For the third and final installment in its series of limited-edition chronographs inspired by Earth’s most demanding environments, Zenith has created a new jungle-themed version of the Defy Extreme. Similar to the previous two models from the series, the final member of the trio will be produced as a limited edition of 50 pieces, and it notably features case components that are carved from semi-precious stone. For the new 2024 model, the Swiss manufacturer has turned to the jungle for its aesthetic inspiration, and the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle embraces a green colorway with tiger-striped chronograph registers and stone case components that are crafted from tiger’s eye.
The original “Desert” version of the Defy Extreme chronograph from 2021 embraced a brown colorway with falcon’s eye stone case components, and the follow-up Defy Extreme Glacier from 2023 was pale blue with its stone components carved from chalcedony. Like its two siblings, the new Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle (ref. 95.9202.9004/26.I001) for 2024 offers the same 45mm angular case profile with flat sapphire crystals fitted to both the bezel and caseback. Like all Defy Extreme chronographs, a screw-down crown helps guarantee a rather generous 200 meters of water resistance. As you would expect, the new “Jungle” version features a green/brown colorway, and while the majority of its case is constructed from titanium (just like its two siblings), the lower section of its bezel and the frames for its chronograph pushers are both carved from pieces of tiger’s eye, which is a stone within the quartz family that is characterized by a striped composition comprised of gold and brown hues.
Zenith’s decision to incorporate small accents of warmer hues into the color profile of the Defy Extreme Jungle helps to reinforce the thematic inspiration behind its design, and the “jungle-vibes” aesthetic is also used to inform the appearance of the watch’s dial. From an overall design and layout standpoint, the dial fitted to the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle is more or less identical to what can be found on other Defy Extreme chronographs, and it features a transparent sapphire surface with a trio of registers in a 3-6-9 layout and an arc-shaped power reserve indicator sitting below the 12 o’clock marker. With that in mind, the central sections of the dial that sit within its quartet of displays are tinted a vibrant shade of green, and the applied rings surrounding the three chronograph registers are finished with black and orange tiger stripes to complement the natural striations of its tiger’s eye case components.
Unlike its “Desert” and “Glacier” counterparts that adhere to a more subdued color palette that begs for a closer examination to fully appreciate their nuances, the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle offers a significantly more visually striking appearance. The end result almost looks like something you would expect to see from fellow LVMH brand Hublot. For those of you who listen to the aBlogtoWatch Weekly Podcast and are part of our ongoing joke about the hypothetical awards show we would host, I think we have just found the current frontrunner for Rick’s proposed “How Hublot Can You Go” award; however, as an ardent fan of both Zenith and Hublot, I sincerely intend this as a compliment. One of the details I appreciate most about Zenith is that the company simultaneously produces vintage-inspired heritage pieces alongside bold and unapologetically modern equivalents, and flat-out wild creations such as the Defy Extreme Jungle are precisely why even the most jaded enthusiast can still find enjoyment from Zenith on a brand level.
Internally, the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle is powered by the same El Primero Caliber 9004 automatic chronograph movement as its two siblings, although its skeletonized rotor and uppermost bridge are finished khaki green to further lean into the colorway of the watch. The El Primero 9004 is a rather impressive creation that features two different escapements, with one dedicated to the time-telling side of the movement and the other to its 1/100th of a second chronograph. The base movement offers an already high frequency of 36,000vph (5 Hz) with a power reserve of 50 hours; however, the chronograph is governed by an ultra-fast escapement that beats at 360,000vph (50 Hz), which means that its centrally-mounted chronograph hand rotates once per second. Due to its incredibly fast operating speed, the chronograph will only run for approximately 50 minutes without resupplying tension to its dedicated mainspring, and to help track this shorter duration of time, the power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock is connected to the chronograph, rather than the time-telling side of the movement.
Since the Defy Extreme series offers an integrated bracelet design, Zenith includes three different wrist closure options with the Defy Extreme Jungle, and all of them are easily interchangeable thanks to a push-button system located on the bottom surfaces of the lugs. The standard option is a flat H-link bracelet made from titanium, although the Defy Extreme Jungle also comes as a set with both a black Velcro strap and a green textured rubber strap that is completed by a titanium folding buckle. Zenith makes it a standard practice to include multiple strap/bracelet options with its Defy Extreme watches, and even when the Defy Extreme chronograph initially debuted back in 2021, the original models all included both rubber and velcro straps alongside their matching bracelets. While the three included options should satisfy most owners, the case format of the Defy Extreme Jungle appears to be identical to other chronograph models from the collection, and I would imagine that the various other Defy Extreme straps would also be compatible with its case.
Given details like its high-frequency 1/100th of a second chronograph movement and multi-component case constructed from both titanium and tiger’s eye, the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle (ref. 95.9202.9004/26.I001) was destined to be one of the more expensive options within the brand’s lineup, and the 50-piece limited edition has an official retail price of $26,900 USD. While this represents a decent premium compared to the standard Defy Extreme chronographs, the “Jungle” edition still feels rather reasonably priced, as it offers numerous details you simply cannot find in other manufacturer’s catalogs. From a durability standpoint, I can’t imagine that tiger’s eye (or any other type of semi-precious stone) offers any performance benefits over the titanium pusher housings on the standard-production models, although I personally love seeing the integration of tiger’s eye into the actual case of a watch, and the inherently bold silhouette of the Defy Extreme is the perfect foundation for this wild and in-your-face model. For more information on the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle, please visit the brand’s website.
