Zenith presents the new Defy Skyline CX Edition

This is the 10th time Zenith has launched a limited edition in cooperation with the online retailer Collective Horology. Founded in 2018 as an exclusive club of watch collectors in Silicon Valley, Collective Horology has quickly expanded into a sales platform that offers selected new and used watches and co-creations with luxury watch brands and independents. This time, the retailers have teamed up with Zenith to create the three-hand Defy Skyline watch. Zenith has changed two special features that distinguish the regular Defy Skyline - the dial decorated with four-pointed stars and the small second hand calibrated to tenths of a second - in the Defy Skyline CX Edition, limited to 200 pieces.

The Limited Edition now moves the small seconds from the 9 o'clock to the 6 o'clock position and at the same time dispenses with the date window usually found at 3 o'clock. The new arrangement creates a clear and pleasant symmetry on the matt silver-grey dial. The watch gives the impression of a typical three-hand watch with small seconds. But this is precisely the highlight: the orange 10 indicates that the hand, with its orange tip, rotates around the sub-dial in just 10 seconds, rather than 60 seconds. It moves in tenths of a second increments, which can be read from the small lines; the longer ones represent the full seconds. The themed starry sky pattern has been made more three-dimensional for the Defy Skyline CX Edition: the four-pointed stars are engraved deeper in the middle and flatter at the edges. Overall, the watch offers a different look to the well-known Defy Skyline.

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As for the 41-millimetre stainless steel case, which is water-resistant to 100 metres, the new model, with its sharp architectural lines and angular silhouette, follows a tradition that goes back to the first Defy wristwatch in 1969. The faceted steel case is sandblasted and matte and only the side of the twelve-sided bezel is polished. The cover glass is made of a flat sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on both sides. The use of the Super-Luminova SLN C1 luminescent material, which is used on the rhodium-plated and faceted hands and hour markers, guarantees readability in the dark.

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Zenith uses the same material for the window integrated into the case back. Through this, you can see the automatically winding El Primero 3620 SK manufacture calibre, with the satin-finished rotor decorated with a large Zenith five-pointed star being the eye-catcher. The high-speed movement is equipped with a silicon anchor and escape wheel and offers a power reserve of around 55 hours. The calibre's frequency of 5 Hertz makes the tenths of a second display possible, thanks to this special frequency the second hand completes ten steps per second.

Since the Defy Skyline CX Edition, like all models in the line, has a super-easy-to-use strap-changing system, it is also a logical consequence for the limited edition that the watch is delivered with two straps. In addition to the satin-finished steel link bracelet, you get an orange rubber strap with a stainless steel folding clasp that matches the small seconds. The watch is now available for 12,900 euros exclusively from Collective Horology and the Zenith online boutique, and from December 18th also in brick-and-mortar boutiques.

The story first appeared on watchtime.net.

Images: Courtesy Brand

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