One of the best dive watch releases of last year is getting a unique limited edition this week thanks to a collaboration between Zenith and Topper Jewelers. The Defy Extreme Diver (reviewed here) has already stretched its legs this year with a Shadow variation, and with this collaboration it’s showing off a different side of its personality. This is the Defy Extreme Diver “Bioluminescence”, which takes inspiration from light emitted by certain ocean inhabitants through a chemical reaction called, you guessed it, bioluminescence. At night, these creatures can put on quite a show, and Zenith have followed suit with a dial that comes to life in a similar manner in the dark.
In daylight, the dial of this Defy Extreme Diver shifts between blue hues in what appears to be a relatively organic manner, with visible flecks mixed in. In low light, each of those small flecks begins to glow, and within the deep blues of the dial, it takes on the appearance of bioluminescence in the waves as seen at night. This is a watch that uses three different colors of lume, and this does as well, though the points of light are all a uniform green, the very same you’ll find on the hour markers, and on the tip of the hour hand.
A blue chapter ring and blue ceramic bezel piece continue the theme around the 42.5mm titanium case, creating a vibrant sense of contrast. The watch remains a 600 meter diver and is still 15mm thick, that I’d say that the watch is still surprisingly wearable for its stature. There are three strap options for this watch, including a titanium bracelet, a white rubber unit, and an open link allowing for a white and black passthrough strap (or any 19mm wide strap for that matter) to be used. That bezel piece gets the orange lume, by the way, which adds another dimension to the design in low light, and honestly hints that some small orange details might have been welcome elsewhere.
Underneath an exhibition caseback sits Zenith’s El Primero 3620 SC automatic movement, and here it’s been adorned with a blue oscillating weight to fit the theme of the rest of the watch. Unlike every other Defy Extreme Diver variation that’s been released, the Bioluminescence does not get a date, leaving a perfectly symmetrical dial that works remarkably well with this design as a whole. Even the Shadow variation got a date (the A384 Revival Shadow did not), so this is could offer a clue as to what we might be able to expect in future variations of this watch.
Only 50 pieces of the Defy Extreme Diver Bioluminescence are planned for production, and the price is set at $12,300 (which includes all three strap options). This represents a $1,000 premium over the regular editions of the watch. This will be available exclusively from Topper Jewelers. Zenith / Topper Jewelers