no play
The dial is multi layered with an outter honeycomb metal pattern with two bridges on top holding the hour and minute wheel which can bee seen through a blue tinted saphire crystal
ZZ Watches
obviously are not a haute horlogerie brand and those who know me know the
utmost respect I can have for the Dufours, Voutilainens and Ferriers of this
world but its also good to have some fun and the Tornade is that…a watch that
is made with great care with lots of details you don’t see in watches of this
price range but it definitely is fun and has not only been getting a lot of wrist time in the past week but also putting a great smile on my face each time I strap it on 
mixing and matching in the world of horology Alex and the last photo exemplifies it all. When something comes along that ticks your fancy and does not involve a huge sacrifice, why hold back? This ZZ brand looks promising and incorporates a distinctive and unique design that could have come from one of the bigger brands but obviously at a different level and price point. Please tell us more about it and ownership experience when you have the time. In the meantime enjoy your fabulous new acquisit
That is a cool watch, it looks to be quite well made. The design is modern, but not too out there ;-) Great find, I'm glad to hear that the two Zs behind the brand are good people. i agree that knowing the people behind a Brand adds motivation and willingness to support them. BR, Dan
good sign :-) Its a really fun watch to wear and I can actually even wear it with a suit without it looking too sporty. The short lugs and the insert in the strap enables it to sit well on the wrist as well. I really like this piece...what can I say? :-)
this over the 39mm? Does the 43mm look better on the wrist or is there another reason? :)
a bit too small or a bit too calm. I'm fine with wearing 35mm watches as well as 47mm watches so not a question of size but of fit
I really fancy the dial layout, and the asymmetrical location of the hour disc, while maintaining the aperture at 12. Very creative design. Well done, Alex! It goes to show that for a true, passionate "watch guy", the name on the dial is not what is most important.
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