A new take on the high-frequency movement takes the Defy into the future at the speed of 1/10th of a second
He invited them for lunch at the Le Locle manufacture, where some of them had worked for decades. “The youngest was born in 1945. The oldest, in 1939,” he tells. “They were all in their 80s. It was such a privilege to have them there in the same room.” Tornare couldn’t have been more surprised by the outcome. Instead of reliving the glory days of the birth of the El Primero and dwelling on the past, the group of eight threw down the gauntlet in a manner, urging Tornare to move on.
“They told me clearly: Julien, it’s fantastic, but don’t only repeat what we did. Continue to build new things,” he says. “Some purists might tell you, ‘Oh, but you disrespect the past,’ but this is wrong. By moving forward you respect what we did. If you only repeat the past, you aren’t respecting us, you’re just copying us. They were telling me: OK, we did this, now you do something.”It was a revelation for Tornare, but also an affirmation.
Enter the new Defy Skyline, which itself is unlike anything else in the Defy line. As a symbol of innovation for Zenith, Defy has included wild color schemes, concept movements and new materials, all of which differentiate it from the iconic tri-color register design of the Chronomaster series. .The new Skyline, however, is a minimalist, robust entry into the hotter-than-George-Clooney three-hand, steel sports watch market.
The name Skyline reflects the model’s strong architectural aesthetic, with its 12-sided bezel and star-patterned dial engravings and star-shaped rotor on the back. “It’s like an urban skyline, with skyscrapers and lighted buildings,” says Zenith product manager Romain Marietta, referring to the illuminated wide markers and hands. “It also draws inspiration from the starry night sky, and it reflects the heritage of our Zenith star logo.
The Defy Skyline, with a 41mm steel case, comes with a black, white or blue sunburst dial. Each comes with an additional rubber strap in dedicated colors, which are easily swapped out thanks to Zenith’s push-button quick strap change mechanism. Marietta says there is a skeleton edition coming shortly, and although for now, the dramatically nimble small seconds hand is located in a subdial at 9 o’clock, future editions will reposition the subdial at 6 o’clock or even some other position.