ZBL ZBIOLAND

ZBIOLAND, shortened to ZBL, is a Hong Kong-registered brand founded in 2021 by Lu Jinzhi, who has spent more than 20 years in the watch industry and whose early skill at painting and love of science fiction led him to design his first wristwatch. The name reads as Z for 'zero origin,' BIO for life and vitality, and LAND for a creative territory free from the limits of traditional horology, and the stated aim is to give every watch a heartbeat and a vivid soul, drawing on interstellar machinery, urban architecture, and pioneering engineering. Its watches carry ZBL model numbers and run on a mix of Sellita SW200, Miyota, and modified 'ZBL in-house + SW' movements, plus the Barcelona's proprietary caliber.

The most ambitious is the Barcelona (ZBL 1009, $6,650), built around the ZBL 961, the brand's first proprietary caliber: a manual-wind movement just 4.8mm thick, developed over four years and six design iterations, with a GMT dual-time function, a power reserve indicator, an independent sapphire hour-and-minute sub-dial, and a skeletonised mainplate that keeps the whole watch to about 35 grams. Its dial grid is drawn from Barcelona's Cerà street plan, and with the first batch sold out, new orders are queued for the third quarter of 2027. Serpents form a second thread. The Zbioland x Harry Potter Slytherin: Chamber of Secrets (ZBL 1019, $6,390) carries a 3D mechanical serpent that glides across the dial among twelve rotating gear-flowers, in a 46mm Crystal Titanium Grade 5 case on a snakeskin strap, limited to 200 pieces with 173 sold. The Basilisk Ti-Evo (ZBL 1020, $7,300) is a 46mm Grade 5 titanium watch on a titanium strap, delivered in three months because of its complex carving, and the now-discontinued SNAKE (ZBL 1015, $4,930, in black or silver) packed a modified Swiss movement into a 10mm titanium case, with its last 23 units on offer.

The Glacier Tourbillon (ZBL 8800, $2,350) sets a skeletonised tourbillon at six o'clock inside a square, all-crystal sapphire case 42mm across and 11.5mm thick, hand-wound with double spring barrels and 72 hours of reserve, in white, turquoise, green, red, or blue. The StarLink (ZBL 1008, $3,075) is a 43mm steel watch on a Sellita SW200 with an exhibition caseback, limited to 100 pieces. The Concept Twin (ZBL 1005, $1,791) sits in a 33 × 50mm steel case on a canvas strap with carved luminous hands, and the Wheel of Destiny (ZBL 1002, $2,279) wraps a Sellita SW200 in a 17.5mm-thick steel case with a multi-layered dial of concentric orbital rings and a central turbine, on a black or white rubber strap. The Radial Engine (ZBL 1006, $1,791), a 43mm titanium watch on a Miyota 8215 in red, yellow, or blue, was followed by the Radial Engine SL (ZBL 1022, $2,800), a 44mm titanium watch on a Miyota 9015 with a ZBL in-house module, offered in a standard finish and in Dazzling Chrome.

The space-themed range centres on the Space Rocket (ZBL 1001, $2,116; 43mm, crocodile-print silicone strap), the Space Station (ZBL 1003, $2,116; 44mm), and the Space Rocket 2.0 (ZBL 1004, $2,261; 42mm), all on the Sellita SW200. The Starry Sky Special Edition of the 2.0 (ZBL 1011, $2,586, limited to 100) adds a rocket-shaped minute hand flanked by two rotating discs, a 24-hour disc on the left and a day-and-night disc on the right, with rocket-shaped hour markers, a rocket-engraved crown, and an alligator-print strap. The Royal Purple Space Rocket (ZBL 1012, $2,749, limited to 50) pairs a Nebula Purple dial with a towering rocket-shaped bridge, honeycomb mesh, exposed gear trains, a date at 12 o'clock, and an XX/50 number at six.

Two novelty watches, both $1,790, round out the range: the Casino (ZBL 1013) turns the dial into a mini roulette wheel with numbers around the edge, and the Friendship (ZBL 1016) adds a spin wheel with a free-running ball that lands on drinking-game commands. Each comes in a 44mm steel case in rose gold or silver on a rubber strap with Velcro and an exhibition caseback. Spare alligator and snake straps for the SNAKE are sold separately at $320 each.