When it launched its original “Defy” wristwatch back in 1969, Zenith advertised it by showing the watch wrapped around the cuff of a boxing glove. The message was obvious: this was one tough cookie of a timepiece.

The Defy was Zenith’s answer to a new breed of sports watch then emerging – buyers wanted superior water resistance and all-round robustness, in a style that suggested action and modernity. Zenith met the latter brief with a space-age design whose strange geometric form – an octagonal case paired with a 14-sided bezel – saw the watch pick up a nickname that gives new meaning to the “tool watch” concept. It was known as the Defy Boulon, or “bolt”. As notable as the case style, though, is the dial, with its highly unusual hour markers of grooved squares, plus sword-shaped hands embedded with luminescent material.

The Defy was innovative on the technical side too: the movement was inserted into a shock-absorbing ring that was elastic enough to soak up any impacts without transmitting them. And the case was water resistant to a hefty 300 metres.

Now it’s back, and not just as a limited edition. The new Defy Revival A3691 rekindles the 54-year-old design in pretty much unchanged form, including its 37mm sizing and a dial in a delicious crimson gradient, first seen in 1971. The only differences are a modern sapphire crystal cover, and Zenith’s current in-house automatic movement, the excellent Elite engine; plus a display caseback to put the latter on show. Particularly lovely, besides the stop-you-in-your-tracks dial, is the ladder-style bracelet, which recreates exactly that made by the legendary supplier, Gay Frères.

Zenith has been enjoying a resurgence in recent years, not least because of its careful mixing of new and old: its bold, modern designs have been tempered with some astute re-releases of vintage models under the “Revival” banner, as well as the launch of a programme selling best-in-class vintage models. Consequently, reaching new audiences and breaking new ground in technology and design has not been at the expense of the connection to its very singular heritage.

Now, those very factors make it absolutely on-point for today’s watch wearers – male or female, interested in Zenith history or not, and whether roughing it on the sports field or styled up to the nines.

£6,100; zenith-watches.com