Zenith Defy watches

The Zenith Defy runs from the three-hand Defy Classic to the high-frequency Defy El Primero 21 chronograph and tourbillon models, many of them openworked and cased in titanium, ceramic or carbon. Zenith launched the Defy El Primero 21 in 2017, a chronograph that measures time to 1/100th of a second.

The El Primero 21's chronograph runs at 360,000 vibrations per hour (50 Hz), ten times the rate of the original El Primero, with a hand that turns once a second over a scale graduated from 1 to 100. The watch measures 44 mm across and 14.5 mm thick. At Baselworld 2018 Zenith added the Defy Classic: a three-hand watch in a 41 mm by 10.75 mm brushed titanium case, powered by the automatic Elite 670 SK. That calibre runs at 4 Hz and uses a silicon lever and escape wheel. The watch came with either an openworked dial or a closed blue dial.

The Defy Zero G is another 44 mm watch, while the Defy Midnight is a 36 mm steel model, some with diamonds or mother-of-pearl dials, and the Defy Skyline a 41 mm steel watch. The Double Tourbillon, the Fusee Tourbillon and the Inventor complete the line.

The Defy has been made in many special editions: unique Zero G pieces such as the Pirates, Skull and Virgen de Guadalupe, the Double Tourbillon Felipe Pantone Only Watch 2021 unique piece, and small runs named for Swizz Beatz, Range Rover (200 pieces), Mykonos and Porto Cervo (25 each), plus five El Primero 21 Spectrum colours of 10 pieces each.