Zenith Opens its First Boutique in Southern Europe, Releases the New DEFY Skyline Sapphire Watch

Expanding its global presence, luxury watchmaker Zenith has opened its first store in the island nation of Cyprus. In fact, this is the brand’s first boutique in Southern Europe. To mark the occasion, the watchmaker has also unveiled a brand new timepiece, Zenith DEFY Skyline Sapphire (Ref. 16.9300.3620/51.I001). The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the store launch was attended by a close friend of the brand, DJ Carl Cox, whose special performance enthralled guests. 

The DEFY collection was introduced in 1969. It can be described as the epitome of the Maison’s endless pursuit of precision through innovation. It combines cutting-edge manufacturing movements with futuristic forms; the collection carries forward the timepiece maker’s legacy of challenging itself and setting new standards of performance and style. Intertwined with the collection’s inception is El Primero’s history. Over the years, there have been several variations of the El Primero movement in chronographs; it's a classic movement that has made Zenith what it is today. The DEFY Skyline series combines the classic movement with modern  aesthetics.

The latest 41 mm stainless steel watch gets a steel dodecagonal bezel, set with 45 baguette-cut blue sapphires. The screw-down crown at 3 o’clock is emblazoned with Zenith’s star-shaped logo. The ‘star’ highlight of the timepiece is the metallic blue dial with a four-pointed star geometric pattern. Creating this pattern has been a challenging task — it had to be made a signature element of the timepiece, irrespective of the dial colour. The pattern adds more depth to the overall look of the dial.

The outer white minute track sits on a blue chapter ring. The tip of the hour marker is suspended over the minute track, and is rhodium-plated, faceted, and coated with Super-LumiNova. The hour and minute hands also get the same treatment with a black centre line. On the dial, there is a date window positioned at 3 o’clock, with a blue background and white numeral. Next, at 9 o’clock, we have the 1/10th of a second subdial; the hand of this subdial rotates in 10 seconds and each second is clearly divided into 10 segments.

The Zenith DEFY Skyline Sapphire watch is powered by the El Primero 3620 automatic high-frequency calibre, which features a power reserve of approximately 60 hours and is endowed with a stop-second mechanism for precise time-setting from a 5Hz escapement. This movement is based on Zenith El Primero 3600. Turning the watch over showcases the transparent sapphire crystal caseback, with a special bidirectional winding mechanism, sporting a star-shaped rotor with satin finishings.

The new Zenith DEFY Skyline watch also comes with a fully interchangeable and integrated stainless steel bracelet that can be easily exchanged in favour of a blue rubber strap, supplied with each watch. The rubber strap also has the same starry sky pattern down the central section as the dial and comes with its own steel folding clasp.