WORDS
Eleanor Pryor
Zenith’s Defy can trace its origins back to 1902, when the watchmaker introduced its “DEFI” line of rugged pocket watches. It would lay the foundation for the collection launched in 1969, so renowned for its robust construction that it would earn the nickname “coffre-fort”, French for vault or safe.
More recently, the family has housed some of Zenith’s most ambitious timekeeping, including some of its most advanced pieces of haute horlogerie. And its look is just as cutting-edge, its use of architectural forms and crisp lines lending a slick sartorial edge to this sporty watch.
The latest addition, the Defy Skyline, marks something of a departure from the complex models seen before. A seemingly simple three-hander, with discreet date at 3 o’clock, it makes just as much of an impact with its clean design and carefully composed design details. Underneath lies Zenith’s technical and precise new El Primero 3620 movement. Beating at 36,000 vph, it powers the 1/10th of a second counter positioned at 9 o’clock, which completes one revolution every 10 seconds.
This contemporary approach is echoed in the timepiece’s sleek, modern form. It makes use of the octagonal geometry of the first Defy pieces with its angular case and faceted bezel, reimagined to have twelve sides to correspond to the hour markers. Perhaps its most captivating feature is the dial, with its aesthetically pleasing pattern of perfectly aligned four-pointed stars, inspired by the Zenith “double Z” logo of the 1960s. It comes in three dial colours – silver, blue and black – presented on a sophisticated steel bracelet or with a sportier rubber strap in a complementary colour.
