Zenith watches in titanium, ceramic, bronze, carbon and tantalum

Zenith was founded in 1865 at Le Locle by Georges Favre-Jacot, whose initials still stand on the brick facade of the manufacture, and LVMH, which owns the brand, notes that it has never left the site. In 1969 it unveiled the El Primero, which LVMH describes as the first automatic chronograph. Titanium is the case metal of the Defy Extreme, a 45 mm chronograph rated to 200 m that Monochrome's hands-on found in micro-blasted or in brushed and polished titanium, on a matching titanium bracelet that swaps for rubber or Velcro straps. The Chronomaster Revival Shadow borrows the colours of a black-coated steel prototype from 1970 and puts them in the 37 mm A384 case in micro-blasted titanium, a finish SJX warns will show the smallest nick. Ceramic came to the Defy Skyline in 2023 in black, with a ceramic H-link bracelet, and in 2026 Zenith cased its revived Calibre 135 in tantalum for a G.F.J. limited to 20 pieces.

Written 10 October 2026 from LVMH's Zenith page, Fratello on the first G.F.J., Monochrome's hands-on of the 2021 Defy Extreme, SJX on the Chronomaster Revival Shadow, Time+Tide on the black ceramic Defy Skyline and Time+Tide on the G.F.J. in tantalum.