ZENITH and USM Modular Furniture have returned to their design collaboration with a one-off DEFY Chronograph USM created for the 2026 TimeForArt benefit auction. The watch takes the compact, colourful DEFY Chronograph USM introduced in 2025 and changes its character through one defining element: a fully mirror-polished dial that constantly reflects its surroundings.
The unique watch is being offered with a specially built USM Haller furniture piece and will be auctioned by Phillips in New York on December 5. One hundred per cent of the proceeds, including the buyer’s premium, will support Swiss Institute and its exhibitions, education, public programmes and community work.
The mirror dial changes a familiar collaboration
ZENITH and USM have an unusually coherent historical connection because both brands produced defining designs in the 1960s. USM patented its Haller modular furniture system in 1965, while ZENITH introduced the original DEFY and the high-frequency El Primero automatic chronograph in 1969.
For TimeForArt, the case remains a compact 37 mm stainless-steel form with the DEFY’s octagonal geometry and fourteen-sided bezel. The mirror-polished dial carries details in USM Golden Yellow, Pure Orange, Green and Gentian Blue, while the chronograph seconds hand is tipped by a miniature interpretation of the Haller system’s spherical joint.
El Primero 400 keeps the watch mechanically serious
Inside is the El Primero 400 automatic column-wheel chronograph calibre, operating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, or 5 Hz. The movement provides a 55-hour power reserve and supports central hours and minutes, small seconds, chronograph seconds, a 30-minute counter, a 12-hour counter and a date indication.
Water resistance is rated to 10 ATM, and the watch is fitted to a stainless-steel ladder bracelet that echoes one of ZENITH’s most recognisable historical bracelet styles. These specifications make the piece more than an art object with a movement inside; it remains a fully functioning high-frequency mechanical chronograph.
The accompanying cabinet expands the idea of collecting
USM has created a one-off mirrored Haller sideboard specifically for the lot. The cabinet includes an integrated storage system for up to 24 watches, with one layer visible through the glass top and a second lockable storage layer beneath it.
That pairing changes the normal relationship between a luxury watch and its presentation box. Instead of packaging designed mainly for delivery and storage, the furniture becomes part of the collector’s interior, linking the act of wearing, displaying and storing watches with USM’s modular design language.
TimeForArt brings watchmaking into contemporary-art patronage
The 2026 TimeForArt auction includes 25 participating watch brands, each contributing a unique piece for the benefit of Swiss Institute. The model gives collectors access to watches that cannot be purchased through normal retail channels while directing the competitive energy of an auction toward cultural funding.
ZENITH’s contribution is particularly effective because the collaboration does not simply add a charity engraving to a standard watch. The reflective dial, Haller colour palette and purpose-built furniture all make the lot distinct, while the underlying El Primero mechanics ensure that its design story remains anchored in serious watchmaking.
