In 1675 Dutch scientist Christiaan Hyugens invented the balance and hairsrping principle that later became the basis for the development all mechanical watches; and now Zenith has replaced the traditional balance-and-spring assembly featuring 30-odd components with a monolithic whole made of monocrystalline silicon that measures just 0.5 mm thick. It doesn’t need lubrication and is insensitive to temperature gradients and gravity.

This is also Zenith’s biggest breakthrough since 1969, when the company launched the industry-leading El Primero automatic chronograph movement with frequency of 5 Hz and accuracy of 1/10 seconds; and now Zenith is breaking their own record with the new oscillator that beats at the frequency of 15 Hz (108,000 times per hour) with an amplitude of +/- 6 degrees – three times the frequency of El Primero movement. Its mean daily rate is accurate to within 0.3 seconds and the accuracy is almost 10 times higher compared with a COSC chronometer that has a range from -4 seconds to +6 seconds.

This is a collaboration between different brands under the group: the research and development comes from TAG Heuer, the leading position in material technology from Hublot, and the movement manufacturing facilities and experience from Zenith.

Defy Lab is the first watch made from Aeronith, the world’s lightest aluminium composite material. This extremely solid metal foam has a low density of 1.6 kg/dm3, which is 2.7 times lighter than titanium, 1.7 times lighter than aluminium and 10% lighter than carbon fibre. The first ten Defy Lab watches come in an exclusive collector’s gift box and each watch is different. All of them are pre-sold and we hope the mass production version will be launched soon.