The Zenith Defy Lab might be assembled at Zenith, but the case is made at (and developed by) Hublot, and the movement is produced (and developed) at TAG Heuer.
This component – the Zenith Oscillator – is the brainchild of Guy Sémon, currently General Director of TAG Heuer. Sémon is a former naval aviator, who flew the Dassault Super-Étendard off French carriers before turning to watchmaking, holds a PhD in physics from the Université de Franche-Comté, and has taught analytic algebra and topology. He's well known in the watch enthusiast community for his work on a number of high tech TAG Heuer projects, including the belt-driven TAG Heuer Monaco V4, and the TAG Heuer MikroPendulumS, which used magnets rather than a balance spring as the restoring force on an oscillator.
Very interesting to know and udnerstand more about this new technology. Hopefully, when it does appear in a Carrera it won't be with a stupid skeletonised dial.
I appreciate that with these early Zenith models and the prototype Carrera they are trying to show off the tech, but honestly, they look crap.
Agree with this. I might buy one because it's a very accurate mechanical movement. I don't necessarily have to see it working. To be honest, it's not that attractive, and makes the dial difficult to read.
