ZENITH presents the DEFY Extreme E 2023 limited edition at Hydro X Prix
For the third season of Extreme E, ZENITH has created the lightest iteration of its groundbreaking 1/100th of a second chronograph to date: the DEFY Extreme E edition. Combining performance-centric materials and a high-frequency chronograph movement, capable of accurately measuring elapsed time to an astounding level of precision, the DEFY Extreme E edition has also been conceived around the values of sustainability shared by Extreme E and ZENITH’s HORIZ-ON initiative.
The DEFY Extreme E edition features brightly coloured accents in Extreme E’s signature “Vital Green” tone, as a message of awareness and action on climate change, as well as recycled and up-cycled parts from Extreme E's races incorporated in the strap and packaging.
On this latest ZENITH special edition created for Extreme E, CEO Julien Tornare shared: “This is the third year that Extreme E has been championing the causes of sustainability and climate change awareness, which are central to ZENITH’s HORIZ-ON CSR initiative. We’re honoured to be able to continue supporting Extreme E, as we have from the very beginning, as we truly consider it to be the future. The DEFY Extreme E edition commemorates this with an all-carbon construction, a first for the DEFY Extreme E line. We’re thrilled to be able to launch it here in Scotland with our friends and partners.”
ZENITH has made its most rugged 1/100th of a second chronograph even lighter while retaining its inherent toughness in the DEFY Extreme E edition. Tried and tested in some of the most extreme conditions and environments that Extreme E has provided, the DEFY Extreme E edition is the first model in the collection to be crafted entirely in lightweight, yet tough, carbon fibre – including the pushers and their protective elements. The watch weighs only 96 grams, including the strap and triple-folding clasp – also in carbon fibre.
The dashboard of this hardy chronograph is an open multi-layered dial, consisting of tinted sapphire crystal elements and embellished with Extreme E’s official “Vital Green” colour accents, a subtle reminder of the championship’s core value of sustainability. Partially visible through the open dial, as well as the sapphire case back, is the world’s fastest automatic high-frequency chronograph calibre in production, offering 1/100th of a second time measurements by means of two independent escapements beating at the rate of 5Hz (36’000 VpH) for the timekeeping part and 50Hz (360’000 VpH) for the chronograph function.
Highlighting the themes of sustainability and environmental awareness, the DEFY Extreme E edition is delivered with a rubber strap infused with materials of up-cycled Continental CrossContact tyres that were used in the first season’s races. Matching the Extreme E Vital Green accents on the dial, the Velcro strap features a black rubber central element surrounded by green cordura-effect rubber. The DEFY Extreme E edition is delivered with two additional straps in black rubber and black Velcro, which can be easily swapped without any tools by using the case back’s ingenious and intuitive quick strap-change mechanism.
The DEFY Extreme E edition is delivered in a suitably sturdy waterproof and crushproof watch case inspired by the extreme conditions, incorporating various up-cycled elements from the side-lines of the first season’s races. The case’s lid coating is made from E-grip recycled tyres, while the plate covering is made from parts of an Extreme E racing tarpaulin.
Made in a limited edition of 100 pieces, the DEFY Extreme E edition is available exclusively at ZENITH physical and online boutiques around the world.
With innovation as its guiding star, ZENITH exclusively features in-house developed and manufactured movements in all its watches. Since the creation of the El Primero in 1969, the world’s first automatic chronograph calibre, ZENITH has gone on to master high-frequency precision and offers time measurements in fractions of a second, including 1/10th of a second in the Chronomaster collection and 1/100th of a second in the DEFY collection. Because innovation is synonymous with responsibility, the ZENITH HORIZ-ON initiative affirms the brand's commitments to inclusion and diversity, sustainability and employee wellbeing.
For the second race of the 2023 Season, Extreme E is bringing the teams to Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. Symbolic of the need to spread awareness about climate change and find innovative solutions, the race will take place in a former opencast coal mine site, which is about to undergo the next phase of its major transformation into a Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH) plant and wind farm.
It is against this poignant backdrop and surrounded by partners and friends of the brand that ZENITH is unveiling the latest DEFY Extreme E special edition watch.
