The Zomo Annals gives you champagne tastes on a soda water budget

In this case, the champagne would be equated to luxury watches from Franck Muller, and specifically, the Long Island collection.  The premise here, of course, if that the watch is quite clearly an homage.  I’m not going to pick a fight as to whether or not those are something watch folks should be interested in, but I will state that many are interested in them. I mean, you can get a high-end look at a much more palatable price point.  So, if you go for the Zomo Annals, what are you getting?

Now, I’ve never seen a Franck Muller in person, but I have a finely calibrated eye, and I think it’s safe to say there’s a lot of similarity here – if not all the similarities.  On it’s own merits, I find these sorts of rectangular, tonneau cases to be a refreshing change of pace.  Additionally, when you get into something I’d consider a dress watch, it helps sell the case that, yes, this is a watch for dressing up.  Circular cases can cover a variety of uses, but I’ve not seen a rectangular case yet that made me say “Yes, that is a watch for ascending mountains with”, you know?

When you get into longer cases like we have on the Zomo Annals, you can end up with some crazy interactions between it and your wrists.  Most wrists are not completely flat (shocking, I know) and when you have a case that covers the wrist completely, curves are important.  There is a curve to the caseback, as well as the top of the case, so things do fit a bit better than you might expect.  On my 7.25″ wrist, I did have some overhang at the lugs (visible up above) but it’s not something that I found super noticeable when on the wrist (and not being photographed).

Now, even if you did not know about the more luxurious reference the Zomo Annals is based on, you could tell it’s a dressier watch.  The case is fully polished, and the silver/white and black color combo puts one in the mind of a black tie affair.  I wore it with a suit, of course, and it fit in just fine like that.  That also means this is not a weekend wear watch, most likely, since the beach is not where this watch wants to live.

Fortunately, with pricing for the Zomo Annals coming in at $152, it’s a fairly inexpensive pickup for your dress watch needs (say, weddings and graduations).  It does mean you’re dealing with a quartz movement, but that means it’s just ready to go when you pull it out of the watch box.  It may not be a watch you wear every day, but it’s fairly certain it’s a dial unlike any others you’ve got in your watch box.  zomowatches.com

Review Summary

• Brand & Model: Zomo Annals
• Price:  $152
• Who’s it for? You like the Franck Muller Long Island watches, but need something a bit more affordable
• Would I wear it?  On occasion, sure
• What I would change:  Play around with adding color, or even getting lume into the mix.  Also, that date window is so small as to almost be illegible – boost it up, or delete it.
• The best thing about it:  I really liked the raised details on the dial.