The return of the dive watch to the Zenith assortment has been one of many actual highlights for the model during the last 12 months or so. It’s truly sort of loopy to think about that Zenith went so lengthy with out a true diver of their lineup, being that they’ve been one of many foundational pillars on which the entire trade noticed a lot development during the last decade. It might be somewhat like an auto producer refusing to construct an SUV of some variety – why not get a bit of this section of the market that an infinite variety of individuals are fascinated by? It’s notably noteworthy, I believe, that when Zenith did resolve to get again into the diver sport, they did it on two fronts: with a tribute to their divers of the previous, alongside a ahead wanting modern piece. Griffin Bartsch, throughout a number of opinions and movies, has finished a pleasant job of breaking down each the Defy Excessive Diver and the Defy Revival Diver, watches which are very a lot two sides of the identical coin. This week, Zenith expands their dive watch portfolio a bit additional, iterating on each of those platforms through their “Shadow” sequence.
The Shadow watches have been fanatic favorites since their inception. We’ve beforehand seen each a Chronomaster Revival Shadow in addition to a Defy Revival Shadow, each of which strip down the essence of a watch into a cold, micro-blasted titanium instrument. The matte end and darker tones of the circumstances are actually interesting. They’ve a approach of creating a watch that’s in any other case just about a 1:1 recreation of one thing from the previous into one thing that feels nearly futuristic, like an extremely technical sci-fi model of the unique watch.
What’s attention-grabbing about these Shadows is that they make use of the identical darkish grey tones we’ve seen beforehand, however don’t shrink back from colour. True to the spirit of Zenith’s divers, they really lean into colour in an attention-grabbing approach. Whereas orange (and blue) dominated the divers launched final 12 months, right here we get a vibrant tennis ball yellow accenting each the Defy Excessive Diver and the Defy Revival Diver.
The Defy Excessive Diver is, unusually, the extra delicate of the 2 watches in my view. Zenith makes use of the “Excessive” designation for his or her most experimental, tech ahead, and aesthetically adventurous watches inside the Defy assortment, and the brand new diver seen here’s a essentially quieter and extra subdued model of the watches launched in 2024. The black dial has the identical star sample seen on earlier variations, and the case stays 42.5mm and now options the aforementioned blasted end on its titanium floor. The one blip of colour comes through the minute observe and fingers, that are rendered in vibrant yellow.
The Defy Revival Diver in its Shadow type is probably a bit extra attention-grabbing to me, because it absolutely recontextualizes the classic watch it’s primarily based on, in addition to the recreation from a 12 months in the past. It’s a cloth change (metal to titanium) in addition to being a dramatically totally different colour. Simply as the unique featured an amazing quantity of orange, this one is loaded with the identical almost fluorescent yellow, making it simply the loudest Shadow Zenith has launched up to now. These watches, for my part, are actually meant to straddle the road between the previous and a few sort of imagined future, and that’s precisely what the Defy Revival Shadow seems to be doing, with its precise recreation of the basic reference A3648 case dimensions (it’s nonetheless 37mm in diameter) and classic type bracelet mixed with titanium and an avant-garde adjustment to the design language.
When it comes to specs, these watches are proper consistent with people who got here earlier than. A very powerful quantity to concentrate on right here is the 600 meter water resistance ranking that’s widespread to each watches. That’s a determine that’s pretty mundane for a flagship fashionable dive watch just like the Defy Excessive, however actually stands out with the Revival. Excessive water resistance is a part of that watch’s DNA, in fact. The unique A3648 had the identical depth ranking, and speaks to the spectacular over engineering that has outlined Zenith sports activities watches (notably within the Defy assortment) from the very starting.
Each the Defy Excessive Diver Shadow and Defy Revival Shadow can be found now. The retail value for the Excessive is $12,300, and the Revival is priced at $8,200. Zenith
