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It’s dark, it’s stealthy, and it’s bold. But it’s a lot of fun! The new Zenith Defy Extreme Diver Shadow is built for those who love some adventure. So we put it to the test…

The Zenith Diver dates back to the early 1960s when the Le Locle brand designed and released the Super Sub Sea. But, it wasn’t until 1969 when the Defy Diver was released that Zenith had hit on a good thing. The Defy A3648 was a bold watch, and its design codes echoed those of the time. This watch is what the Zenith Defy Diver Revival is modelled after, which Mario took out for a spin last year. However, Zenith didn’t have a deep diver or saturation dive watch like many others out there. Think of the likes of the Rolex Sea-Dweller and the Omega Planet Ocean. So last year, the brand released a new watch – the Defy Extreme Diver in both blue and black colourways that would recify the gap in the market. It had all the hallmarks of the Zenith Defy range, closely mirroring that of the Defy Skyline, but just a little more bold and robust.

So it was no surprise that the brand looked at this watch, along with the A3648 and decided to release a pair of “Shadow” editions of the Extreme Diver and the Diver Revival – both in microblasted titanium for that extra bit of lightness. Given we have not reviewed the Defy Extreme Diver yet, we thought, why not take one for a couple of weeks and see how the new stealthy look handles in the wild? So I did!

Initial Thoughts

This is actually the second time I’ve had a Zenith Defy Extreme Diver on my wrist. The first time was last year after Watches & Wonders when we had some of the (then) newly released models. I wore the black model on the rubber strap, and it was a really cool piece just to wear and get around town in. Alas, no diving in it for me. But this year, Zenith has released something a little bit different. This addition of the Defy Extreme Diver range has been done in a full titanium case and bracelet that is all microblasted. This gives the watch a really cool and stealthy anthracite coloured finish, which is a statement in itself. And, even though this is a stealthy kind of watch, it is livened up with the use of the bright yellow outer track on the dial, as well as the oversized hands and hour markers. So while it is a serious watch, and the yellow is designed for visibility at depths, outside on dry land, it is a little less serious.

But, make no mistake, this is a thicker watch than what you may be used to at 15.5mm. Initially, I thought this would prove an issue for me as I’m generally not into larger watches as much as I used to be. My initial reaction was that the case isn’t as balanced with the bracelet thanks to the thickness. But, after wearing the Defy Extreme Diver Shadow for over a week, almost two, actually, I feel the watch has proven me wrong. The thing that aids this the most when wearing it is the fact that it is lightweight titanium, and because of this, the heft is cut down considerably. As a result, the thickness becomes almost a non-issue. With that said, let’s dive (pun intended) right in.

The Design

The design of the Zenith Extreme Diver Shadow has been taken from cues of vintage Zenith Dive watches, which we see closely resembling the Diver Revival from last year. However, this is an Extreme Diver, and with extreme comes some changes to accommodate the 600m water resistance. You have an integrated case and bracelet design that is reminiscent of the Defy Skyline. You have the dodecagonal bezel, which is fixed with the actual rotating bezel sitting on the outside of the fixed element. The bezel does have some give in it as well, which I’m not sure I love given this is a divers watch. However, I am nitpicking here, as most people who own this will not be diving with the watch, and most of us are not going to ruin dinner by being slightly off in our timing, if you use the dive bezel for that, like I do.

The micro-blasted titanium case and bracelet actually make this watch look a lot meaner than its slightly older brother from last year. But I actually like this as it gives this piece a completely different feel from the original Defy Extreme Diver. In fact, the way Zenith has crafted the microblasted titanium is very reminiscent of a grey ceramic, which does look good on the wrist, especially as this has a nice sheen to it and elevates the “Shadow” titanium. 

And even though this watch has been microblasted in titanium, Zenith has still paid attention to detail on the finishing of the case and bracelet via the use of the crisp, sharp angles on the case, the bevelled edges of the outer links of the bracelet and chamfered inner links. It also has Zenith’s quick-change system, which helps to swap out with the black rubber or nylon straps that also come with the watch. I unfortunately didn’t have these, but you can check them out online to see how they look.

On the dial, Zenith has made the extreme diver shadow super legible via the use of the oversized, our markers and skeleton hands. All of these are filled with C1 Super-LumiNova to ensure that you can read the dial in low light. Added to this, Zenith has added luminescent markings on the bezel and has also given the Defy, Extreme Diver a bright yellow outer track that is also lumed. For me, this does two things: the first is the obvious legibility in both low light settings and during the day, and the second is, it provides a bright contrast to all those muted dark grey tones on the watch itself. 

Overall, the Zenith Defy, Extreme Diver has this brutalist feel about it, but not in a harsh way, and that is a look that you actually warm to the more you wear the watch. Speaking of wearing…

How It Wears

I mentioned in my opening initial thoughts that I thought this was going to be a watch that wares big on the wrist and I wasn’t going to love it all that much. But this is a watch that has proved me wrong. And for this reason, I always advocate for trying on watches more than once when you’re looking at purchasing. What appears as one thing can often be another on the wrist, and the Defy, Extreme Diver Shadow is one of those watches.

The way the bracelet tapers, which on its own is quite good, feels like there is less balance between it and the case of the watch itself. Originally, I thought, and so did the team, that the bracelet could have been a little bit thicker just to balance out the overall aesthetics on the wrist. But after wearing it now for what is almost 2 weeks, it doesn’t seem to matter. If you are not wearing the watch loosely on the wrist, the way the design has been executed, combined with the lightness of the titanium, makes us watch actually wear very well, and to my surprise, fairly comfortable!

