A global phenomenon in contemporary art, Argentinian-Spanish-born artist Felipe Pantone is known to be one of the most promising talents in the world. Instantly recognisable, Pantone's works are highly appreciated. Zenith and Felipe Pantone began their collaboration in 2020, when the House offered contemporary artists the opportunity to use the façade of its main building as a canvas on which to create. Today, Felipe Pantone has reinvented Zenith's most avant-garde chronograph, creating an object that is both a horological feat and a wearable art creation. The result of this collaboration is the Defy 21 Felipe Pantone, a highly colourful timepiece centred on a visual and mechanical interplay of frequencies. With its El Primero 21 calibre automatic chronograph movement, indicating hundredths of a second and beating at a frequency of 360,000 vibrations per hour (for the chronograph; 36,000 a/h for the movement), the Defy 21 was the natural choice for Felipe Pantone. On this watch, he was able to fully express his "visible spectrum concept", in which all detectable frequencies of light and reflected colours create a dynamic synergy. Produced in a limited edition of just 100 pieces, the Defy 21 Felipe Pantone represents a new kind of collaboration for Zenith and for watchmaking art in general.
Felipe Pantone commented on his first watchmaking collaboration: "I am thrilled and honoured to be able to make my personal contribution to a watch for the first time, especially working with a manufacture that I deeply admire for its spirit of innovation and audacity. From the very beginning, the idea was to transform this spectacular piece of horological art into a work of kinetic art to be worn on the wrist, in which time and light converge into a single object. And the result for me is extraordinary.". One of the most striking features of the watch are the multi-coloured bridges, a distinctive feature of Pantone's work. Using the principle of interferential colours, the coating on the bridges reflects a gradation of metallic rainbow tones. The Defy 21 Felipe Pantone took months of testing and the search for the most appropriate solution with specialists to achieve the rainbow effect. The timepiece is the first ever to use this innovative type of three-dimensional PVD with a movement surface treated with silicon particles to produce a spectrum of colours with perfect gradation. The hour and minute hands are given a deliberately altered look, similar to the lightning bolts that appear in many of Pantone's works, with a rainbow of colours shaded and applied by the same process used for the movement bridges.
The 44 mm black ceramic case (water-resistant to 10 atmospheres) of the Defy 21 Felipe Pantone has also been reinterpreted and dynamically reinvented by the artist. The latter features a grid motif engraved on the bezel and the words "FP#1" at the four corners, signifying "Felipe Pantone El Primero". Finally, the artist has opted for a black textured rubber strap with a grid pattern, which allows the various colour details of the dial and movement to stand out more clearly.
