Zenith and French ski-apparel brand Fusalp have just launched a limited collaboration with a pair of Defy Classic watches that I was fortunate enough to get a hands-on look at earlier this year. Limited edition collaborations are hit-or-miss (though, I suppose this is really true for just about any release) but they tend to be the most successful when obvious co-branding takes a backseat to thoughtful and memorable design touches that enhance the appeal of the base watch. Fortunately, this is certainly the case with this pair of Zenith Defy Classic Fusalp watches, done in either black or white ceramic, both of which exude contemporary flair that would be at home in the brand?s standard lineup.

The Defy Classic is a deceptively sharp watch that marries contemporary design and materials in a way that appeals to even traditional minded enthusiasts like myself. Crisp skeletonized dials in a reasonably sized ceramic case with a super comfortable rubber strap for an altogether not-unreasonable price. What?s to hate" These two Fusalp collaboration watches largely stick to to the script of the standard issue (41mm wide ceramic case with 100m of water resistance) but the design of the skeletonization on the dial is wholly unique to them and very cool looking. Rather than the geometric skeletonized dial found on standard production models, the Fusalp has what is described as a blend of the Zenith five-pointed star logo with a snowflake, a reference to the ski-apparel brand.  ...