New Launch: Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle Watch

For the third and supreme installment in its assortment of limited-edition chronographs impressed by Earth’s most demanding environments, Zenith has created a model new jungle-themed mannequin of the Defy Extreme. Identical to the sooner two fashions from the gathering, the last word member of the trio shall be produced as a restricted model of fifty objects, and it notably choices case components which is likely to be carved from semi-precious stone. For the model new 2024 model, the Swiss producer has turned to the jungle for its aesthetic inspiration, and the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle embraces a inexperienced colorway with tiger-striped chronograph registers and stone case components which is likely to be crafted from tiger’s eye.

The distinctive “Desert” mannequin of the Defy Extreme chronograph from 2021 embraced a brown colorway with falcon’s eye stone case components, and the follow-up Defy Extreme Glacier from 2023 was pale blue with its stone components carved from chalcedony. Like its two siblings, the model new Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle (ref. 95.9202.9004/26.I001) for 2024 presents the an identical 45mm angular case profile with flat sapphire crystals fitted to every the bezel and caseback. Like all Defy Extreme chronographs, a screw-down crown helps guarantee a considerably generous 200 meters of water resistance. As you may depend on, the model new “Jungle” mannequin features a inexperienced/brown colorway, and whereas almost all of its case is constructed from titanium (an identical to its two siblings), the lower a part of its bezel and the frames for its chronograph pushers are every carved from objects of tiger’s eye, which is a stone contained in the quartz family that is characterised by a striped composition comprised of gold and brown hues.

Zenith’s alternative to incorporate small accents of hotter hues into the color profile of the Defy Extreme Jungle helps to strengthen the thematic inspiration behind its design, and the “jungle-vibes” aesthetic can be utilized to inform the appears to be like of the watch’s dial. From an basic design and format standpoint, the dial fitted to the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle is form of an an identical to what is likely to be found on completely different Defy Extreme chronographs, and it features a clear sapphire flooring with a trio of registers in a 3-6-9 format and an arc-shaped vitality reserve indicator sitting beneath the 12 o’clock marker. With that in ideas, the central sections of the dial that sit inside its quartet of reveals are tinted a vibrant shade of inexperienced, and the utilized rings surrounding the three chronograph registers are accomplished with black and orange tiger stripes to counterpoint the pure striations of its tiger’s eye case components.

In distinction to its “Desert” and “Glacier” counterparts that adhere to a additional subdued color palette that begs for a extra in-depth examination to fully respect their nuances, the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle presents a significantly additional visually hanging look. The highest consequence nearly appears to be like one factor you may depend on to see from fellow LVMH mannequin Hublot. For these of you who take heed to the aBlogtoWatch Weekly Podcast and are part of our ongoing joke regarding the hypothetical awards current we would host, I imagine we have merely found the current frontrunner for Rick’s proposed “How Hublot Can You Go” award; however, as an ardent fan of every Zenith and Hublot, I sincerely intend this as a reward. One in every of many particulars I respect most about Zenith is that the company concurrently produces vintage-inspired heritage objects alongside daring and unapologetically stylish equivalents, and flat-out wild creations such as a result of the Defy Extreme Jungle are precisely why even primarily essentially the most jaded fanatic can nonetheless uncover enjoyment from Zenith on a mannequin diploma.

Internally, the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle is powered by the an identical El Primero Caliber 9004 automated chronograph movement as its two siblings, although its skeletonized rotor and uppermost bridge are accomplished khaki inexperienced to further lean into the colorway of the watch. The El Primero 9004 is a considerably spectacular creation that choices two fully completely different escapements, with one dedicated to the time-telling aspect of the movement and the other to its 1/one hundredth of a second chronograph. The underside movement presents an already extreme frequency of 36,000vph (5 Hz) with an affect reserve of fifty hours; however, the chronograph is dominated by an ultra-fast escapement that beats at 360,000vph (50 Hz), which means that its centrally-mounted chronograph hand rotates as quickly as per second. Attributable to its extraordinarily fast working velocity, the chronograph will solely run for about 50 minutes with out resupplying stress to its devoted mainspring, and to help monitor this shorter time period, the flexibility reserve indicator at 12 o’clock is expounded to the chronograph, considerably than the time-telling aspect of the movement.

As a result of the Defy Extreme assortment presents an built-in bracelet design, Zenith incorporates three fully completely different wrist closure selections with the Defy Extreme Jungle, and all of them are merely interchangeable due to a push-button system positioned on the underside surfaces of the lugs. The standard alternative is a flat H-link bracelet created from titanium, although the Defy Extreme Jungle moreover comes as a set with every a black Velcro strap and a inexperienced textured rubber strap that is completed by a titanium folding buckle. Zenith makes it a typical observe to include a variety of strap/bracelet selections with its Defy Extreme watches, and even when the Defy Extreme chronograph initially debuted once more in 2021, the distinctive fashions all included every rubber and velcro straps alongside their matching bracelets. Whereas the three included selections ought to meet most householders, the case format of the Defy Extreme Jungle appears to be an an identical to completely different chronograph fashions from the gathering, and I might take into consideration that the various completely different Defy Extreme straps would even be applicable with its case.

Given particulars like its high-frequency 1/one hundredth of a second chronograph movement and multi-component case constructed from every titanium and tiger’s eye, the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle (ref. 95.9202.9004/26.I001) was destined to be considered one of many dearer selections contained in the mannequin’s lineup, and the 50-piece restricted model has an official retail value of $26,900 USD. Whereas this represents an trustworthy premium as compared with the standard Defy Extreme chronographs, the “Jungle” model nonetheless feels considerably reasonably priced, as a result of it presents fairly a couple of particulars you merely cannot uncover in numerous producer’s catalogs. From a sturdiness standpoint, I can’t take into consideration that tiger’s eye (or another kind of semi-precious stone) presents any effectivity benefits over the titanium pusher housings on the standard-production fashions, although I personally love seeing the blending of tiger’s eye into the exact case of a watch, and the inherently daring silhouette of the Defy Extreme is the fitting foundation for this wild and in-your-face model. For additional information on the Zenith Defy Extreme Jungle, please go to the mannequin’s website.