And now, we come to the third brand we’ll be reviewing from the Zeon group of watches. Original Penguin itself is a brand that’s seen a resurgence as of late, with some retro-inspired clothing. How do I know this? Some of their shirts have actually found a home in my closet – even before this review opportunity.
The brand itself actually started back in the ’50s, and rose back to life in 2003 when it paired up with Munsingwear. But that’s enough about clothing, let’s get back to watch. The model in question is the IP Gold (think color, not precious metal) Dino (ref OP-1008GD). At first glance, it’s not surprising to note that the watch is coming from a company predominantly known for it’s clothing.
This is, of course, primarily evident in the color palette being used. While gold is the predominant tone in the piece, you’ve got two brown subdials (as well as the strap and inner bezel), and some splashes of blue in the third subdial, some of the hands, and on the crown. Simple, yet effective.
Under all that shiny yellow, you’ve got a 42mm stainless steel case with a fixed coin-edge bezel. You’ve got a mineral crystal set into that bezel, which is protecting the textured (outer) and sunray (inner) dials, which itself is covering the quartz chronograph movement.
That movement is driving an unfortunately undersized set of hands. While the lengths are ok, they seem a bit too narrow for the watch – both in terms of proportion to the case size, as well as what is needed for legibility (it’s not impossible to read, by any means – just more difficult than it should be).
From a styling perspective, there’s a lot to like about the watch (in fact, this is another recent one that grabbed a lot of attention when I wore it). It’s got a great mix of elements (including some hidden ones, like the printing on the underside of the strap), and branding that doesn’t smack you in the face (logos are on the second hand and main crown).
Is this the watch for you? I think if you’re looking for an effortless “retro” chrono for the summer, this might be a good option for you. For myself, I would maybe opt for one of the other (non-gold tone) color schemes in the family. At an asking price of $175 for a quartz chrono, it’s not unreasonably priced, and offers some nice details.
EDIT: Updated case back picture (above) to reflect production changes.
I’ve included our original picture here – feel free to play “spot the differences”.
