A luxurious and colourful take on the Chronomaster Sport.
The highly anticipated sixth edition of LVMH Watch Week is slated to be held in Los Angeles, United States, at the end of this January.
Expect to see the latest creations from nine LVMH Maisons, alongside regular participants Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer, Zenith, Daniel Roth and Gérald Genta.
The invitation-only exclusive event will also feature Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co. and L’Epée 1839 this time round, ensuring a beneficial experience for brand executives, watchmakers and designers.
Evolution of El Primero
An integrated-bracelet luxury sports watch that shines in both its sleek design and unique technical capabilities, the Zenith Defy Skyline’s dynamic geometric design draws inspiration from the already futuristic codes of the late 1960s Defy models.
Shown at the LVMH Watch Week, the newest version of Zenith’s Defy Skyline chronograph retains the DNA of its predecessors, but is edgier, more architectural and extends its creative concept through an openwork design, resulting in a resolutely modern evolution of the legendary El Primero.
Zenith’s modern, artful approach to “skeletonisation” underlines the bold technical character of the model while retaining its functionality and offering perfect legibility.
The art of “skeletonisation” lies in hollowing out the plate, bridges and other components of the movement to reveal its inner workings.
The innovative Defy Skyline chronograph calibre can be admired through the sapphire crystal, both on the front and back of the case.
Its dial is hollowed out with geometric cutouts in a nod to the Zenith “double Z” logo of the 1960s. The three contrasting grey azuré subdials are openworked.
Faceted applied baton hour markers and hands feature Super-LumiNova for enhanced legibility in all conditions.
Crafted from steel, the 42mm octagonal Defy Skyline case is topped with a 12-facet bezel and flanked by dynamic pushers.
The alternating brushed and polished surfaces create a captivating interplay of light and shadows that enhance its angular design.
The latest Defy Skyline chronograph series has a skeletonised version.
With a focus on performance, the display caseback secured by four hexagonal screws and the screw-down crown engraved with the Zenith star ensure a 10 ATM water-resistance.
Powered by a skeletonised version of the El Primero 3600 calibre, originally presented in 2019 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the legendary Zenith chronograph movement, the movement has the unique ability of displaying the 1/10th of a second with unprecedented functionality.
Measuring such a short fraction of time is a feat enabled by the movement’s 5Hz frequency (or 10 vibrations per second).
Making it perfectly legible is even better: to accurately render each of its pulsations visible, its central seconds hand completes a full rotation every 10 seconds instead of the standard 60 seconds.
Its steps precisely mark 1/10th of a second against the graduations on the chapter ring.
The bidirectional automatic winding mechanism of the El Primero Calibre 3600SK delivers a power reserve of approximately 60 hours.
The Defy Skyline Chronograph Skeleton comes in black or blue as the open-worked dial, main plate, bridges and star-shaped oscillating weight are rendered in matching colour with alternating finishes that accentuate lines and curves.
Similar to the other models of the Defy Skyline collection, the versatile Chronograph Skeleton is equipped with a practical interchangeable-strap system.
With the simple push of a button at the back of the case, the integrated three-link steel bracelet can be swapped with the additional star-patterned rubber strap that matches the movement’s colour.
Chronograph heir
Zenith has managed to combine the functionality of its flagship chronograph with artistry, adorning it with a bevy of colourful gemstones.
The heir of a long legacy of Zenith chronographs, the Chronomaster Sport seen at the LVMH showing brings together the brand’s expertise in high-frequency timekeeping with a distinctive sporting style.
Crafted from 18k white gold, this luxurious and colourful take on the Chronomaster Sport follows the version in rose gold set with baguette-cut diamonds, spinels and sapphires that was presented last year.
This further asserts Zenith’s mastery in combining innovative watchmaking and gem-setting.
Components of the movement of Defy Skyline watch have been hollowed out to show the inside.
The perfectly balanced 41mm Chronomaster Sport case is crowned by a bezel set in rainbow style with 50 baguette-cut gemstones.
To enhance its style while preserving its functionality, a bright and colourful palette of 40 sapphires (~3.9cts) is punctuated with 10 baguette-cut diamonds (~1ct) indicating the 10 seconds.
The chromatic harmony results from a unique alliance of gem-setting expertise and style.
Sourcing gemstones of this calibre that are in uniform size, cut and colours are an extremely challenging endeavour.
Underneath the sapphire crystal, the lacquered dial features signature 3-6-9 tricolour overlapping counters.
The rainbow bezel is echoed with sapphire markers.
These are set on a deep black surface creating a perfect backdrop for them to shine.
To enhance legibility in the dark, the faceted hour and minute hands are fitted with Super-LumiNova.
The Chronomaster Sport line is powered by the El Primero 3600 that operates at high frequency (5 Hz or 36,000 vph) and has the ability to display 1/10th of a second with unprecedented readability.
Featuring bidirectional winding, its automatic mechanism delivers a power reserve of 60 hours.
Its superb architecture is visible through the sapphire display caseback, revealing a blue column wheel and an open rotor with the five-pointed star Zenith.
The dazzling Chronomaster Sport Rainbow comes on an integrated brushed and polished 3-link white gold bracelet, secured by a safety double folding clasp.
Both models of the timepieces are available exclusively from Zenith’s physical, online boutiques and through authorised retailers worldwide.
