Back in 2021, Zenith and Time+Tide came together to unveil a 100-piece limited edition DEFY Classic Skeleton Night Surfer watch. It’s safe to say the novelty did fairly well, capturing the darkening night sky with a micro-blasted titanium case and a light blue gradient skeleton dial. Of course, with any limited edition that does well, a second run is expected, and now the pair have returned for Dubai Watch Week 2023 with a 200-piece limited edition named the Zenith DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero.
Zenith DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero - Credit Zenith
There’s a lot of familiarities between the new DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero and its predecessor, and it seems that’s exactly what Zenith and Time+Tide had in mind. Since the original did so well, the objective was to retain many of the elements that made it so popular, while incorporating some new, rather bad-ass design details that would allow it to stand out. The most obvious being the dial.
Bolder and bluer, the dial of the Zenith DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero is still not really a dial, but a movement. The star-shaped bridge is finished in a deep blue and surrounded by a grey-coloured outer flange with applied hour markers. Uniquely, the metallic blue colour used on the open dial darkens from top to bottom, to evoke the fading light on the horizon after sunset.
Zenith DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero - Credit Zenith
The Zenith applied star logo is still coated in Superluminova and the entire four-pointed star is highlighted in luminescent lines. This is a watch that’s going to throw some serious visual punches come nighttime. The subsidiary dial at 6 o’clock is not a small seconds counter like you might think, but a 1/10th of a second indication.
For the first time, the DEFY Skyline Skeleton model presents the entire 41mm wide angular architecture including the dodecagonal bezel and integrated bracelet, in micro-blasted titanium. The finish of the lightweight metal is very industrial looking, pairing nicely with the skeletonised dial, and has a subdued grey tone that offers almost no reflection of light. In the same way, the sapphire crystal is treated to anti-reflective coating and pairs with a screw down crown and exhibition case back offering a 100 metre water resistant rating.
Zenith DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero - Credit Zenith
The Zenith X Time+Tide DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero Limited Edition arrives on two straps: the first a micro-blasted titanium bracelet and the second a star patterned blue rubber strap. Both arrive with every order of the 200-piece novelty and can be easily swapped without the need for any tools thanks to the brand’s interchangeable strap system.
Andrew McUtchen, founder of Time+Tide comments on the release: “These key upgrades to the Night Surfer Skeleton El Primero make it a totally different timepiece to both the first Night Surfer and the Skyline Skeleton collection in general. But perhaps the most exciting new feature is the El Primero movement that drives it. The buttery smooth 1/10th of a second counter on the dial is the proof that you have a truly high performance machine on your wrist, wherever you take it; in the water, or out.”
Zenith DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero - Credit Zenith
Just as Andrew McUtchen explains, the movement used for the DEFY Skyline Skeleton Night Surfer El Primero watch is Zenith’s El Primero 3620 automatic high-frequency manufacture movement. Beating at a rate of 36,600 vibrations per hour and offering a 60-hour long power reserve, this movement is not your standard automatic winding calibre. It removes the date and changes the seconds counter to a 1/10th of a second complication which is directly driven by the escapement. The movement is not shy, displayed through both the dial and case back so you can watch components like the running gear, barrel, winding system, escape wheel and lever hard at work.
The Zenith DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero watch is limited to 200 pieces worldwide and retails for CHF 11,900. To secure one for yourself, you’ll find it available on Time+Tide’s online store and in ZENITH’s online boutiques around the world.
Zenith DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero - Credit Zenith
Technical Specifications:
- Brand: Zenith
- Model: DEFY Skyline Skyline Night Surfer El Primero
- Price: CHF 11,900
- Material: Micro-blasted titanium
- Movement: El Primero 3620 SK automatic winding
- Complications: Hours and minutes in the centre. 1/10th of a second counter at 6 o'clock
- Dial: Gradient blue skeleton
- Size: 41mm
- Water Resistance: 100 metres
- Strap: Titanium bracelet plus additional blue rubber strap
- Limited: 200 pieces
