This is an edition of the newsletter Box + Papers, Cam Wolf’s weekly deep dive into the world of watches. Sign up here.
My torrid affair with the new Zenith Defy Revival A3648 began as love at first sight. The moment I spotted the retro dive watch in April at Geneva’s Watches & Wonders trade show, I couldn’t take my eyes off its peculiar shade of orange. Nothing in nature can even attempt to compare to the shade. It makes me proud to be human—I’d like to see a tangerine tree make something this artificial. From the species that brought you Mountain Dew Live Wire, Carrot Top, and Tang, we now have the A3648.
Last month, the watch arrived at my home for a test drive the same day I tested positive for COVID. Oops. Being the [watch] sicko I am, I vaguely remember stumbling out of the room I was quarantining in when no one else was home to seize the FedEx package that held the Zenith. The watch waited patiently for me to heal up on the nightstand. I’m not going to lie and claim that seeing the vivid orange watch brightened my dark, sickly days—that’s what the Paxlovid is for—but it was certainly a great prize for recovering. When I finally emerged from quarantine six days later, I did so with the A3648 on my wrist.
So what’s so special about this piece? What drew me to it immediately was its funky good looks. The orange is generously slathered across the bezel, the internal track around the edge of the dial, and the hands. The toothy circular bezel sits atop an angular, stop-sign-shaped case, which gives the watch more muscle than I’d expect from a revival of a model that debuted in 1969—back when everything was a little smaller and daintier.
I’ve been keeping a particularly close eye on Zenith since last January. In 2023, the brand brought back its Defy Revival with a ladder-style bracelet from Gay Frères, a legendary bracelet manufacturer that Rolex acquired in 1998. After so many years of mainly pushing its Chronomaster, I was glad to see something new from Zenith. But earlier this year, the brand proved its flagship model can still learn new tricks. Zenith’s gem-set Chronomaster was one of my favorites from LVMH watch week, a worthy contender in the crowded luxury-sports watch space. But it was the A3648, which costs $7,700, that I really wanted to get my hands on for a true test drive.
The Pop Culture Icon This Watch Belongs On
If I could strap the A3648 on any famous figure, real or imagined, I’d choose Austin Powers’ wrist. The shagadelic superspy is a caricature of the swinging ’60s who isn’t afraid of bright colors—and he needs a watch with a whole lot of mojo. This is Powers’ answer to James Bond’s serious Rolex Submariner.
That isn’t to say that I was suddenly on the market for ascots to match with my new watch. The Zenith’s vibrancy and sportiness best pairs with more casual outfits. Thanks to its 600 meters of water resistance, I never had to worry during a trip to the beach or my son’s bathtime. And while I am a strong advocate for mixing sports watches with formalwear, this is a watch better built for play than black tie.
Gettin' Handsy
For me, hands are like bears: the fatter, the better. Which is why my favorite design element on the entire watch is probably that delightfully chunky minute hand. The fat arrow is reminiscent of the one on Rolex’s Explorer II, only even bolder.
The Watch Writer’s Favorite Category: Do You Have to See it In Person?
Not exactly. That orange is louder than a bullhorn through the computer screen—and you’re going to either love it or hate it. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to appreciate a few details. Chief among them is the watch’s size: Zenith stayed true to the watch’s vintage roots, rendering the A3648 in a period-correct 37 millimeters.
In my experience the watch actually wears bigger than its listed size. That enlarged feeling is probably thanks to its angular shape and slightly thick case. That said, I wore this watch all day, every day for a week straight. I was excited to put it on in the morning and never felt compelled to give my wrist a break throughout the day.
Pop Quiz: The Esoteric Detail That Makes a Big Difference
I mentioned my admiration for the Defy Revival released early last year with a ladder bracelet made by the Gay Frères. Well, guess who’s behind the bracelet on this watch? That’s right, those magnificent bastards did it again. While this bracelet isn’t as inventive as the ladder, the five-link design is handsome and comes with the backing of true horological history makers.
The Muggsy Bogues Award for Best Tiny Detail
The italicized font used for “DEFY” on the dial is the perfect choice for this watch. The slanting font is evocative of the outrageous visions of the future predicted by shows like The Jetsons. In the ’60s, everyone imagined that by now, we’d all be in flying cars, eating meals packed into pills, and using this font on absolutely everything.
The Plankton Award for the One Little Detail I Didn’t Like
If I had to pick one negative, it would go to the A3648’s lume. Even after giving the watch a healthy charge in the California sunshine, it didn’t light up as much as I would’ve hoped, especially considering this is a dive watch.
A little deficit in the luminosity department hardly dimmed my experience with this watch, though. (Who’s light isn’t shining a little less bright these days?) When my time was up with this watch, I was genuinely disappointed that I had to put it back in the mail to Zenith. What I’m looking for in a dive watch is something exactly this size that still packs in a lot of easygoing charm. My week with the A3648 confirmed all the suspicions I had about this timepiece when I first saw it at Watches & Wonders in April: This is the most fun dive watch of the year.
The Specs
Steel case and bracelet, 37 millimeters, water resistance to 600 meters, 50-hour power reserve, date function between 4 and 5 o’clock, automatic movement, $7,700. Buy it here.
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