It was in 1969, when quartz watches were overtaking the Swiss mechanical watch market, Zenith unveiled two landmark designs. The first was the El Primero automatic chronograph movement, and the second was the Defy series of watches. With its octagonal case and 14-sided bezel, the DEFY line, along with the El Primero, were a breakthrough for Zenith, with the former being nicknamed ‘coffre-fort’, French for bank vault or safe-deposit box, given its sturdy case. Two years later in 1971, Zenith revamped the series and launched a new series of DEFY collection watches that were characterised by colourful dial. Of these, the A3691 had a deep red ‘vignette’ dial that darkened towards the edge. Now, using the A3691 as a reference, Zenith has launched the DEFY Revival A3691. The latest Zenith DEFY timepiece is very similar to its ancestor, with the deep red vignette dial that rests inside the fourteen-sided bezel and 37mm faceted octagonal case. On the dial are the bold square-shaped hour markers with horizontal grooves and a date aperture at 4.30. The watch has a stainless steel build with a Gay Frères steel “ladder” bracelet and an updated, ergonomically designed clasp.
The one feature of this new timepiece lies in its caseback and the other in its Super-LumiNova® coated hands which were not present in the original version. The 1971 watch had a solid caseback with a four-pointed star, which eventually became the brand’s logo for many years. The Revival version has a see-through sapphire caseback, from which you can see the automatic Elite 670 manufacture movement. The watch has a 300 metres water-resistance. The Elite 670 manufacture movement has around 50 hours of power reserve and a frequency of 28,800 vph.
Last year in January, Zenith had unveiled the first of the DEFY Revivals, the Revival A3642 which was a limited edition watch. The DEFY Revival A3691 however, will be part of the brand’s permanent collection, and will be available for purchase at Zenith boutiques and its authorised retailer.
This new watch is priced at INR 6,08,835.