Expanding the options in the Defy family, Zenith has announced the Defy Classic Black Ceramic, a sleek, dark interpretation of the Zenith Defy Classic design introduced at Baselworld 2018. With the Defy Classic, Zenith has been able to offer a non-complicated, approachable three-hander to appeal the Defy family to the masses. And with the Zenith Defy Classic Black Ceramic release, they’ve made it, well, darker, through the power of ceramics.
The new Zenith Defy Classic Black Ceramic features a 41mm case crafted from black ceramic, at a thickness of 10.75mm, suggesting it will wear thinly and comfortably. The black ceramic material case, one can see from the press photos, has mixed brushed and polished finishes. Powering this ceramic sensation is Zenith’s Elite 670 SK automatic movement, a 27-jewel movement with a 48-hour power reserve, a silicon escape-wheel and lever, and visible through the skeletonized dial, as well as the display case back.
The watch does feature a minimally intrusive date window at the 6 o’clock position, as well as markers at each hour. Those hour markers, along with the hour and minute hands, are filled with SLN C1 Super-LumiNova to allow for a dark appearance, while still providing lume. And to top off the whole dark package, keeping the Zenith Defy Classic Black Ceramic strapped to your wrist is a black rubber strap, with a DLC-coated buckle.
The Classic Black Ceramic reflects the recent trend towards ceramics we’ve seen coming from many Swiss brands, and while it certainly would have been easier for Zenith to PVD coat a steel or titanium case to achieve the dark black look, ceramic certainly has a “cool factor.” We’ve seen a lot of brands experiment more and more with ceramics as a case material, particularly notable examples being those that are able to expand the range of colors, such as Hublot’s Big Bang UNICO Red Magic Ceramic watch we saw hands-on here. In any case, it seems that Switzerland’s obsession with ceramic experimentation is far from over.
While the overall dial design is similar to what we saw from Zenith earlier this year, it is interesting to note Zenith’s dedication to the darkness theme for this watch. Starting with the black ceramic, Zenith clearly took the time to make sure this watch was as dark as possible all around. Down to what you see through the skeletonized dial and the choice of SLN C1 lume fill, it’s clear that Zenith had a vision for this watch and fully went for it.
Strangely, the Zenith Defy Classic Black Ceramic watch features a couple of aspects that I traditionally would say aren’t my thing: a black case and a skeletonized dial. However, Zenith has something special here, I believe. The standard Defy Classic didn’t cause many sparks to fly for me, but something about the complete package of the Black Ceramic makes this a very visually appealing watch to me. While it isn’t one I can see myself picking up, it would definitely catch my attention in a boutique or on someone’s wrist across the room.
The Zenith Defy Classic Black Ceramic offers more options for those would-be buyers of the Defy Classic looking for just the right style – that being a much darker one, in this case. The Zenith Defy Classic Black Ceramic will be available at a retail price of $7,500. Learn more at zenith-watches.com