(Video) Test: the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver

But Zenith has also become something of a poster child for modern sports watches. Their chronographs sit comfortably and easily at the front of the pack, and their everyday sports watches, like the Defy Skyline or their recently resurrected Pilot line, have become must-haves to collect. And I’m not just saying this to make a point. Start attending collector events and meetups, and you’re bound to see Zeniths everywhere. With all this in mind, it was more than inevitable that Zenith would look to introduce a new dive watch to its catalog.

Old versus new: a tale of two zeniths

Zenith has adopted a dual identity in recent years, garnering as much praise for its contemporary collection as for its many historical reissues. Of course, this is nothing exceptional in itself: many brands make a fortune resurrecting vintage models. But where most brands dig into their archives for anything with a hint of Genta or Submariner, Zenith tends to fall back on the wild and the wonderful, resurrecting original chronographs in smaller sizes without shying away from unique architectures and ladder bracelets.

It is therefore not surprising that Zenith, in returning to the world of diving watches, has chosen not only to present a resolutely modern diving watch, but also to offer a revisited version. With its 37 mm faceted steel case and its impressive technical characteristics, the Zenith Defy Revival has been a great success with enthusiasts and specialist media. But honestly? It is not the one I would choose.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an undeniably cool watch, but when I had the choice between it and the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver, my heart made a quick and clear decision. In some ways, the two watches are very similar. They each sport interesting angular cases, they’re each decorated with bright orange accents, and they’re each a clear distillation of one side of Zenith’s current design vocabulary. Beyond those slight similarities (and a shared 600-meter water resistance), the two watches are completely and utterly different beasts.

A very extreme diver

I’m not a diver. Or at least, I’m not a certified diver. I plan to change that at some point, but for now at least, the deepest waters the watch on my wrist is likely to encounter are the top few feet of the Atlantic Ocean or (more likely) the deep end of a swimming pool. All of which is to say that I’m not really the guy to evaluate how a watch like the Defy Extreme Diver would fare on a reef dive or a shipwreck in Lake Michigan.

What I can say is that as a certified diver who likes to get his watches wet, the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver ticks all the boxes, and I’m not just talking about the ISO 6425 standard (although I do). A good dive watch, especially an expensive one, needs to be, for lack of a better term, trustworthy. If a brand is asking you to spend a significant amount of money for what they claim is a functional watch, you have to trust that the watch is going to, well, deliver on that function. After all, no one wants to spend $10,000+ on a dive watch only to have it get wet the first time you jump off a dock, or even be worried about that happening.

What I mean is that a good dive watch needs to do more than just perform, a good dive watch needs to visually communicate a certain ruggedness, a certain brute force capability that tells you the watch is more ready to take on the world than you are. It’s this need that helps explain why the Omega Seamaster Pro and Planet Ocean still cling to their screw-in external helium release valves, and why the broader market still gravitates toward bigger, bulkier dive watches, even when smaller ones would do the trick.

Strapping the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver onto your wrist, you feel that kind of confidence. The Defy Extreme Diver looks as if someone at Zenith took a Defy Skyline and used Photoshop’s blending tool to merge it with a Royal Oak Offshore Diver (with maybe a little Doxa thrown in for good measure). That’s not to say it’s derivative—on the contrary, the watch is unique to Zenith—but it certainly conveys a similar toughness: a sort of Expendables-style, “I’m ready to take on Jason Stratham even though I’m almost 80” macho energy, à la Sly Stallone.

There’s a good reason these guys wear massive Offshores and imposing Panerai watches on their wrists for these roles. Wearing different watches, like donning different outfits, can help us feel like different versions of ourselves. And whether we’re willing to admit it or not, wearing watches like the Defy Extreme Diver, a worthy representative of this genre, helps us feel like badasses—as if we can maybe even harness some of that Arnold attitude.

The Defy Extreme Diver on the wrist

Of course, one of the great things about the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver is that while it may look big, it’s actually entirely wearable, at least on my 7.5-inch wrist. The Defy Extreme Diver measures just 42.5mm wide, with a lug-to-lug distance that varies depending on which bracelet/interchangeable end link you choose to use at any given time. The watch is thick, at 15.5mm (and obviously more on the included NATO-style strap), but it should be, too.

This watch isn’t meant to be hidden under a sleeve, it’s meant to be worn in plain sight. Plus, the watch is completely proportional, with a dynamic, layered side profile that looks great even when you’re only glancing at it out of the corner of your eye. Any concerns about weight are also alleviated thanks to the Defy Extreme Diver’s grade 5 titanium construction. It always surprises me to say this when talking about a titanium watch, but there were times when I was wearing the Defy Extreme Diver where I genuinely forgot I was wearing it, only to turn my wrist over and be pleasantly surprised by its presence.

The Zenith Defy Extreme Diver comes with three strap options: a rubber strap, a NATO strap, and a titanium bracelet. Each is well executed, and the quick-change system that allows for on-the-fly interchangeability works as well as any I’ve encountered, though the curved lugs of the connection points took a little getting used to.

The titanium bracelet is, once properly adjusted, very comfortable, but I wanted to be able to adjust it quickly throughout the day. The lack of a quick-adjust, combined with the quick-change system, meant that I didn’t really wear the Defy Extreme Diver on its bracelet for long periods of time. If my wrist started to swell or shrink, I simply swapped out for one of the included bracelets.

The band was also a bit tricky to size on my own, with double-headed screws that required multiple screwdrivers and some patience. In a world where micro-brands that produce sub-$1,000 watches consistently produce watches that are a joy to size, I find myself increasingly lacking sympathy for brands that don’t.

Thankfully, both the textured rubber strap and the woven NATO-style strap were an absolute joy. Those who know me won’t be surprised to learn that I spent most of my time with the Defy Extreme Diver wearing it on its excellent NATO strap, mounted on a pair of sturdy titanium end links. In addition to really liking the strap itself (seriously, it might be my favorite OEM NATO strap), I loved the look of the fixed lugs that held it in place.

Aside from the difficulty of choosing the strap size, every other touchpoint on the Defy Extreme Diver met my expectations for Zenith. The 120-click ceramic bezel, which seems to float around the edge of the watch rather than resting on it, was grippy and comfortable to use, with crisp clicks and good action. The crown, which is the sole link between the user and the El Primero Calibre 3620 SC automatic movement housed in the titanium case, felt solid and had a positive action.

Overall, the Defy Extreme Diver is every bit the quality we’ve come to expect from Zenith.

The question of the bill

Which brings us to the all-important question of price. The Defy Extreme Diver, in any color, is not a cheap watch. At $11,300, the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver raises some questions about its retail price. Specifically, a shocking number of friends have asked me how it compares to the Rolex Submariner. And while I want to question the price ($11,000 is no small feat), I reject the comparison.

The Zenith Defy Extreme Diver is a flagship titanium dive watch from a major Swiss watchmaker, and it lives up to that title. Furthermore, I would say that for what you get, the Defy Extreme Diver is a surprisingly good value proposition. From an aesthetic and technical standpoint, the closest alternative I can think of to the Defy Extreme Diver is the Royal Oak Offshore Diver, which is almost three times the price of the Zenith.

As for Rolex, its closest competitor is the new 42mm titanium Yachtmaster, which costs nearly $3,000 more than the Zenith, if you can even get your hands on one. On a practical level, I’m challenged to recommend a more expensive dive watch than a Pelagos FXD or a 39, but those aren’t the watches the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver was designed to compete with. The Defy Extreme Diver is meant to take on the big dogs, to take on the $10,000-plus behemoths of the industry, and win. And on that front, it’s a masterstroke. Zenith