In a statement release, Czapek releases a new flying tourbillon, driven by a new in-house Calibre 9. This is the Czapek Antarctique Tourbillon.
New: Czapek Antarctique Tourbillon
The Czapek Antarctique Tourbillon retails at CHF 63,000. The Secret Alloy is limited edition of 50 pieces and the Glacier Blue and the Photon Sphere are not limited.
Commentary
We continue to be impressed by Czapek. The small manufacture in La Chaux-du-Fonds continue to dazzle with its prowess, and here they release their first in-house flying tourbillon. Dubbed the Calibre 9 it is available in three dial options at launch. A limited edition Secret Alloy of only 50 pieces – this is a special alloy with a tone on tone look which is rather attractive to us, being suckers for monotone dials. The Secret Alloy Antarctique Tourbillon is not totally monotone, but has beautiful blue accents on the skeleton hands and index markers. And a pop of golden hue of the balance wheel of the tourbillon. The other two dial options – in a baby blue which Czapek names Glacier Blue, and in a rose gold hue which is dubbed Photon Sphere. All three models are quite the looker.
We liked the single design of the large single bridge holding the pivots to the hour and minute hands, the curved bridge holding the jewelled barrel, and the contrast with the flying tourbillon, which is, of course, sans bridge. A third bridge is shown below the large hour minute one, and this holds the canon pinion. The bridges are both skeletonised, and feature a brushed surface with polished chamfers. The large hour minute bridge is screwed onto the front of the dial, and the other is secured from the back of the dial.
Which brings us to the dial. A magnificent piece of guilloché work, as we have come to expect from Czapek. They work with the experts at Metalem, collaborating to develop the new trompe l’oeil guilloché pattern, which they name Singularité – in reference to the astronomical term singularity. The astronomical singularity is reached when the mathematics call for a division by zero, causing the laws of physics to break down. This is encountered for example in black holes, with gravity collapsing into a singularity. The pattern itself looks very complex. Somewhat like the design made by the children’s toy – the Spirograph. And it draws the eye from the sides of the dial into the depths of the open center, right into the heart of the canon pinion.
Less interesting (to us), but also a key feature is the special guilloché Singularé pattern which is engraved on the rotor, by Michèle Rothen, a celebrated engraver from Le Locle.
We must say, the CHF 63k price level is rather attractive, especially for a small independent offering a watch which is designed, conceived and constructed in house, with a few named partners. We cannot wait till next week to see this watch, which has impressed us from the get go. More later!
INTO THE VORTEX: CZAPEK PUTS A NEW SPIN ON THE TOURBILLON REGULATOR
Geneva, March 2025 – Czapek & Cie introduces the Antarctique Tourbillon, driven by the new in-house Calibre 9 with a flying tourbillon regulator. The watch features a dramatic new guilloché pattern on the dial – the ‘Singularité’, and a striking architecture. This launch marks the beginning of the 10th anniversary year since the revival of Czapek & Cie, which coincides with the 180th anniversary of the namesake watchmaking Maison founded in 1845 by François Czapek, whose spirit continues to guide the company today.
When Czapek conceived the Antarctique as the quintessentially modern sporty-chic watch, it was always intended as a canvas for creativity, to be constantly revisited and renewed.
“Our collectors are always asking us ‘what’s next?’ with the Antarctique,” explains Czapek CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel. “After the Rattrapante, we decided to take a perhaps unexpected direction: creating a new and sophisticated expression of a two-century-old regulator: the tourbillon. Our starting point was, as always, to play with the clash between legacy and avant-gardism and this new in-house tourbillon calibre is the outcome.”
Taking advantage of the form of the new tourbillon, Czapek has introduced a daring movement architecture with slender bridges revealing the beauty of the underlying mechanics and coupled it with a dial that harnesses classical métiers d’art in a new and contemporary ‘vortex-style’ guilloché design.
