Dial & Hands

The dial of the Zeppelin LZ129 ref. 7060 is simply blissful; it’s one of those dials that you can’t help but ogle all day. It is full of information and details that have been expertly laid out to achieve clarity, taste and an appropriately antique style. The model I received is cream colored with black indexes and a silver 24-hour sub-dial. There is a lot to look at on the LZ129, but everything is well balanced, so the information never overwhelms. Starting at the outer-edge, there is an index for the minutes/seconds that is broken down to 1/5th second increments. There are larger marking for every minute/second and numerals every 5. Aside from providing precision to the watch this outer index does 2 important things: 1. It adds an instrument aesthetic to the watch that tempers the otherwise dressy components, 2. It provides a terminating line for the dial that helps give the dial a sense of containment.

Moving in, the hour index consists of a very attractive, slightly italicized serif font that runs 1-5 and 7-11, with power-reserve and 24-hour sub-dials at 12 and 6, respectively. The font they used reinforces the early 20th century aesthetic of the brand and the watch as a whole. It also touches on a marine chronometer aesthetic that is very appealing. There is also a very small metallic half-sphere at 6 that splits the words “made in” and “Germany”. This is a subtle detail that I happen to find captivating. At 3 there is a rectangular date window with a black rectangle for a border. The date disc is silver colored with black text. I was very glad to see that they put in the effort to do a date disc that would meld with the styling of the dial.

The power-reserve sub-dial, located at 12, is arranged in an arc ranging from “min” to a line representing 40 hours. There are numerals and long lines alternating every 5 hours and individual smaller lines for single hours. “Min” is marked in red, and the only color on the dial (aside from the 24-hour hand), giving it extra significance. The dial is very easy to read at a glance, though given it is indicating power, one generally just needs to see that it is somewhere above zero. Nevertheless, it is well executed and enjoyable to look at. The power-reserve hand is a long straight black needle turns silver at the center and has a small circular counter on its backside. This gives the power reserve the feeling of being a meter of sorts, which plays to the instrument-esque design of the dial.

The 24-hour sub-dial, located at 6, is a stroke of genius. In subtle contrast to the cream of the main dial, this sub-dial is a silvery grey and is set into the main dial, giving some needed depth. While not being made of metal, to my knowledge, it does have a metallic glint to it that sets in apart from everything else as well as a metallic bevel around it, making it feel less like a sub-dial and more like a secondary mechanism. The index of the 24-hour dial consists of long markings and numerals alternating every 2 hours, with the numerals starting at 4. There are also smaller markings for the individual hours. The font used here is also a serif font, but less ornate than that of the main hour index. The overall look of the dial is very much like the small-seconds dial of marine chronometer. It has a purposeful feel to it and adds a visual center-point to the dial. The 24-hour hand is small, black in the center and red going towards the index.

The main hands of the watch are in the “poire” style, which is a classical look defined by a pear shaped bulges on the hour and minute hands. The second hand, while very slender, too has a slightly bowing to it, creating a softer and almost more humanistic form. They contrast well with the needle style hands of the sub-dials, creating a visual separation between functions. Given the classical aesthetic of the hands, they work with the serif font of the hours to create a dressier feeling to the watch. That combined with the instrument-like indexes and sub-dials create a very interesting look that traverses from formal to casual. One cool detail of the hands is that the edge of the domed crystal makes the hands appears as though they point down towards dial at their edge.