[VIDEO] Fingers-On: Zenith Opens Up the Defy Skyline with Skyline Skeleton

The Skyline assortment is exclusive in a number of methods, most notably for its use of the well-known El Primero motion that’s been stripped of its chronograph complication. It’s nonetheless a high-beat motion, and that nifty tenth of a second timing performance remains to be current within the type of the working seconds hand, which now laps its sub dial each ten seconds. It’s a frantic sight that impresses, and speaks to the watchmaking know-how occurring inside. You possibly can learn extra about it in Zach Kazan’s evaluate of the unique Skyline when it was launched, proper right here.

With the Skyline Skeleton, issues have been re-arranged barely. The short seconds hand is retained, however moved to the extra symmetrical location of 6 o’clock. Moreover, and maybe simply as importantly, the date has been 86’d within the transfer to an open dial. These two strikes alone shift the vibe of this watch by a substantial margin, and set the stage for a extra natural feeling dial construction to be introduced beneath. If you happen to worth symmetry in your watch dials, this can undoubtedly current an enchantment not discovered within the authentic Skyline.

That is removed from the primary open dialed Defy to be launched, however that is the primary we’re introduced with a brand new underlying design. The bridges tackle a 4 pointed star motif that echoes the sample seen on the closed dial Skyline. It’s a bit cleaner in look in comparison with the open dials of the Defy Traditional or the Defy 21, as an example. A extra legible dial was a objective with this design and I’d say they’ve achieved effectively in reaching that. Regardless of the dial being opened, and that seconds hand flying round on the backside of the dial, I by no means had points getting a fast learn of the time.