The new in-house Calibre 9: defined by purity of line
Reflecting Czapek’s unwavering pursuit of Beauty, the purity of the mechanism became the main design driver for the new in-house movement, Czapek Calibre 9. The fundamental principle was that that the three key elements – tourbillon, gear train and barrel – should be revealed on the dial side, perfectly aligned on the vertical axis and appearing as airy and light as possible. The open-worked flying tourbillon appears to hover between the main plate and dial, directly connected to the gear train, which floats in the centre of the dial beneath an extremely long and finely curved minutes bridge. The barrel dominates the upper section of the dial, floating in an aperture beneath an open-worked bridge.
“Our pursuit of aesthetics drives us to create mechanical beauty,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel. “It’s an iterative process, where changing a line changes both mechanics and aesthetics, which can lead to an intense ping-pong between the constructor-engineer and the designer-artist …with me playing the wild card in the middle.”
The result is amplified by great visual depth, with curves and convex surfaces complemented by slender bridges; all angles are hand-polished and the top arms of the tourbillon cage are satin-polished, creating fascinating plays of light and shadow.
The new calibre also testifies to significant technical prowess from the new geometry for the tourbillon, which dictated a finely machined convex titanium cage, to the anticlockwise crown wheel that required the development of a new proprietary toothing.
Calibre 9 is the first Czapek calibre not only designed, conceived and constructed in-house but also machined mostly in-house. However, as Xavier de Roquemaurel points out, this does not signify a wish for full vertical integration. Emphasising that Czapek will always defend the principle of établissage, he explains: “We want freedom – hence the capacity to produce elements in-house. But we don’t want to make everything ourselves; for us, freedom also means the ability to choose and collaborate with the best specialist partners in any given area. That is what enables us to maintain agility and independence.” He also points out the invaluable sense of ‘family’ among the Maison’s regular partners. “These values are deeply embedded in the philosophy underlying our 10th anniversary celebration and our future,” he says.
The mechanics and aesthetics: an immutable bond
To amplify the beauty of the mechanics, Czapek called on Metalem, with whom Czapek has been collaborating since the beginning, to develop a new, trompe l’oeil guilloché design. The result is a dramatic vortex effect, giving the impression of infinite depth.
Czapek has named the new pattern Singularité – from the astronomical term singularity, meaning those places in the universe where the standard laws of physics break down, making space and time infinite and undifferentiated – best exemplified by black holes.
The pattern may look deceptively simple but is very difficult to execute: unlike a classical guilloché pattern, in which the guillocheur cuts lines at different angles that always start from a single point, in Singularité, the starting point moves with each passage of the lathe.
Enhancing the purity of the mechanical structure and the infinity effect of the guilloché, the hour markers are not set on the dial but are part of the flange. The bridges – including the soaring curve of the gear train bridge – are integrated to the main plate through the guilloché dial plate.
Since its very beginning, Czapek has always liked to offer collectors a certain freedom of personalization, so that they can wear a watch that’s just like them. That’s why,
the Antarctique Tourbillon will be offered in a choice of three dial colours: Glacier Blue, Photon Sphere (a 5N gold hue) and the mythical grey Secret Alloy, a limited-edition of 50 pieces. All iterations will be proposed in stainless steel.
Redesigning the case: an ode to transparency and curves
The case has been redesigned to echo the curvilinear aesthetic of the mechanism and dial. Taking the curved glass box principle of the Antarctique Rattrapante as the starting point, the front and back sapphire crystals have been subtly raised. On the reverse side, this creates the impression that there is no bezel and, indeed, the engravings that would normally appear on a caseback bezel are done inside the crystal by metallisation – executed in mirror style so as to read ‘true’ from the outside.
To amplify the trompe l’oeil effect and create the impression that it is floating in the air, the surface of the gold winding rotor is also convex. Moreover, Michèle Rothen, Czapek’s cherished independent master engraver, hand-engraved it with a black-hole-inspired pattern similar to the guilloché Singularité.
The Antarctique Tourbillon will be offered with the same stainless-steel bracelet as other models in the collection, with a micro-adjustment, a quick-change system and a second rubber strap included.
The Antarctique Tourbillon will be available for pre-order at the brand’s authorised dealers worldwide, the boutique in Geneva at rue de la Corraterie 18, and at Czapek.com.
