Worn & Wound
Watches & Wonders: Hands-On Impressions of Two New Zenith G.F.J. Novelties
Why is it that there are some watches we just kind of forget about? I think we’ve all experienced this right? We encounter a watch that really works, feels special, rave about to other collectors and, if you’re able, maybe even think about how you might acquire one (side note: that is definitely not the situation I find myself in with respect to the watches we’ll be discussing here). For whatever reason, the Zenith G.F.J. found itself in that category for me. Last year, when I saw the first G.F.J., I think I probably verbalized to someone that it was the best thing I saw at Watches & Wonders 2025. I thought about it for weeks. I considered how it felt so much more handmade and specialized than any of the other new Zenith watches I’ve seen, which were mostly reminders that Zenith is a huge brand that needs to cast a wide net. And that’s the case again this year. The headline release for the brand this year is a new series of Chronomaster Sport references with skeleton dials. They are very nice watches, but tread familiar ground. We’ve seen countless iterations of the Chronomaster Sport at this point, and transitioning to skeleton dials after a period of time is part of the Zenith playbook. The G.F.J. collection, by contrast, feels unpredictable and outside the bounds of the usual Zenith strategy. These are high end watches that take advantage of exotic materials and precious metals, and have more in common with many haute horlogerie indies, at least on the s...
