DEFY Ladies Watches New Releases New Watches Zenith

New release: the Zenith DEFY Midnight collection for women

Zenith introduces two whole new range of luxury watches for women. At the inaugural edition of the LVMH Watch Week in Dubai this year, Zenith added to its DEFY collection the DEFY Classic Midnight — as the name goes, inspired by a cosmic, dreamy starlit night sky look — and the newly revamped Elite collection. It is the former we are reviewing today.

New release: the Zenith DEFY Midnight collection for women

Zenith introduces two new ranges of luxury watches for women. At the inaugural edition of the LVMH Watch Week in Dubai this year, Zenith added to its DEFY collection the DEFY Classic Midnight — as the name goes, inspired by a cosmic, dreamy starlit night sky look — and the newly revamped Elite collection. It is the former we are reviewing today.

The DEFY Midnight is defined by a versatile look to it; the celestial inspired dials are dressy yet casually cool. And first and foremost, they are beautifully feminine. 

It is here I think Zenith scores. 

SZENITH Defy Midnight PR 2 Scaled
Courtesy ©Zenith. All rights reserved.

Some Comments on the Zenith DEFY Midnight collection

36mm traditionally is man’s dress watch size, and by introducing an entire new range in this size along with a mechanical movement, Zenith makes a bold statement: Zenith as a brand with a very impressive history now makes ladies watches that are more than just jewellery pieces. 

That said, frankly, if Zenith could have made an iteration of these watches without any diamonds at all, and still dedicated it entirely to women, I think that would have been a knockout.

Regardless, this is still a very positive effort, and a step in the right direction by a major brand in including women’s watches as part of their range. Kudos to Zenith on that front. 

The Dials 

Zenith introduces three new gradient dials in different colour variations with starry sky patterns. Deep blue and grey coloured dials featuring a glossy finish with a vertical gradient effect, they are encased inside a 36mm stainless steel case that is embellished with brilliant-cut diamonds.

Positioned at 12’o clock, the brand’s faceted star emblem symbolically represents the highest point in the interpreted night sky of the dial. To compliment this star look, Zenith has introduced a star-shaped oscillating weight that brings this galactic element even to the case-back view.

SZENITH Defy Midnight PR
Courtesy ©Zenith. All rights reserved.

Coming back to the dial face, surrounding this large star are other stars on the dial of differing sizes, some of them even filled with luminous material infilled to glow at night. 

Zenith has thought of everything. Not every night is crystal clear with stars twinkling. To accomodate this, the third dial iteration is made of white mother-pearl with a vertical gradient effect that’s designed to evoke moonlight on a cloudy night. 

All three dials — deep blue, grey and white — have white diamonds that are applied as hour markers with the exception of 3’o clock, where the date window is placed. 

This new collection comes in various different models/iterations. We are listing the details for the DEFY Midnight here with their technical specifications for easy reference. 

The Variations

The 2020 DEFY Midnight comes in six variations (all stainless steel) overall:

Grey gradient dial with plain bezel – reference: 03.9200.67/02.MI001

Blue gradient dial with plain bezel – reference: 03.9200.670/01.MI001

White mother of pearl dial with plain bezel – reference: 03.9200.670/03.MI001

Grey gradient dial with diamonds on bezel – reference: 16.9200.670/02.MI001

Blue gradient dial with diamonds on bezel – reference: 16.9200.670/01.MI001

White with diamonds on bezel – reference: 16.9200.670/01.MI001

The heart used in all of them — Elite 670 SK — is a self-winding automatic movement beating at the frequency of 4Hz (28’800 A/h) allowing for a decent 48 hour power reserve.

The watch face shows the functions of hours, minutes, central seconds, and date at 3’o clock . The hour markers are in the form of 11 VS brilliant-cut diamonds, while the bezel on three versions listed above have 44 VS brilliant-cut diamonds (~1.48 cts).

All hands are rhodium-plated and faceted, and coated with Super-Luminova SLN.

The water resistance is an impressive 100m (10 ATM) on all versions.

To make the Zenith DEFY Midnight collection watches even more lady friendly — just like Vacheron Constantin’s new collection — the DEFY Midnight range also features a wide range of easily swappable bracelets and straps.

The options include an integrated steel bracelet — yup, you got that right, an integrated bracelet for women — and coloured satin and leather straps with rubber backing. 

The best part, you don’t have to spend extra to get these new straps – the new watches come in a special box that includes 3 additional coloured straps and an interchangeable folding clasp.

The diamond set bezel versions cost 10’900 CHF while the plain bezel options cost 8’900 CHF.

SZENITH Defy Midnight PR
Courtesy ©Zenith. All rights reserved.

Watch Ya Gonna Do About It? 

In terms of use, we would say that theZenith DEFY Midnight collection watches are definitely daily wearers, especially the plain bezel ones. The DEFY Classic Midnight collection presents a good looking dress watch that can also transform into a utility watch (again with the no diamond bezel version on the integrated steel bracelet).

Given it’s 36mm diameter in size, it’s not the size of a traditional dress for women but Zenith defies that (pun intended) that fits the watch with a contemporary ladies’ dress watch aesthetic. It will fit perfectly under the cuff for that boardroom meeting or is good if you are travelling for a business or even if you are on a watch just chilling. The blue dial version is our favourite. 

Since the watches are not limited edition, they are something that Zenith fans and watch enthusiasts can check out at leisure and decide if they are the right option for them.

For more information of these watches and other Zenith watches, head to their website here. 

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