Zenith Takes Inspiration from the Jungle with Its Latest Defy Extreme Chronograph

Few watches are as decidedly trendy as Zenith’s Defy Excessive. Regardless of the corporate having a historical past that dates again to 1865 and a legacy of manufacturing ultra-accurate actions and the world’s first in-house wristwatch over 100 years in the past, Zenith can be one of many names synonymous with skeleton dials, particularly these in its Defy collection.

Following up the Desert and Glacier variants in 2021 and 2023, respectively, the Defy Excessive now will get its third and ultimate iteration of its adventure-inspired trilogy. Now, it’s headed to the jungle with its most thematic watch but.

Welcome to the Jungle

Whereas the Desert received some sandy coloring and patterns, and the Glacier simply regarded prefer it was reduce from a literal block of ice, the Jungle version could possibly be labeled as gimmicky by some. Nonetheless, the inherent confidence of the Defy Excessive provides this reference the identical form of go as a loudly-dressed celeb at an award present.

Taking after a number of the most formidable environments on Earth, these three watches are all constructed on the usual Defy Excessive platform, together with the 45mm case, the flat sapphire crystal, the 200m of water resistance, and the identical chronograph setup. This features a trio of subdials and an influence reserve indicator proper above the middle. The Defy Excessive additionally makes use of very trendy case supplies, with this one using titanium.

Nonetheless, for the Jungle model, the crystal that types a platform beneath the 4 registers is tinted in a vibrant inexperienced. In the meantime, the three chronograph subdials have orange tiger stripe patterns across the outsides.

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Beneath the dial, you may catch a glimpse of the El Primero Caliber 9004 automated chronograph movement with a khaki green-colored rotor and higher bridge. That is actually an astounding motion, from a lineage of the legendary El Primero household. There are two completely different escapements, one beating at 5Hz for the central palms with one other beating at an ultra-fast 50Hz for the chronograph working at 1/one hundredth of a second. The motion can be seen by means of the caseback.

The watch can be given three completely different built-in band choices: both a inexperienced rubber strap, a titanium bracelet, or a black Velcro strap. 

Stone Ranger

What makes these watches so unique is how they make the most of stones of their case construction. Whereas the Desert featured falcon’s eye and the Glacier featured chalcedony stone, the Jungle variant prominently makes use of tiger’s eye quartz, which brings a heat brown coloration to the general look of the watch. The stone is featured on the outermost 12-sided body of the bezel and likewise proper beneath the pushers. I like the way it doesn’t match the tiger stripes on the chronograph subdials however nonetheless brings dimensionality to the watch and closes up the jungle motif completely.

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

Restricted to only 50 items, the Defy Excessive Jungle can be a troublesome watch to nab — and that’s when you may even cowl the $26,900 retail worth. For extra info, head over to Zenith’s web site.

Zenith Defy Excessive Jungle

Zenith closes out its adventure-inspired collection with a Jungle variant of the Defy Excessive skeleton, with tiger stripes across the registers and a green-tinted sapphire crystal.