The Zenith Defy Extreme Diver is one of the best modern dive watches releases in recent years, and this week, it welcomes a new configuration rendered in microblasted titanium. In Zenith parlance, this is the Shadow treatment, and it’s being released alongside a matching Defy Revival Diver in the same spec. The Shadow moniker is something we’ve seen in previously released Revival editions, and this Extreme Diver marks the first time to be used in a modern design. It’s a theme that works well here, and a material that feels right at home in the Extreme Diver in particular.
Let’s take a moment to recall the Chronomaster Revival Shadow from 2020 based on the A386 Revival released a year prior. The design was based on a PVD coated steel model from the ‘70s that never saw proper production, and it’s a theme that’s been repurposed in blasted titanium. The Chronomaster Revival Shadow was an unexpected take on the original, rather classic design, and it brought a very different personality out of the watch. Zenith leaned into this further by removing the date aperture at 4:30, making it the only such A386 to be built. While there’s no such luck in these latest Shadow releases, the theme works all the same.
The Defy Extreme Diver was released at Watches & Wonders 2024 alongside the Defy Revival based on the A3648 from the ‘70s. Both represented a long awaited return (well, by me, anyway) to the dive watch genre for the brand, and the Defy Extreme Diver in particular made a compelling case for the future of Zenith dive watch designs. It felt truly novel, and didn’t hold anything back, boasting a 600 meter depth rating. It’s big, brash, and unashamedly cool. While a more manageable, less extreme variation would certainly be welcome, the Extreme Diver is a wonderful proof of concept.
With the release of a titanium Extreme Diver, that equation changes a bit. While still being a serious footprint to manage, the watch cuts a noticeable amount of weight, putting right into a sweet spot ergonomically. The Defy Revival never really suffered from this issue, so its Shadow variation is more of an aesthetic appreciation than anything else. With the Extreme Diver, it puts the watch into a different category altogether, and it’s something that I dearly hope is not relegated to just this special edition.
There is one other detail about these watches that could push them into polarizing territory, and this is the use of an acid yellow as the supporting color to break up the deep greys and blacks. This color brings a vivid personality out of the watches that certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste, and while that’s not a bad thing at all, it does leave me wondering what other accent colors might work here. In fact, I’d suggest that the silver dial with orange accents released in this watch late last year would be a perfect pairing with the dark titanium case seen here.
At the moment, we’ll have to make do with these two variations, which are quite wonderful in their own right. The Defy Extreme Diver, which houses the Zenith El Primero 3620 automatic movement, is priced at $12,300. The Defy Revival Diver, which uses the Zenith Elite 670 automatic movement, is priced at $8,200. Zenith
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