The New Czapek Antarctique Tourbillon (Incl. Video)

Independent watchmaker Czapek launched its first luxury sports watch – the Antarctique – with the brand’s first in-house movement in 2020. Avoiding the classic formula of angular bezels that populate this genre, the Antarctique is a stylish, relatively thin model available with time (and date) functions and a sophisticated rattrapante chronograph. To mark the tenth anniversary of the brand’s revival, Czapek presents a tourbillon driven by a new calibre with a novel and contemporary hand-guilloché pattern on the dial.

The main design directive was to showcase the tourbillon, gear train and barrel of the new movement on a vertical axis on the dial. The openworked flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock hovers between the mainplate and the dial and is connected to the gear train in the centre of the dial, which is surmounted by a long and finely curved openworked bridge. Skimming over the three components, the luminescent hour and minute hands are attached to the top of the central bridge. Overlapping the gear train is the barrel at noon, also secured by an openworked bridge. The two bridges have hand-bevelled finishes, and the three-armed convex titanium tourbillon cage is satin-polished.

While the calibre 9 was designed, conceived, and constructed by Czapek in-house, it does not mark the brand’s move towards vertical integration. As always, Czapek defends its principle of établissage or outsourcing from specialist partners. Beating at a frequency of 3Hz, the automatic tourbillon movement delivers a 72-hour power reserve.

The dial was entrusted to longtime partner Metalem, the Le Locle-based dial maker, which developed the Singularité guilloché design on the dial. Composed of a series of rhomboids that decrease in size as they reach the vertically aligned components in the centre of the dial, the guillochage produces a dramatic plunging vortex effect. The name Singularité is borrowed from astronomy and describes places in the universe like black holes, where the standard laws of physics break down, making space and time infinite and undifferentiated.

The infinity effect of the hand-guilloché is enhanced by the fact that the hour markers are not set on the dial but on the flange. Three dial colours – Glacier Blue, Photon Sphere (a rose gold hue) and the mythical grey Secret Alloy – are available.

The three new Czapek Antarctique Tourbillon models come in 40.5mm stainless steel cases with a thickness of 11.5mm. Like other Antarctiques, the barrel-shaped case has hollowed-out grooves on the flanks and subtle crown guards to ensure the 50m water-resistance. The cases are decorated with sporty vertical brushed finishes, polished bevels and central C-shaped links on the integrated bracelet.

However, the case has been redesigned to reflect the round aesthetic and volume of the tourbillon. To do this, Czapek took inspiration from the Antarctique Rattrapante and incorporated glass box sapphire crystals front and back. Slightly raised, the glass box adds rotundity to the formula and eliminates the bezel, offering a more expansive view of the dial, the tourbillon and the movement. The engravings that would normally appear on the caseback bezel are now inscribed on the crystal, and the openworked gold rotor is convex and decorated by hand with the same Singularité pattern as the dial.

The new Czapek Antarctique Tourbillon comes on an integrated steel bracelet with micro-adjustment and a quick-change system, and a complimentary rubber or calfskin strap. All three models retail for CHF 63,000 (excl. tax), but the Secret Alloy is a limited edition of 50 pieces. More information at czapek.com.