Luxury Swiss watchmaker Zenith has just announced its latest collaboration in partnership with DJ and longtime friend of the brand, Carl Cox. The new watch, the Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox, takes inspiration from DJ turntables and is something every music lover will want to have on their wrist.
As one of the best watch brands on the market, Zenith has had a busy year, launching a new range of Pilot watches during Watches and Wonders 2023 and its limited edition Extreme E watch. Its latest collaboration is with British DJ and producer Carl Cox, and the new watch is not only a tribute to electronic music but is accompanied by a specially curated playlist by Cox which is available on Spotify.
The Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox is the second collaboration between the two, after the DEFY 21 Carl Cox was released in 2020. Speaking of the new watch, Zenith CEO Julien Tornare commented that “for our second watch created together, we wanted to dive deeper into Cox’s rhythmic world and go back to his early days of DJing with analogue instruments. The result is ZENITH’s most advanced chronograph reimagined in a retro-futuristic and minimalist way.”
As part of the Zenith DEFY collection, the Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox draws inspiration from turntables, and uses Zenith's fastest and most rugged chronograph to set the tempo. The watch is powered by the El Primero 9004 calibre movement which can be partially seen through the open dial and sapphire case back. The movement is known as the world’s fastest and only serially produced chronograph movement, that has a high-frequency 50Hz chronograph and offers time measurements of true 1/100th of a second.
Looking at the dial, the Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox has three black chronograph counters that are designed to look like miniature vinyl records. When hit by the light, the chronographs look as if they’re spinning, like records on a record player. For more DJ and music features, the minute hand is completed with a pattern of aligned dots, designed to recall the stroboscope effect found on the sides of Cox’s favourite turntables.
The Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox watch case is crafted in matte-finished stainless steel and yellow gold, a first from the brand. The yellow gold accents are inspired by a turntable stylus golden tonearm and the metal colour rings around the bezel and pusher guards to add more brightness to the watch.
The watch face is primarily black with yellow gold features on the main watch hands and chronograph indicators, and the hour markers. This gives the watch a minimalist yet retro-futuristic look, and the mixing of metals is fun to look at, and gives off a sense of luxury.
Depending on your style, the Zenith DEFY Extreme Carl Cox comes with three watch straps to choose from. Integrated to the watch is the matte-finished steel bracelet, which you can change with the case’s built-in strap-change mechanism, to a black rubber strap or a black velcro strap.
This new Zenith and Carl Cox watch collaboration is sure to appeal to DJ and music lovers, or those who like a bold yet minimalist design. The watch is limited to 100 pieces and is available to buy on the 25th September on the Zenith website and in-person boutiques.
