Swiss watchmaker Zenith has teamed up with legendary AFL player and friend of the brand, Lace ‘Buddy’ Franklin, on an exclusive DEFY Extreme timepiece. Inspired by the landscapes of the Australian outback, the bespoke timepiece will be auctioned off to raise funds for The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation. Founded in 1999, the foundation is a national charity that supports Indigenous Australians and Australia’s most marginalised communities in gaining essential literacy, language, and communication skills; a cause close to Franklin’s heart.
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Earlier this year, Franklin achieved the milestone of 1000 goals, with his influencer stretching far beyond the football pitch. Working closely with Zenith, the bespoke DEFY Extreme draws upon both the rugged Australian landscape and Franklin’s own Indigenous background for inspiration. The sapphire dial has been rendered in a custom colour dubbed ‘Ulura’ with texturisation on the counter taking design cues from the sandstone of the sacred site of Uluru.
The Buddy Franklin DEFY Extreme is powered by Zenith’s hero movement, the automatic El Primero 21 calibre; an exceptional precise 1/100th of a second chronograph with two independent escapements beating at 36’000 VpH and 360’000 VpH. The dial plays host to a quartet of subdials, with a chronograph power-reserve indication at 12 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock, a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, and a 60-second counter at 6 o’clock.
Encased in titanium with rose gold detailing around the bezel and on the pushers, the latter hue extends onto the dial in the form of faceted index hour markers and the hour and minute hands. The timepiece comes on a metal bracelet with a folding clasp, with an additional black rubber and velcro strap. A fast change mechanism allows wearers to effortlessly switch between the rubber and velcro straps.
Only two bespoke Buddy Franklin-designed DEFY Extreme timepieces have been produced — the first belonging to Franklin himself. The second will be auctioned, with proceeds going to The Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation and furthering their work with the Alice Springs community, providing hundreds of children and young people with Literacy Packs that comprise essential learning supplies and new books.
The bespoke timepiece will be available to bid on via Loupe This from the 31st of October to the 7th of November.
Words by Theo Rosen
