Zenith & Collective Horology Reveal New Defy Skyline C.X Edition

In 2019, Collective Horology made its world debut via its first publicly available collaboration with Zenith, the Chronomaster El Primero C.01. The watch was a near-clinical take on Zenith’s famous chronograph, with a sleek gray-on-white dial and no 4:30 date window in sight. Collective Horology has since evolved beyond a members-only club of watch enthusiasts, currently retailing independent brands like Arcanaut, Garrick, and Fears. The two founders, however, are still very much the same passionate watch enthusiasts, and this week they are introducing their tenth collaborative project, the C.X Edition, with the brand that kicked things off:  Zenith. 

Zenith is a watchmaker that has seen its fair share of change over the past five years as well. Not only did the company welcome new leadership just earlier this year, but it has refined its approach to many of its collections by way of redesigns and consolidation. One of the new faces is the Defy Skyline, a collection introduced in 2022 as a new foundation of the modern Defy design language. The Defy Skyline replaced the Defy Classic with the same angular integrated case, and while it gained a bit of heft in the process, it provides a far more flexible platform for Zenith to build on, which the brand has wasted little in doing. 

The newest addition to the Defy collection is this collaboration with Collective Horology, and it’s called the C.X Edition (“X” representing the tenth collaboration from the California-based outfit). The new watch picks up on some of the same themes first seen in the original Zenith C.01, namely that it brings a clean, tone-on-tone design with a keen eye for the details. Like the C.01, there is no date at work here, allowing for the unique take on the dial texture to have maximum impact. The four-pointed star pattern on the dial fades out at the edges, a first for the Defy Skyline. This execution allows the octagonal bezel piece a bit more room to breathe without living in conflict with the rather dense pattern. It’s a good move and one that I’d love to see make its way into the regular-production Defy Skyline range.

The dial itself welcomes just a single extra element: a small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, which delivers the high-beat energy from the 5Hz El Primero 3620 SK caliber to the dial in dramatic fashion, its hand completing a full loop every 10 seconds. The only numeral found on the entire dial sits at the top of this subdial, which is the number 10 rendered in orange. This serves dual purposes — marking those 10 seconds, as well as literally representing the tenth collaborative effort from Collective Horology. The tip of the seconds hand also gets a small helping of orange for a bit of cohesion. 

The steel case still measures 41mm, though with no real lugs to speak of, it wears much more like a 40mm watch. The case and bracelet are uniformly finished in a sandblasted texture, save for the polished edge defining the bezel shape. It’s a uniform design that feels organic at a glance, with plenty of interesting details waiting to be discerned with a closer look. The result may be the most mature Defy Skyline design we’ve seen from Zenith yet, and it underpins the ethos of Collective Horology in its ability to tell a story.

Zenith will be producing 200 pieces of the C.X, priced at 11,900 CHF. In addition to the steel bracelet, the watch will ship with an orange rubber strap that can be swapped out on the fly thanks to the use of the brand’s quick-release system. The C.X will be available directly from Collective Horology, as well as from Zenith boutiques in store and online.