SpotlightZenith Present The Defy Revival 3648 And The Defy Extreme Diver At Watches And Wonders 2024
Contemporary and highly functional revivals of two successful dive watches from the 1960s, the Zenith Defy revival A3648 and the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver make their debut at Watches and Wonders, Geneva
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Zenith have an archive full of great timepieces, almost all of which make for great revivals when tweaked just right. At Watches and Wonders, Geneva, the brand present the Defy Extreme Diver, whose inspiration lies in a 1960s dive watch, specifically the 1969 Defy Diver, one of their earliest classics. A robust case with enhanced legibility, powered by an updated El Primero movement and with contemporary design codes, the Defy Extreme Diver is all that its name suggests. Zenith also released the Defy Revival A3648, the 1969 timepiece that inspired the first Defy Diver, with an octagonal case, 14-sided bezel and paired with a steel bracelet. Incidentally, the A3648 is the first of the brand’s historical dive watches to be resurrected under the Revival series.
Zenith Defy Extreme Diver
The 42.5mm brushed titanium case of the Defy Extreme Revival features an open caseback and offers an extreme 600 metres of water resistance. Equipped with a helium escape valve, the timepiece can even withstand high pressure deep dives. Angular crown protectors and a dodecagonal bezel highlight the facetted case of the Defy Extreme Revival. The fixed bezel has a ceramic unidirectional rotating extension in black or blue to match the colour of the dial. Clean numerals on the notched bezel are filled with Super-LumiNova, and a distinct inverted triangle is filled with blue lume at 12 o’clock.
Engraved four pointed stars—a characteristic of the Defy line—decorate the black or blue sunray finished dial. Facetted hour markers are exaggerated in their size to enhance legibility, their green Super-LumiNova distinct in low light conditions, such as underwater. Similarly exaggerated and partially skeletonised timekeeping hands are filled with bright lume. At three is a date window whose background matches the dial colour.
The bright orange flange—a nod to Zenith’s vintage dive watch—is marked with the minute track, and adds a distinct character to the otherwise serious timepiece. With a star shaped rotor visible through the caseback, the El Primero 3620 SC calibre powers the timepiece. The watches in blue or black offer easy interchangeability between three straps in rubber, fabric, or a metal bracelet.
Zenith Defy Revival A3648
More vintage-looking than the Defy Extreme Diver, the Zenith Defy Revival A3648 features an octagonal steel case sized at 37mm, with a 14-sided bezel. This steel bezel sits on top of a unidirectional rotating extension with a sapphire crystal insert in orange, marked with the diving scale. The screw down crown is placed at 4.30 for easy access while diving. An open caseback offers a view of the Elite 670 automatic movement powering the watch. On the matt black dial, orange hands and minute track stand out, with white hour markers and hands filled with Super-LumiNova. Modelled after the original five-link Gay Frères bracelet designed specifically for the 1969 watch, the Defy Revival A3648 comes on a five-link steel bracelet.
There’s a certain satisfaction in watching Zenith revive their mostly-underappreciated vintage timepieces to create stunning, contemporary and functional tool watches, and with the latest revivals, it’s almost as if the brand are earning their stars again.
