A few months back, one of my friends messaged me to ask about a brand called Zeroo Time, and whether it was one that I had heard of. It wasn’t a brand that I knew, and nor was it one that anybody else I asked about it seemed to be aware of. After doing a little digging, Zeroo Time certainly made for an interesting prospect – after all, there aren’t many watch brands which offer a fully skeletonised tourbillon watch for a little over £2000, or even a double tourbillon for less than £3000.
Tourbillons are widely seen as the epitome of high-end watchmaking, mastered by the most skilful of watchmakers. Previously, the “cheapest” tourbillon watches of recent years (at least that I knew of) were the TAG Heuer Carrera 02T which is priced at around £15000, and more recently the Horage Tourbillon 1 which was a limited run priced at around £7000.
Horage 'Tourbillon 1' – photo, The Limited Edition
Even these both represent a substantial reduction in cost compared with what is normally found with a tourbillon watch, so with Zeroo Time offering a tourbillon watch for a little over £2000, you can start to see why the proposition piqued my intrigue!
To start with, let’s take a look at Zeroo Time as a brand and what it offers, given it is not a brand I expect many people will know much about.
Zeroo Time Watches
First and foremost, Zeroo Time is the brainchild of designer and director ‘SYUU’. According to the brand’s website, SYUU previously worked in product design within the consumer electronics industry, having also spent time designing wristwatches as well, before founding Zeroo Time in Tokyo, Japan, back in 2017.
Each of the watches under the Zeroo Time banner are designed by SYUU, with a core ethos of looking to bring pieces which might normally have only been within the reach of the super-wealthy to a greater audience. This goal has been realised slowly over the past few years, with financial support obtained through crowdfunding watches via Kickstarter.
The first watch was essentially a fashion watch, the Zeroo Art series, which was released in 2018, just 6 months or so after the brand was founded. Things then escalated rather quickly with a quartz moonphase watch, the Zeroo Classic series in August 2020, and the brand’s first skeleton tourbillon launch in October 2020, the Zeroo T1 Archer. Today, there are 4 Zeroo Time collections: the Zeroo Classic, Zeroo Modern, Zeroo T (tourbillon) and Zeroo Double T (a double tourbillon).
Given the price, it should come as no surprise to learn that the movement itself is Chinese. However, Zeroo Time assemble them in Japan, where they also carry out their own quality control.
It’s an interesting concept, and I applaud the fact that they have been able to bring the price of tourbillon watches down to the level that they have, which has opened up the possibility of owning a tourbillon watch to a whole new realm of collectors.
Zeroo Time T4 Skeleton Tourbillon Watch
Ultimately my friend went with the Zeroo T4, one of five Zeroo T tourbillon watch designs on offer. The T4 is a sports model with skeletonised movement and tonneau case – an aesthetic clearly inspired by Richard Mille watches. Handling the watch for the first time, I have to say, I was impressed!
On the wrist it was comfortable and lightweight – we even borrowed his kitchen scales to confirm that it was in fact just 88 grams, including the strap and clasp. The case is made from 316L stainless steel (the most commonly used stainless steel variant in the watch industry) and measures 41mm wide, 48mm long, and 12.5mm thick.
All told, I think this works well – whilst the 48mm long dimension seems large, thanks to the curved tonneau case this hugs the wrist quite nicely and is, in effect, akin to a lug-to-lug measurement owing to the integrated rubber strap (which arrives uncut to ensure that clients can tailor the strap to their own wrists – the strap has several grooves inside that can be used to guide cutting).
Where the skeletonisation of the movement is designed to show off the mechanics as much as possible, this is complimented by the design of the case as well. Dial-side and caseback are both large sapphire windows, with additional sapphire windows on each of the 4 sides of the case – the sides at the top and bottom ends are visible thanks to slots in the case where it joins the strap.
All of this allows a lot of light into the movement, which presents a great opportunity to really get a good look at it in action. There are two twin barrels in the movement which offer a 70h power reserve when fully wound, and, according to the Zero T4 Indiegogo page, is accurate to within ± 10-20 seconds per day (for comparison, COSC certification standards are between -4 to +6 seconds per day).
To me, this reiterates that this watch is less about precision and accuracy, and more about being able to enjoy an otherwise unobtainable complication on your own wrist.
Such is the extent of the skeletonisation that you can see the mainsprings inside tighten as you wind the watch, and of course loosen over time as the watch – and the showpiece tourbillon – ticks away on your wrist.
Obviously, you don’t have the same level of finishing as with high-end tourbillon watches, but I think that the black PVD finish brings a contemporary feel to the watch, and the use of different silver colours for the barrels and the pop of gold on the tourbillon work well.
A minor gripe might be that with such an open case, it is very apparent from the caseback that the movement is a round shape in a tonneau case, whereas dial-side this is relatively well hidden. However, I think that would be harsh considering what the watch is, and what it presents in offering a high-end complication for less than the price of, for example, a Tudor Black Bay.
There are other considerations in the design which I liked too – for example, both the hour and minute hands are finished with Super-Luminova, and the colour used for the rubber strap is featured as an accent on the crown (in rubber) and also for the minute markers around the edge of the dial, which ties the colourway together.
Each piece is also individually numbered!
In Summary
First and foremost, congratulations and a huge thank you to my friend for his new watch and letting me check it out!
I was impressed by the watch, and I enjoyed wearing it. It was lightweight, comfortable, and being able to look down at your wrist and see a tourbillon ticking away is something that no watch enthusiast is ever going to not enjoy. It always seems strange to say, but I believe you can get a decent sense of the quality of a watch by the feel of it, and as I have mentioned, I was impressed.
For sure, the aesthetic borrowed from Richard Mille is not everyone’s cup of tea, but for those who love Richard Mille watches and would unlikely to ever be able to obtain one, the Zeroo T4 certainly presents a compelling alternative for just over £2000. Furthermore, it is available in a plethora of colours with silver, black and gold colour cases, and strap/accents such as red, orange, yellow, green, bright or dark blue, black and white.
Is it a bit of a gamble? Yes, of course it is.
On the downside the brand is based in Japan with very few distributors globally. Even with the warranty provided, it has the potential to become quite convoluted in the case of any issues or defects, especially when it comes to shipping, fees etc. But, on the upside, it’s a tourbillon watch at a simply incredible price!
So is the gamble worth it? Well… ultimately, that is up to you!
For more information, visit ZerooTime.com. If you have any questions, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.
You might also be interested in:
- “It’s complicated” Part 1: an introduction to the Tourbillon
- Openworked Dial Watches
- Value for Money in Independent Watchmaking – Part 1
- Watch Stationery and Gift Ideas
- Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)
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