A collaboration that knows no bounds. Contemporary art in the service of innovative watchmaking – and vice-versa. The Swiss watchmaker and Valencia-based artist have come together again to give a new expression of time through light, colours and motion. Introducing the DEFY Extreme Felipe Pantone, a limited edition of 100 pieces available exclusively at ZENITH physical and online boutiques from October 27.
Lights. Chromatics. Animation. The merging of innovative high-frequency watchmaking and vibrant multimedia optical art. After having worked on the historical Manufacture’s façade with a specifically designed tarpaulin in 2020, a limited edition series of the DEFY 21 that was instantly sold out in 2021, and a unique piece for the Only Watch 2021 charity auction that set a new record for a ZENITH watch sold at an auction, the forward-looking watchmaker and the globally renowned Argentinian-Spanish optical artist raising the bar even higher and expanding the realm of artistic expression in watchmaking with the DEFY Extreme Felipe Pantone.
Always conjuring new ways of expressing his unique vision that merges the digital and physical across different formats, Felipe Pantone once again pushed the ZENITH Manufacture to transfigure his artwork into a mechanical watch with the same exacting level of detail and optical play of light. For ZENITH, this meant eagerly accepting the challenge and finding creative new solutions and innovations to reproduce the unique aesthetic of Felipe Pantone on a much smaller scale without losing any of the vibrance and optical magic that are trademarks of the artist’s instantly recognizable body of work.
On the latest result of this ongoing collaborative partnership, Felipe Pantone shared, “Once again, I’m ultra-happy to announce a new collaboration with the Swiss horology masters at ZENITH. For this watch, I applied and referenced some of the concepts behind my Planned Iridescence series. For the first time, I intervened a piece of sapphire creating a radial hologram that appears only under the right light in an astounding way. The watch is full of incredible details, possible after a long year collaborating back-to-back with the team at Le Locle.”
To encapsulate all this miniature details and give the watch a sculptural depth, The DEFY Extreme was a natural choice of canvas. Its sharp lines and immersive volume allowed the Manufacture and artist to further explore many of the elements that debuted in the original DEFY 21 Felipe Pantone, while also introducing some entirely new ones. This time, the inspiration is Pantone’s “Planned Iridescence” series, where his bold use of colour is combined with metallic elements and mathematically conceived shapes and shaded to generate optical illusions that transcend the boundaries of the analogue and virtual worlds.
Crafted entirely in mirror-polished stainless steel, the faceted lines of the DEFY Extreme case take on a new sculptural context. Incorporating transparency and colour where least expected, the dodecagonal bezel as well as the chronograph’s pusher protectors are crafted in translucent blue YAS (yttrium aluminosilicate), a crystalline glass material comparable to synthetic sapphire. The four corners of the case are engraved with “FP#1”, a coded signature for “Felipe Pantone El Primero”. Matching the blue transparent elements of the case, the DEFY Extreme Felipe Pantone comes with a translucent blue silicone strap. A fully polished steel bracelet as well as black Velcro strap are also included and can be easily swapped with the push of a button on the case back.
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