The 15.5 cm thickness is on the chunky side. There is no getting around that, but if you’re not prone to walking in the door handles, this really shouldn’t bother you, as the way the watch wears alleviates the feel of a thick watch on the wrist. The fact that the titanium construction is much lighter than steel does help with this massively, and after wearing it, you don’t really feel like you have a big watch on at all. It’s surprisingly deceptive.

The smoothness of the microblasted titanium bracelet means there’s nothing to catch any hairs on the wrist, and over the last couple of weeks. I didn’t find that to be an issue at all. The construction of the bracelet is also fairly sturdy, which gives this watch a weird type of balance between solidity and flexibility. I would still like to have a micro-adjust built into the bracelet, however, as is my common gripe with integrated bracelet designs, or dual folding clasps. 

For me personally, it’s currently winter, so the bracelet is sized pretty perfectly to my wrist and it wears snuggly without a lot of movement, but not too tight. However, coming into the warmer months of summer, I would probably have to add an additional link back into the bracelet to accommodate for my expanding wrist. And as there is no micro adjustment and the links are double screwed, then this could prove a slight annoyance should I own the watch and have to have the bracelet adjusted every six months or so. Just something to note if your wrist can expand and contract frequently. But this is not a unique problem with this bracelet in particular; it’s a common issue across all butterfly clasp and integrated bracelet designs.

The Movement

Zenith has the El Primero 3620 calibre inside of the Extreme Diver. It is their standard time only movement and has been tried and tested now for many, many years. As it is an El Primero, it beats at 5Hz or 36,000 VpH and has the standard 60-hour power reserve. This is all pretty common in Zenith watches these days, and the balance between 60 hours of power and the 5 Hz beat rate means it keeps time fairly accurately. The unique thing about this watch, being a saturation diver as Zenith calls it, is the display case back, which shows the El Primero movement.

Yes, other brands have display case backs on their dive watches, but it is rare to get a display case back on a dive watch that is rated to 600m of water resistance, and as a result, has a helium escape valve. I think this is a nice touch as let’s face it, 99.9% of people who purchase a watch such as this will never go scuba diving with it, nor will they decsend to the murky depths of 600m under the ocean’s surface. So in this regard, the display caseback makes a lot of sense. But full credit to Zenith for having the guts to add a sapphire crystal case back into a saturation diver. The only one down side I can see by doing this is that it would add a few millimetres to the case. But as I have discussed, this is a moot point. Plus, you get to see the darkened El Primero!

Final Thoughts 

Over the years, there have been watches I have tried on and instantly liked, then there are watches that grow on you as you wear them more because you don’t instantly gravitate towards the look, the style, or the design of the watch. But this is the nicthing about what I do – I can wear a watch and have the time to fully explore it without having to hand over the hard-earned cash and be disappointed. I say this because the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver Shadow is one of those few watches where I wasn’t sure about it initially, but after almost 2 weeks on my wrist, I have found it to be a fun piece to wear.

Depending on your profession and lifestyle, this may or may not be a daily for you. For me, where I see this fitting into my life is a casual watch to wear on weekends or just generally out and about when you’re not doing anything too serious. To give an example, I wore this watch on a day trip with my family to Mount Tambourine in the Gold Coast hinterland as we were catching up with friends at an adventure park. It was actually the perfect watch to wear on that day as it suited the whole vibe of being in the hinterland, the wood fires, pizza and whiskey. For me, this is what watches are about, the connections you create with them through the experiences, it’s how they resonate with you emotionally and how they can bring back a memory. While I don’t get to keep this watch, I will still have it in my head that weekend I was wearing it. It was just a great piece to wear on the wrist. Any other watch may not have given me that same feeling because it just didn’t fit the vibe of the day.

If you’re working in an office and you wear a suit to work every day, this may not be the right watch as a daily wear, but I will reiterate, you could put it on on the weekends if you have an active lifestyle, and it would be a perfect watch to wear. The other thing that the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver Shadow has done for me is, it’s giving me pause to think about what I love and what I don’t love on my wrist. These days I’ve had a bit of a niggling thought in my head that I want some sort of more sporty, stealthy style of watch, and this watch has helped me realise this just a little bit more. Is this the ultimate adventure watch – I think it could be, depending on your definition of adventure, but should I consider a robust extreme watch, the Zenith Defy Extreme Diver will be on the list.

Reference: Zenith DEFY Extreme Diver (97.9600.3620/21.I300)

• Dimensions: 42.5mm x 47.4mm lug-to-lug and 15.5mm thick
• Case Material: Microblasted titanium
• Dial: Black and yellow matte with a starry sky pattern
• Water Resistance: 600m (60 Bar)
• Movement: Automatic calibre El Primero 3620
• Movement Power reserve: 60 hours operating at 5Hz (36,000 VpH)
• Crystal: Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
• Bracelet/Strap: Black “Cordura effect” rubber with folding clasp. Micro-blasted titanium bracelet with folding clasp included. Black & yellow fabric strap with pin buckle included.

Australian Retail Pricing: A$20,100

Availability: Available now through Zenith boutiques and authorised retailers, or head online to Zenith-watches.com.au

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