Zenith is one of the most compelling and respected Swiss luxury watch brands, particularly among enthusiasts. The 159-year-old watchmaker is especially renowned for its chronographs, with its legendary El Primero ranking among the best-known movements in the world.
As a sporty luxury brand offering watches that start just south of $10,000, Zenith competes with the likes of Rolex, Omega and Breitling (albeit on a much larger scale). But there is one corner of the market that Zenith had forfeited long ago, and that’s dive watches.
Zenith produced a handful of divers in the 1960s and ’70s but never became known for the style and had not produced a dive watch in many years. All that changed at Watches and Wonders 2024, as Zenith debuted a pair of dive watches in its Defy collection.
A Dive Watch Revival
Family Resemblance
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The first of Zenith’s new divers is actually an old diver. Or, rather, it’s a modern-day reissue of the A3648 Defy diver from 1969, which was one of the brand’s first divers and one of the first-ever watches in its Defy line. The Defy Revival A3648 hews closely to the original, mimicking its original compact case size of 37mm, its 600m water resistance and most of its design cues, such as the 4:30 crown and date window and the black and orange colorway.
Like other Zenith Revival watches, the Defy Revival A3648 is every bit a luxury watch despite its retro looks. Modern upgrades over the original include the use of sapphire, which features not only on the crystal but also the bezel insert and the caseback, with the latter offering a full view of the Elite 670 automatic caliber that powers the watch. The stainless steel five-link bracelet, while obviously refined, is based on the Gay Frères-made bracelet that accompanied the original diver.
