Form Meets Function
As part of its 160th anniversary celebrations, Zenith partners with fellow Swiss design icon USM Modular Furniture to create four striking timepieces that unite watchmaking precision with modernist design.
As part of its 160th anniversary celebrations, Zenith partners with fellow Swiss design icon USM Modular Furniture to create four striking timepieces that unite watchmaking precision with modernist design.
What happens when two of Switzerland’s most recognisable design houses—one a pioneer in horology, the other in modular architecture—come together? The answer is the Zenith Defy Chronograph USM collection, a limited-edition capsule that celebrates shared values of functionality, form, and enduring design.
Zenith and USM Modular Furniture might hail from different disciplines, but they speak the same creative language. Both were born from innovation in the 1960s: Zenith introduced the El Primero, the world’s first high-frequency automatic chronograph, while USM launched the Haller modular system, an icon of minimalist, customisable design.
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The new Defy Chronograph USM collection reinterprets the bold, angular aesthetic of the original Zenith Defy A3642 from 1969—affectionately known as the “coffre-fort,” or safe. Its 37mm octagonal steel case with a fourteen-sided bezel retains the architectural geometry of the vintage model, but with a contemporary chronograph twist.
Every angle and facet is purposefully sharp, echoing USM’s tubular-steel frameworks and modular joints. The case’s compact proportions evoke 1960s industrial design—robust yet refined, technical yet effortlessly stylish.
Inside beats the legendary El Primero 400 automatic chronograph movement, first introduced in the same decade that gave birth to USM’s Haller system. This parallel history lends the collection a rare harmony: two Swiss originals, reborn together.
Each of the four watches pays tribute to USM’s iconic colour palette—bold, optimistic hues that have become synonymous with modern Swiss design.
Limited to 60 pieces per colour, the watches feature dials with square hour markers set in horizontal grooves, silvered subdials with concentric finishing, and a central chronograph hand tipped with a miniature USM ball joint—a playful nod to the furniture system’s signature connector. When the chronograph is activated, the hand moves to reveal the Zenith star cleverly hidden beneath it at 12 o’clock.
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Every Defy Chronograph USM comes housed in a custom USM Haller timepiece chest—a sleek steel-and-glass display box designed and manufactured by USM. Like the furniture system it draws from, each box is modular and connectable, allowing collectors to join multiple units together into a personalised display.
At the heart of each model lies the El Primero 400 movement, a calibre as celebrated for its accuracy as for its legacy. Beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour with a 55-hour power reserve, it remains one of the most precise and enduring chronograph movements ever made.
Viewed through the sapphire crystal caseback, the movement reveals a custom openworked rotor engraved with the Zenith star and USM logo, symbolising a seamless union of mechanical mastery and modern design.
This collaboration is more than a meeting of materials; it’s also a convergence of mindsets. Both Zenith and USM champion modularity, precision, and permanence.
In watchmaking, modularity lies in the construction of movements—components built to fit together with engineered precision. In furniture, it’s the principle that allows USM’s designs to evolve, expand, and adapt without losing form or integrity. Both demonstrate that good design is not trend-driven, but timeless.
As Zenith continues its 160th anniversary celebrations, the Defy Chronograph USM collection stands as a reminder of the manufacture’s enduring creativity and its willingness to look beyond horology for inspiration