Zenith was founded in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot, who, at the tender age of 22 for a master of such calibre, was one of the first watchmakers not only to understand the importance of the principle of interchangeable parts, but also to build his entire production around it. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why, by the time Jacot retired in 1929, Zenith was already an inseparable part of watchmaking history, with numerous awards for precision won at international exhibitions in Geneva, Paris, Barcelona and Neuchâtel.
In 1969, the company gained fame with the presentation of the world’s first automatic chronograph movement – the famous El Primero. Operating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, the El Primero is capable of measuring short intervals of time with an accuracy of one tenth of a second – an unsurpassed world record. In 1995, Zenith started production of a new generation of ultra-thin chronographs – Elite, whose movement was declared the best movement by the professional press shortly after its launch. Since its creation, Zenith has been awarded more than 1,565 times with the most prestigious prizes in chronometry, which makes the brand one of the most recognised in the world of the watchmaking industry.
Until 2001, Zenith mainly produced classic watches in the so-called “Swiss style”: elegant, minimalist, in most cases no larger than 38 mm, with in-house movements and superb finishing. In 2001, Thierry Nataf took the position of Chief Executive Officer and over the following 8 years, until the beginning of 2009, the brand moved in an entirely new direction... Huge, lavish watches with grand names and, to put it mildly, bold designs. Opinions about this period are controversial, but we are sure that we can all agree that it gave birth to many of the brand’s now cult series: Chronomaster, Defy, Defy Xtreme, Port Royal and many others. It was precisely during this period that experimental design approaches were introduced into watches, such as “Open heart” – which became cult-like and was copied, more or less successfully, by many other brands.
Today we would like to ask for a little of your attention in order to present a representative of the Defy series, which has been entrusted with a very difficult mission – to erase the fiasco of the failed Defy Xtreme experiment, namely the Zenith Defy El Primero 21 Chronograph 44 Titanium 95.9000.9004/78.M9000.
The series was introduced in 2018 and immediately became very liked and sought after by fans of the brand. The model presented today was launched a little later, and its main difference from the first models is that part of the bridges are blued and, together with the blue rotor, give a very nice accent to the whole combination.
We cannot help but begin with the dial, as this is the most impressive thing about this watch – skeletonised, executed with great attention to detail, it is a reference to the epic limited edition Defy Lab from 2017. Its other remarkable quality is that, unlike most similar watches, this one is legible – thanks to the large, generously “illuminated” hour markers, which are anchored to the contrasting colour of the outer ring of the case. The hands are also large, shaped like double swords, while the chronograph subdials are in the usual El Primero positions – overall, the dial of this watch manages to be interesting without being overloaded.
The case is the next thing that draws attention – apart from being a remake of the original Defy from the 1970s, it is more than contemporary – comfortable, light, made from a modern material, with incredible detail and multiple planes. And the fact that it is only 14.5 mm thick not only contributes to comfort, but also shows that inside the watch there is an equally remarkable movement!
And of course, the caseback of the watch – as with most modern models of the brand, this one is also... Wow! Besides allowing us to enjoy the built-in movement, which is a work of art in itself, the entire architecture is very well thought out, proportional and somehow very complete.
The movement deserves separate attention, because under the internal factory abbreviation El Primero Calibre 9004 there truly lies a work of technical thought and watchmaking art! It is no coincidence that the series is called Defy 21 – because this truly is a movement of the 21st century.
The El Primero 21 is created with two separate escapements – each with its own balance and hairspring, made from a new patented material of the brand – Carbon-Matrix Carbon Nanotube. One is responsible for timekeeping and operates at the usual El Primero frequency of 36,000 vph, while the second is made entirely for the chronograph and operates at the mind-boggling frequency of 360,000 vph!!! This means that when the chronograph is started, the seconds hand makes a full rotation around the dial in one second. The seconds are then counted in the 60-second subdial at “6 o’clock”, while the minutes are counted in the 30-minute register at “3 o’clock”. Due to the large amount of energy required to drive the chronograph at 360,000 vibrations, the chronograph function can operate for only up to 50 minutes, and in order to monitor this indicator, the watch is equipped with a power reserve indicator.
