ZENITH arrives at LVMH Watch Week 2026 with a new DEFY collection that feels assembled with care. The watches share a logic that carries across materials, sizes, and complications.
Skeletonized movements set the tone early. Ceramic sharpens the geometry. A tourbillon takes center stage later, framed in rose gold, while a smaller Skyline and a vintage revival bring the idea back to human scale. The transitions feel natural, as if the collection were designed in one sitting.
Seen together, these DEFY releases show how ZENITH is shaping its contemporary identity—through structure, precision, and a willingness to let the movement lead the conversation.
DEFY Skyline Skeleton — Black Ceramic Meets Golden Light
Black ceramic is a dangerous thing. Done wrong, it looks like a mall watch trying to cosplay stealth wealth. Done right, it looks like a chunk of night that got engineered.
This one leans into the Skyline’s angular case and that dodecagonal bezel like it was born for this material. The result feels monolithic—serious black, not “fashion black.” It’s got that slick, scratch-resistant confidence that ceramic does when it’s made by people who actually know how to machine it.
Then ZENITH commits a small act of seduction: the movement glows gold under sapphire, like a lit lobby seen through glass. The El Primero 3620 SK is wide open, and the star motif is everywhere, but not in a logo-slap way. It’s structural. Like the watch is built on an idea instead of decorated with one.
The seconds situation is the fun part. No traditional seconds hand pacing around like a tired security guard. Instead, you get a constant 1/10th-of-a-second indicator that whips around once every 10 seconds. It gives the watch nervous energy. The good kind. The “city still awake at 2 a.m.” kind.
Priced at $18,900, this watch comes with an integrated black ceramic bracelet or a black rubber strap if you want to take it slightly more athletic.
DEFY Skyline Chronograph — Precision in Full Black Ceramic
A full black ceramic chronograph is basically ZENITH saying: fine, you want modern? Here. Have modern.
The case and bracelet feel like a single object, and that matters. DEFY is all about form that doesn’t break character. Ceramic helps it stay sharp, stay smooth, stay unbothered by daily chaos. It’s light, it’s tough, it wears like a piece of design equipment.
The dial goes gradient, darkening toward the edges, which makes the whole thing feel deeper than it should—like the watch face has a vanishing point. The four-pointed stars are engraved across it, not screaming, just asserting identity. The chronograph counters are concentric and tidy, and the hands/markers glow when the lights get low enough for the city to start telling the truth.
The beating heart of this watch is the El Primero 3600, a movement that turns “1/10th of a second” into a visual flex, as chronograph seconds’ hand makes a full lap every 10 seconds. That speed is the whole show. It’s kinetic, it’s a little cocky, and it’s also technically legit; high-frequency precision you can actually see.
Flip it over and ZENITH does the polite thing: sapphire back, column wheel in blue, star-shaped rotor. Watch people will nod. Non-watch people will still feel the vibe.
And again, the strap-change system is there, because ZENITH understands that a chronograph should be able to go from “meeting” to “weekend” without a tantrum. The price comes in at $23,600, with both ceramic bracelet and rubber strap included.
DEFY Skyline Tourbillon Skeleton — Rose Gold, Blue Movement, Big Statement
This is the headline watch. The Skyline Tourbillon Skeleton is the first of its kind in the collection, and it doesn’t ease into the idea. There’s no dial. No buffer. The movement defines the watch entirely. The El Primero 3630 SK rises from the center, framed only by a minimal peripheral flange that holds the hour markers like a boundary line.
The ZENITH name appears suspended above the mechanics, and the star emblem is built directly into the mainplate. Nothing feels applied. Everything feels intentional.
The movement comes finished in a vivid blue that changes with the light. Sometimes it’s bright, sometimes almost moody. Against the rose-gold case, it feels warm and slightly indulgent. The tourbillon turns once a minute at 5 Hz, while the skeletonized barrel puts the mainspring on display as it releases its 50 hours.
You can wear this watch on a full rose-gold bracelet or switch to a blue rubber strap, with the star pattern worked in. Both options change the personality. Production stays tight at 50 pieces, and the price is a whooping $103,700.
DEFY Skyline 36 — Silver Dial, Two Moods
Here’s the part that actually matters for a lot of people: the wearable one. The daily one. The DEFY you can live with instead of worship.
The Skyline 36 comes with a silver-toned dial that looks very crisp and modern; it’s clean, bright and slightly architectural if you ask me. The star pattern is there (a modern riff on ZENITH’s historic “double Z” vibe), but it reads more like texture than branding.
You pick your bezel personality. Plain steel bezel at $9,400, which is the smart, sharp version. Or diamond-set at $13,300, which adds radiance—enough to catch light, not enough to turn the watch into a disco ball.
Inside is the Elite 670 automatic, 4 Hz, 50-hour power reserve. Dependable, neatly finished, visible through a sapphire back with that open star rotor in a silver tone. Bracelet and black rubber strap included, quick-change system again because ZENITH is clearly trying to make “interchangeable” feel like a feature rather than homework.
DEFY Revival A3643 — The 1969 Comeback That Actually Feels Right
And then ZENITH does the smart move: it ends by reminding you it’s been brave before.
The Revival A3643 brings back a 1969 original with discipline and respect. The 37mm steel case, multi-sided bezel, and silver dial return almost exactly as they were, recreated using high-precision scans of the vintage piece. The layered markers stay sharp. The orange seconds hand still punches through the dial like a good idea that never faded.
Turn it over and modernity steps in quietly. A sapphire case back reveals the Elite 670 automatic with its openworked star rotor. The ladder bracelet—developed by Gay Frères—locks in the watch’s identity and keeps it unmistakably vintage.
At $7,800, it’s also the most approachable watch in the lineup, and possibly the most charming.
What This Lineup Says (Even If Nobody Says It Out Loud)
ZENITH didn’t show up to Milan with a buffet. It showed up with a chef’s menu.
Black ceramic for the city-at-night types. A full black ceramic chronograph that’s actually about performance. A rose-gold tourbillon skeleton that’s pure architectural theatre. A 36mm that treats refinement like a daily habit. And a ’69 revival that proves DEFY was always about shape, strength, and nerve.
The collection hangs together because the idea is consistent: movement as structure, case as architecture, design as the message.
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