Zelos Announces New Chronograph | Update: All Colorways Sold Out
UPDATE: Two colorways sold out in under ten minutes. The Salmon and Gulf models were gone first, while the Panda lasted a bit longer. About four hours after the drop occurred, that was gone too. Hope you snagged one!
The Zelos Spearfish was among the very first microbrand watches I bought. On a recent vacation to Hawaii, it was also the only watch I brought with me and loved having that on my wrist every second. Most recently, the Zelos Comet made a splash when some colorways sold out in less than a minute online. I managed to score the Tuxedo variant, which is still available, but what I really wanted was one of the Aventurine units.
Now Zelos are about to release yet another piece that is likely to sell out pretty quickly, especially given the price and specs. The new 40mm Vitesse Chronograph is a racing-inspired timepiece, complete with a tachymeter scale. It features a La Joux Perret L100 automatic movement and marks the second time that Zelos have used a movement from La Joux Perret (the Spearfish was the first, featuring a G100 automatic movement). The movement features a custom-designed rotor and a very nice 68-hour power reserve.
The Vitesse is available in three different colorways; 'Salmon', 'Gulf', and 'Panda'. I'm betting the 'Salmon' will sell out first, followed by the 'Panda' and then the 'Gulf'. Each comes with a beads-of-rice bracelet with screw pins for adjustment.
Zelos fans will appreciate that unlike the recently-released Comet, the Vitesse does indeed feature their hardening coating. Applied to the 316L stainless steel case, it increases the surface hardness to 1200HV on the Vickers scale. For comparison, 316L stainless steel usually comes in at around 152HV on the same scale. It's important to note that unlike some other watches like the Spearfish, the coating here is applied only to the case, not to the bracelet.
The Vitesse will drop at 11pm Singapore time on Thursday, August 04, 2022. That's 8am Pacific, 11am Eastern for those in the US. The launch special price is $1,199 USD and goes up to $1,499 after August 31, 2022.