Zenith Defy Classic Skeleton

This watch has been on my radar for years, and I mean years. Since I was in college and learning about watches I would walk into retail stores and see the watches that catch my eye and learn more about the watch world. I would keep going back and forth into the Morad Behbehani Store and stare at the pieces but at one section of the boutique particularly Zenith.

My father owned a Zenith, which I would constantly see on his wrist. It was mesmerizing, as a child seeing a watch that can tell the time is normal, but his was a triple calendar. A watch that can tell time, but tell me the day, date, month, and the moon phase! The Zenith Academy Triple Calendar was the watch he had, key word had because now it’s in my possession. I’m getting off topic right now, just keep your eyes open for the review of that watch which will be coming soon.

Anyway, yes, Zenith had caught my eye from a very young age, but there was something that I always gravitated to. Was it the history of the brand itself? Was it the design of their watches? Or was it the connection my brain created between the watch and my father? Safe to say it was ALL THREE!

The Zenith Defy Classic Skeleton is the watch that always took my breath away. Yes, the Defy Primero is more appealing to many considering it’s a chronograph with the heritage of chronographs all on its shoulders. I said it because it’s true, Zenith was the first watch company to create an automatic chronograph movement on a wristwatch. But I’ve got a tiny wrist, so the Defy Classic Skeleton was the one my eye and brain agreed was the watch I wanted. For years I would say this year would be the year I would purchase it, but never really got the chance to, either because I refused to save up enough money because I went and purchased something before I could save enough, or something would come up. That chance always seemed to evade me, but I would still walk into the boutique whenever I got the chance and just admire the beauty of the watch.

Look at the watch, sitting perfectly at 41mm with an open dial and case flaunting the beautifully finished Zenith Elite 670 skeletonized movement, with a 50-hour power reserve and beating at 28,800 hertz.

The dial is just breathtaking! You can see the inner workings of the watch all behind the star that is obviously there and pays tribute to the Zenith logo in a way. Usually, skeletonized dials are illegible. This is anything but, the applied hour markers are large with lumed anchors sitting on a blue outer ring. The hour and minute hands are polished with lume running down the middle of each to ensure legibility. The date window sitting at the 6 o’clock marker is tucked away in the background of the dial, sometimes not really showing but what it does have is quick change function, meaning you can go back and forth between dates without having to go through a whole month because you set the date for 14^th and its actually the 13^th. It happens way more than we’d like to admit. You can see the window ring right below the Hour markers, and right where the date window is there is a small lume square to ensure that today's date is visible.

The watch is made from Grade 5 Titanium, not just the case but the integrated bracelet too. The inner links are polished on the inside of it, so it shimmers when the bracelet conforms to the wrist. The titanium makes the watch unbelievably light, which makes it extremely comfortable on the wrist.

Being an integrated sports watch that means the watch will go with any outfit you can think of. Which brings me to my point, do you blame me for falling so in love with this watch. But more importantly with the person that bought it.

I just got married and for my first birthday my wife surprised me with the piece after collaborating behind my back with the manager of the boutique who is a dear friend of mine. She asked the manager there to order the watch for me and make sure that the watch would arrive for my 30^th birthday and more importantly the first birthday together as husband and wife.

Yes, I loved the watch before owned it, but I love the watch more because of how I got.