Zenith, for the third year in a row, has joined forces with Susan G. Komen, the world’s leading nonprofit breast cancer organization, on a limited edition watch meant to highlight the work Susan G. Komen is doing and raise money for the organization. Last year saw Zenith release a Chronomaster Sport with a light pink dial, and this year’s follow up brings the same aesthetic to the Defy Skyline.
Zenith’s efforts with Susan G. Komen are part of their larger HORIZ-ON initiative, which is a company-wide commitment to “corporate social responsibility.” These initiatives run the gamut and occur all over the world, touching local communities and broader swaths of the population. The ongoing partnership with Susan G. Komen represents “One of the key pillars of ZENITH’s HORIZ-ON initiative,” according to Zenith CEO Benoit de Clerck.
The new Defy Skyline Pink is a limited edition of 100 pieces and uses the new 41mm Skyline case (in steel) as the canvas. The Defy, in my opinion, continues to be one of the most underrated sports watch lines in production at the moment. The collection has a long and fascinating heritage, with some truly innovative and provocative design in its past, and it still represents the most forward thinking arm of the Zenith brand today. The Skyline, in its relatively short history, has already proven itself to be a worthy modern successor to the great Defy references of the past.
For this pink dialed limited edition, we get all the hallmarks of the modern Skyline collection, including a dial with a metallic finish and a subtle sunburst effect. We also have the four-pointed star motif engraved into the dial, a detail meant to evoke the earliest references in the Defy collection which featured the old Zenith star logo.
Pink dials have been somewhat trendy lately, perhaps most notably with the Tudor Black Bay Chronograph released earlier this year (and covered here and here). While we haven’t seen a true run of pink dials in the way we did with green a few years ago (and the way it seems like we might see with purple dials if current trends hold), pink dials seem to get attention. While the old “shrink it and pink it” mentality has waned when it comes to watches aimed at women, pink has become quite a bit more common in watches that would seem to target a unisex market. Of course, given that the Defy Skyline Pink exists in part to support a charitable cause, it’s a little outside the scope of a conversation around dial color trends, but it’s worth pointing out that Zenith, in all of their collaborations with Susan G. Komen, have elected to release a watch that is traditionally aimed at a unisex or male clientele.
The Defy Skyline Pink runs on the same El Primero 3620 movement found in other Skyline references. It is also 100 meters water resistant, and comes mounted on a matching stainless steel bracelet (a white rubber strap is also included). The retail price is $10,300, and 20% of the proceeds from the sale of these watches will be donated to Susan G. Komen. Zenith
