Zenith Defy challenged – News – Style – Kommersant

Zenith’s display at Singapore’s LVMH Watch Week consisted exclusively of models from one of the brand’s four existing collections, Defy (eng. “challenge”). Additions to another “symbolic”, as stated in the press materials, the collection will be shown at the forthcoming Watches & Wonders exhibition in the spring. It is likely that new Chronomaster models will be shown in Geneva, as these two collections are the mighty locomotives of the Le Locle manufactory.

The main premiere is the Defy Skyline Skeleton, described as “the world’s first 1/10 second skeleton watch”. Formally, this is true, since the main feature of the Defy Skyline model presented last year is the tenths of a second counter, located at the traditional 9 o’clock position for the side seconds hand.

Unlike the regular second hand, which completes a rotation in 60 seconds, the Defy Skyline counter rotates in 10 seconds. There is such a counter in the skeletonized novelty, only for the integrity of perception it has been moved to the “6 o’clock” position. The basis of the dial can be designed in blue or black, the case with a diameter of 41 mm and the bracelet are made of steel, inside there is an automatic manufactory movement El Primero 3620 SK with an oscillation frequency of 5 Hz (or 36,000 vibrations per hour), which just did possible and natural indication of tenths of a second.

There is a novelty in the main line Defy Skyline. Exclusive to the brand’s boutiques, the Defy Skyline Boutique Edition is a striking combination of dark and gold tones, with an all-over anthracite dial emblazoned with an engraved rose gold starry sky motif, which is also used for the hands and hour markers. The case with a diameter of 41 mm is also made of steel, there are no golden Defy Skylines – at least not yet.

But their smaller version appeared – addressed to the ladies Defy Skyline in a steel case with a diameter of 36 mm. Along with the traditional metallic dark blue for the collection, new dials of pastel colors have been introduced – mint and pink. All trios also have jewelry versions with 52 diamonds encrusted bezels. Along with the steel bracelets, the package includes rubber straps in the same color as the dial.

The latest novelty belongs to the line of brutal Defy Extreme chronographs, designed for use in extreme conditions. This is evidenced by a more massive titanium case with a diameter of 45 mm with increased tightness up to 200 m. The Defy Extreme Glacier chronograph pushers and 12-corner bezel are crafted from chalcedony, a translucent stone with a pale blue hue that resembles ice. The allusion is continued by the dial, made of tinted sapphire glass, as if covered with frost. Equipped with an automatic manufactory high-frequency El Primero 9004 chronograph movement capable of measuring time periods up to a hundredth of a second, the Defy Extreme Glacier is released in a limited series of 50 pieces.

Yuri Khnychkin