To kick off 2025, Zenith has launched two watches that confirm its continued pursuit of modernity in watchmaking. Many people, if asked to summon to mind recent wins for the brand, would offer up successful re-editions of designs from its back catalogue, from the back-to-basics Chronomaster Original to last year’s Defy Diver, which turned heads for its splashes of bright orange and faithful reimagining of a less well known vintage reference.
But, as part of LVMH Watch Week 2025, Zenith has revealed two watches that call on far more contemporary inspirations and trends.
The first is the Chronomaster Sport Rainbow, a watch that builds on recent hits across the industry - including within Zenith’s own collections - for gem-set sports watches in general and rainbow-set designs in particular. Taking as its canvas the sturdy and popular Chronomaster Sport, Zenith has set the bezel in twelve distinct segments of baguette-cut sapphires, each separated by a clear diamond, and accompanied by twelve matching baguette-set hour markers on the black dial within. In total, its 62 gemstones comprise 5.36 carats.
The Zenith Chronomaster Sport Rainbow
The 41mm watch is cased in white gold - a first for the Chronomaster Sport collection – and follows the introduction of a gem-set model in 18k rose gold last year. Under the skin it is unchanged, with the El Primero automatic 3600 calibre beating at 5Hz. The watch’s high-frequency timing is signalled by the central seconds hand, which rotates once in ten seconds and enables timing down to 1/10th of a second.
The second new model from Zenith is the Defy Skyline Chronograph Skeleton, an integrated bracelet design that fills a gap in the brand’s line-up. With time-only skeletonised models, openworked chronographs in the Defy 21 and Defy Extreme collections, the obvious next step was to open out the standard Skyline Chronograph. Zenith has done just that with two versions of the Skyline Chronograph Skeleton in blue and black.
The Zenith Defy Skyline Chronograph Skeleton
The skeletonisation – whereby normally solid plates, bridges and wheels are hollowed out to their structural minimum, and the dial removed – follows an aesthetic already established in the Defy Skyline Automatic, with symmetrical, geometric shapes (some of which echo Zenith’s vintage ‘double Z’ logo) and matte-finished textures. The stainless steel watches are identical save for their colour scheme, measuring 42mm across and with 100m water resistance. Each uses the same Calibre 3600 as the Chronomaster Sport, with the same 60-hour power reserve, 5Hz frequency and high-speed central seconds hand. Each watch comes with a swappable rubber strap, colour-matched to the skeletonised movement.
The Zenith Chronomaster Sport Rainbow
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