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Zeno Watch Basel is a Swiss watch manufacturer that was founded in 1868 by Jules Godat. The company was originally known as Godat watch production until it was taken over by Eideldinger & Sohne. It was at this point that the company was renamed to Zeno. This name is derived from the famous Greek philosopher Zeno of Kition and roughly translates to “gift from God”.
Since its inception, Zeno has been sold a number of times to different investors but is currently in the hands of the Huber family having relocated the business to Basel in Switzerland. Zeno is one of the few Swiss-watch brands which calls itself “family owned”. The Huber family is not associated with the original founding of the Swiss brand, but they are not a faceless multinational corporation either.
Throughout their illustrious history, Zeno has been known to make quite a wide variety of watch models and are specifically known for their classic pilot collection amongst other things. Perhaps the most well known Zeno watch of all is the “spaceman” which is a very obscure watch that looks like it belongs in a 1980s movie.
In modern day, Zeno are quite an obscurely placed brand. If you ask a random member of the public what they think of the brand, they will have never heard of, or seen a Zeno watch. This is because the brand does not spend significant amounts of money on advertising like other Swiss watch brands. You will not see a Zeno advertisement at a grand prix, neither will you see them in the shop window of your local watch dealer. Therefore it is a brand that is mostly appreciated by those interested in both luxury Swiss watches and the history of horology.
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Are Zeno Watches Good Quality?
When reviewing the quality of Zeno watches, there is absolutely no doubt they are a solid Swiss brand that makes both mid-level and also luxury timepieces.
Starting at the bottom end of the Zeno-watch range, you can find a small variety of ETA based quartz watches. In fairness, this is about as high-end as you can get for quartz movements. In the middle of Zeno watches range are various dive watches that primarily use ETA movements, as well as pilot watches that use automatic Valjoux 7750 chronograph movements. These are both extremely solid and highly regarded amongst the watch community.
You will see these movements in luxury watch brands such as Raymond Weil, Oris, and Breitling, which should give you a good idea of where the company is in regards to its level of craftsmanship.
At the very high end of the Zeno range, there are a few limited edition tourbillon pieces that retail in the 6 figure range. This is quite unusual for a brand that produces $400 watches but does not detract from their quality. All Zeno watches are Swiss made and some of the luxury pieces use expensive materials such as 18k gold.
There is no doubt then that Zeno makes very high quality watches – a quality which gets higher as the price of the watch increases.
Are Zeno Watches Good Value For Money?
Overall, it would be fair to say that Zeno watches are fairly average value for money. Although it is quite difficult to find a Swiss brand that offers fantastic value for money since it is a market of very established brands using very similar movements to one another.
Zeno watches use very similar movements to their competitors and are available to buy at similar prices. Given this fact, it is difficult to say that Zeno are particularly good or bad value for money.
In fact, it could be argued that the lower end Zeno watches which use ETA movements are quite a bit more expensive than other Swiss brands such as Luminox, Wenger, or Tissot. All of these brands produce similar quality watches for prices that are slightly cheaper than Zeno.
Lastly, in terms of ultra luxury Zeno watches, there are many Swiss manufacturers that make tourbillon watches with similar complications for a cheaper price, or have a better reputation.
Overall, Zeno has their own unique style, but you can find less expensive watches from other Swiss brands which are built to a similar quality.
The Best Zeno Watches
Zeno Explorer
The Zeno explorer is one of the brand’s more modern and well known pieces. It may look quite familiar as it is a very similar design to the first edition of the Rolex Explorer. Older versions of this watch used Miyota movements, although thankfully Zeno has switched back to full Swiss production and is now using super reliable ETA instead.
Overall, the Zeno explorer is very rugged and reliable although unremarkable. It is a classic design and has been left pretty much unchanged since the 1950s. This should give you a good idea of whether you think the watch is for you or not as it has a very vintage look and feel to it. With that being said, it is still not an undersized watch like most 1950s models and has a 38mm case size – bringing it up to today’s standards.
Zeno GMT
GMT watches are well known for being the first real commercial pilots watches. Since the 1950s these watches have enabled you to track two timezones at once by using the 4th GMT hand on the dial and tracking it around the outer bezel.
As you can see, the Zeno GMT has a classic design with an oversized 45mm case and a red/black bezel. This distinctive design is used by pretty much every other brand that makes GMT watches. Overall, this watch is pretty fair value for money as it uses a quartz movement.
Zeno Automatic Dive Watch
It is nice to see a brand that doesn’t simply copy the design of the Rolex submariner in order to try and sell more watches. This zeno dive watch has a great royal green bezel and dial, although if you’re not a fan of this, there are other colors available. Of course, this watch is a real divers watch and has water resistance of up to 300m as well as a 38 hour power reserve.
All in all, you will find cheaper dive watches from other brands, but this is very well made, Swiss and oversized. The 18mm thickness doesn’t really show up well from photos of the watch, but it is ideal for those who have larger wrists and don’t want a tiny watch.
Zeno Pilot Watch
Zeno are best known for their history of pilots watches. This model is a modern take on a classic design. With a case size of 47mm (very oversized) you certainly won’t think this watch is vintage. Although if you were to inspect the dial, you can see that not much has really been changed from the original pilot’s watch models.
Once again, there are less expensive pilots watches from other Swiss brands that use the same or similar ETA movements. Therefore, this is not a particularly good value watch. However, if you’re a fan of Zeno pilot watches, it’s not a rip off by any means – there are just other watches for better prices.
Zeno Tourbillon
Rather strangely Zeno created some limited edition tourbillon pieces made of 18k gold. These watches are relatively “cheap” compared to rival brands such as A Lange & Sohne or Breguet. Although, if you have 6 figures to spend on a watch, I am not sure why you would choose Zeno over either of these brands in order to save money.
In fairness, I don’t believe I am qualified to judge which tourbillon watches are better than others since I have never owned one and likely never will. Obviously, the time and effort taken to make a tourbillon in Switzerland cannot be underestimated and is extremely expensive.
