A Second Look: Zenith Embraces the Arctic with DEFY Extreme Glacier (With Hands-On Photos)

Photography by Bilal Khan.

With its glaciers, ice floes, and snow-covered mountains, the awe-inspiring arctic has provided inspiration for many creative endeavors, with one of the latest examples being the DEFY Extreme Glacier from Zenith. To achieve the dynamic glacial-inspired model, the brand makes use of semi-precious chalcedony stone that mimics the appearance of ice. 

The DEFY Extreme Glacier is among the Zenith models that made their debut at 2023 LVMH Watch Week. Alongside the cool-toned DEFY Extreme Glacier, the brand also introduced a DEFY Skyline Skeleton and DEFY Skyline 36mm. Starting off the year it's clear that Zenith is placing a strong priority on developing its DEFY series, further emphasizing its prominence in the scope of the brand’s catalog. 

With a bold diameter of 45mm, this watch brings lightness to its case via its pale coloring and construction in brushed titanium and chalcedony. Chalcedony is a blue gemstone, chosen here for its unique semi-translucence, and its composition varies on each use, making it a complex material in spite of its soft coloring. The chalcedony crown guard and bezel against the titanium case result is a multifaceted palette, made even more robust with an integrated bracelet. Regardless of the lightness this watch evokes through its materials, it still has quite a substantial footprint, especially on smaller wrists. 

The dial layout of the DEFY Extreme Glacier is familiar to the DEFY collection, with four sapphire sub-dials placed on top of a skeletonized movement backdrop. It is inclusive of a 30-minute counter, a 60-second counter, a small seconds sub-dial and a chronograph power reserve indicator, all of which have a frosted finish to complement the cool tone of the chalcedony case. The geometric indices and hands are coated with blue lume, finalizing its wintery motif. Though the dial is rather busy, the semi-transparent sub-dials reduce the heaviness of their appearance and prevent it from feeling overcrowded. 

Partially exposed by the skeletonized dial is the El Primero 9004 automatic chronograph movement. It beats at a frequency of 36,000 VpH and offers a power reserve of 50 hours when full wound. This mechanism is capable of measuring up to 1/100th of a second, and utilizes the scale of the periphery of the dial to do so.

The DEFY Extreme Glacier boutique edition is presented on a brushed titanium bracelet. It also comes with a white rubber strap with a folding buckle and a black strap with a triple-folding titanium clasp. Production of the watch is limited to 50 pieces with a price tag of $26,100.

To learn more, visit Zenith here.