Why This Unconventional Dive Watch Is One of the Year’s Biggest Surprises

Zenith is one of the most compelling and respected Swiss luxury watch brands, particularly among enthusiasts. The 159-year-old watchmaker is especially renowned for its chronographs, with its legendary El Primero ranking among the best-known movements in the world.

As a sporty luxury brand offering watches that start just south of $10,000, Zenith competes with the likes of Rolex, Omega and Breitling (albeit on a much larger scale). But there is one corner of the market that Zenith had forfeited long ago, and that’s dive watches. Zenith produced a handful of divers in the 1960s and ’70s, but never became known for the style and had not produced a dive watch in many years. All that changed at Watches and Wonders 2024, as Zenith debuted not one but two dive watches at the show.

A Dive Watch Revival

The first of Zenith’s new divers is actually an old diver. Or, rather, it’s a modern-day reissue of the A3648 Defy diver from 1969, which was one of the brand’s first divers and one of the first-ever watches in its Defy line. The Defy Revival A3648 hews closely to the original, mimicking its original compact case size of 37mm, its 600m water resistance and most of its design cues, such as the 4:30 crown and date window and the black and orange colorway.

Like other Zenith Revival watches, the Defy Revival A3648 is every bit a luxury watch despite its retro looks. Modern upgrades over the original include the use of sapphire, which features not only on the crystal but also the bezel insert and the caseback, with the latter offering a full view of the Elite 670 automatic caliber that powers the watch. The stainless steel five-link bracelet, while obviously refined, is based on the Gay Frères-made bracelet that accompanied the original diver.

A Thoroughly Modern Diver

The ceramic dive bezel is placed below the Defy’s signature 12-sided bezel.Zenith

While the Defy Revival A3648 is certainly catnip for watch nerds, it’s not really positioned to square up against the Submariners and Seamasters of the world. The Defy Extreme Diver, meanwhile, very much is.

Zenith’s other new dive watch, the Defy Extreme Diver incorporated the thoroughly modern elements of the current Defy collection and adapts them into a diver. The 42.5mm case is sharply angled and crafted from titanium, the bezel insert is ceramic and three different colors of “X1” grade Super-LumiNova illuminate the hands, indices and bezel.

The Defy Extreme Diver features three different colors of lume.Zenith

The watch is powered by the El Primero 3620-SC automatic caliber, making the Defy Extreme Diver a rare example of a high-beat dive watch. The movement beats at a speedy 36,000 vph yet still offers 60 hours of power reserve. It’s visible through a sapphire caseback as well.

The watch meets ISO 6425 requirements, meaning it can officially be labeled a “diver’s watch,” and it’s water resistant to 600m. The Defy Extreme Diver is available in either black or blue colorways — i.e., the two classic dive watch shades — and comes with three straps: A titanium bracelet, a “cordura effect” FKM rubber strap and a fabric strap made from recycled fishing nets that’s meant to be worn over a wetsuit.

Will Zenith Conquer the Dive Watch Market?

Although both the Defy Extreme Diver and Revival A3648 are very cool and extremely interesting to a watch nerd like me, they’re both fairly niche due to their unorthodox styling. These watches will appeal to buyers who are looking for something outside the norm, but anyone in the market for a traditional diver will almost certainly look elsewhere. But seeing how nearly every brand on Earth makes a traditional diver, it was probably smart of Zenith to take the road less traveled with these more daring divers.