One thing that almost every watch collector wants who loves skeletonized movements with gorgeous exhibition case backs is a watch featuring the ETA 6498-1, which was originally a Unitas movement. This famous Swiss movement has a lot of horological history behind it, going back to it's 1950s debut in pocket watches, and is often a first choice in custom built watches of this type due to it's suitability for larger watches (that's more to look at!) and lack of automatic rotor so one clearly see the movement in operation. This reliable workhorse has also been a popular movement choice for brands to customize, with variations from the likes of Omega, Panerai, and Stowa.
Zelos didn't disappoint here either, with a lot of customization work on the movement to bring out the best of the mechanical marvel that is the ETA 6498. Seeing this timepiece running can be absolutely mesmerizing. Little touches add to the vintage styling such as a turbine engraving on the ratchet wheel, and snailing on the crown wheel, not to mention a lot of painstaking work cutting away parts of the bridges and components to reveal as much of the inner workings of the movement as possible.
The Zelos attention to quality doesn't stop with the movement. This watch features scratch resistant sapphire crystal on not just the dial side of the watch but the back as well. The strongest possible and longest lasting X1 grade Swiss Super-LumiNova C3 lume, which is also the brightest color, can be found not just on the dial but, unusually, illuminating the specifications listed on the case back as well, a really nice touch.
This is every inch a relatively light and dressy tool watch for fans of mechanical timepieces, featuring an astoundingly thin 10½mm height excluding the crystal, with industrial styling and a subtle 12 o'clock index betraying it's heritage as a pilot watch. These watches are named for the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, one of the last propeller-driven attack aircraft that lasted well into the jet age. Keeping that in mind, it all makes sense and comes together when you see the parallel with this movement originating in 1950s pocket watches still running strong in modern timepieces, and with the turbine engraving that is somewhat reminiscent of a spinning propeller.
