In this author’s watch journalism career, one epic memory remains clear – an early career visit to Greenwich Observatory in London where he was allowed to witness a momentous occasion, the rise of a star which in modern times had fallen by the wayside. That brand was Zenith, then led by Jean-Frederic Dufour (now a master strategist for arguably the industry’s most monotholithic brand) and he was unveiling the Zenith Christophe Colomb. It possed a Zero G “Gravity Control” module stemming from five years of intense development and it was a complication so revolutionary that it represented one of the major landmarks in 21st century watchmaking.

This Baselworld 2018 Zenith unveils the Defy Zero G using the same revolutionary gyroscopic “Gravity Control” module patented by Zenith. We would be remiss to neglect mentioning that the Academy Christophe Colomb Équation du Temps won the 2011 “Best Complicated Watch Prize”, the star category in the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix, the most highly coveted international award in the watchmaking world. The new Baselworld 2018 Zenith Defy Zero G looks set to define brand once again and lead to a star ascendant.

Baselworld 2018 Zenith Defy Zero G

Reinterpreted in futuristic mode for the new Zenith Defy Zero G, the spherical “Gravity Control” system composed of 139 tiny components has been entirely redesigned and optimised so as to increase its efficiency and reduce its dimensions. The gyroscopic module – inspired by historical marine chronometers – which previously spun between two convex sapphire crystals, now occupies only 30% of its initial volume and can thus, unlike its early incarnation with the domed sphere of the Academy Christophe Colomb, now fits perfectly between the two flat sapphire crystals of the Zenith Defy case, quickly turning into the flagship collection for the rising star. Case in point, the Defy series became home to high-speed chronographs as well as the experimental Defy Lab, with its revolutionary new regulator.

This technical, feather-light “tourbillon on steroids” but really an escapement assortment and regulator on gimbals (thus ensuring that it is always horizontal thereby ensuring the balance wheel always runs level, unaffected by the deleterious effects of gravity), appears in all its majesty at 6 o’clock. As a double guarantee of extreme precision, the heart of the new Baselworld 2018 Defy Zero G beats to the fierce pace of the manual-winding El Primero 8812S calibre, oscillating at 5 Hz and self-regulated by the modernised “Gravity Control” module. With its 324 components (including 139 for the gyroscopic carriage alone), this high-frequency in-house movement – heir to the legendary 1969 El Primero – drives the offset hours and minutes, small seconds and gravity control functions, along with the over 50-hour power-reserve indication.

New Zenith Defy Zero G Price and Specs

Movement Manual winding El Primero 8812S with 50 hours power reserve
Case 44mm rose gold or brushed titanium with 100 metres water resistance
Strap Titanium or rose bracelet or rubber with alligator leather
Price $99,800 (titanium on strap), $100,800 (titanium on bracelet), $115,900 (gold on strap), $131,000 (gold on bracelet)