“Zoid Mystery, an avantegard collection that tells time in a unique way” Zoid Website. Unique is definitely a perfect way to describe this watch. I first saw this style of many years ago and I never took the time to really look deeper into it………Fast forward to 2019 now I had the chance to explore this style of time telling dial closely with Zoid’s Mystery.
The modified automatic miyota movement is housed within a 46mm x 12mm stainless steel 316L case.
Winding, setting the time can be accessed via the push/pull stainless crown that is decorated with an etched Zoid logo.
The Zoid Mystery caseback is done in the exhibition style allowing a look at the modified miyota movement.
Strapping the Mystery onto the wrist is done via a quick release style calf leather strap which features a stainless buckle with an etched Zoid logo.
The matte black dial is bordered by a fixed bezel and can be viewed through a sapphire crystal.
Telling time on the Mystery is done via one oversized minute hand that is attached to the hour wheel. The printed hour numerals are coated with superluminova as it the oversized arrow shaped minute hand.
I definitely enjoy the unique style of the Zoid Mystery, both in the unique time telling and in the unique design of the case & dial. As unconventional as the dial may appear, it is extremely easy to understand/read what time it is. The large arrow shaped minute hand functions just as any minute hand does, rotating clockwise 360 degrees around the dial in 60 minutes. The minute hand is semi skeletonized, allowing the obvious view of the dial underneath it and also acting as a frame for the hour to be viewed for time telling purposes. In other words, the printed numeral on the hour wheel that is in the frame, is the hour of what time it is. As the oversized minute hand makes it’s journey around the dial, the hour wheel is rotating slowly until eventually the next hour comes into “frame”.
I really like how the dial is designed to look like a bunch of individual industrial plates that are riveted in place, giving the dial depth. Also giving this dial even further depth is the open heart and the exposed small circular gear. I’m not a huge fan of open hearts on a dial, but it works well on this dial and occasionally it’s covered up by the hour wheel. You get the best of both worlds in my opinion.
The Zoid Mystery was produced in very limited numbers, only 18 of each color variation were produced giving you not only a unique piece but also a “rare” piece. (As my kids refer to getting mystery pack characters, “did I get the rare one?”)
The Zoid Mystery is well executed in terms of design and quality. Is it perfect? No, but a few changes can make it closer to perfect. I don’t like the leather strap at all. It’s thin, and it feels cheap to me. I think that the crown should have been done as a screw down style. I don’t care about the argument of does a screw down crown really offer more protection, but I care that a screw down crown feels more durable. I understand Zoid’s decision to make the fixed bezel polished(catches the light) but I personally think that it would have looked better as a brushed matte finish.
Zoid absolutely nailed this dial, I love every detail on this dial. The consistency of the using the electric blue as accentuating detail on the hands, numerals, minute markers and the arrow/circle. The blue looks absolutely stunning against the matte black dial.
I believe that this style of dial/hands layout is going to be the next thing for a while. Azimuth did it many years ago and as awesome as their watch was, it was a little ahead of its time. I think Zoid’s Mystery will be the first of others to come.
https://zoidhours.com/collections/mystery/products/mystery-blue
$888.00 USD Zoid Mystery
Thanks so much to Alex and Zoid for this opportunity.
A huge thanks as always for reading my review!
Time to Blog Watches 