Anyone an opinion about Zeppelin watches?

I've never heard of the brand before today, so I thought I'd do a bit of background searching. This particular watch uses a Ronda 5030.D movement inside, a quartz chronograph movement with date complication and split seconds feature. In terms of that, it should be fine, as a general rule, quartz movements are very reliable. HOWEVER, should something go wrong, I don't know of any resellers in the UK, and it could be an absolute nightmare to get it fixed. You can get nice quartz chronos for much, much less than the £250 they were quoting on aviation-time.com. For me, there are just too many unknowns, and the lack of an aftersales network in the UK would tell me to steer clear.

Just my two cents

Pinkpont

He many thanks for the reply. I don't live in the UK, but I don't think the situation is much different here in Holland, altough Germany is pretty close. So what exactly could go wrong, in terms of the 'unknowns' you're talking about?

And do you maybe have some nice suggestions. I am looking for a pilot like this one, i don't really mind if it's quartz or automatic or handwind. Only point is that it has to be a pilot watch, decently priced.

Thanks again man!

Well, there are lots of things that can go wrong with a watch, especially when you have added complications, in this case the chronograph and alarm functions. The parts can wear down over time, faults can happen, etc. So, I can foresee two potential areas of problems - firstly, parts for the movement, and secondly, parts from the manufacturer. The first area is pretty self explanatory, but should you have issues with, say, the chronograph pushers or the crown, those could be difficult parts to replace, as they won't be standardised. I just can't attest to quality of Zeppelin watches, and I'm always wary of very small new watchmakers - they've only been in production for 2 years, and an apparently low profile doesn't really inspire confidence.

I have found a couple of nice alternatives. This Seiko SNAB71P1 is a good choice - same features, same size, bit more of a modern look, and the same kind of price. In addition, you get the support of the Seiko dealer network, and an efficient service department. It uses their in house 7T62 (as opposed to a brought-in movement in the Zeppelin), and, with it being Japanese, it'll be bulletproof. Seiko's quartz movements are amongst the best in the world.

If you want a more Breitling-esque approach to a Pilot's chronograph, then maybe this Rotary Aquaspeed might be a good choice. I own this one myself, and the quality and comfort of it is top notch. It's also an absolute bargain, coming in at less than half the price of the Seiko and the Zeppelin. I'm not sure about availability of Rotary watches in the Netherlands though, so maybe you could tell me a bit more about that.

Hope this helps

Pinkpont