Czapek’s Faubourg de Cracovie “Crossroads” Victory Green is a confident, focused take on the contemporary automatic chronograph. Limited to just 18 pieces, it brings together the brand’s now recognisable Crossroads guilloché language with a high‑frequency integrated calibre and a carefully honed steel case that leans toward sporty elegance rather than overt aggression. The result is a watch that feels very much in tune with Czapek’s philosophy: artisanal dial work, serious mechanics, and a thoughtful approach to daily wear.
Added Sportiness
The Victory Green dial is the star of the watch and it sets the tone for the whole piece. Produced by long‑time partner Metalem, it uses Czapek’s Crossroads guilloché, a development of the Double Soleil motif seen on the Quai des Bergues, here straighter and more deeply engraved to suit the dynamic character of a chronograph. The pattern is cut into Alloy 401, a precious matrix of gold, platinum, palladium and silver, then given its deep Victory Green hue by PVD treatment. This combination gives the surface a rich metallic presence, with shifting tonalities that remain controlled enough to preserve legibility.
Czapek has moved the tachymeter scale to the outermost periphery, where one would expect a rehaut. The black printing around the flange frames the guilloché and visually tightens the composition while preserving room for the three registers. At three o’clock sits the 30‑minute counter, at nine o’clock the 12‑hour counter, with a discreet small seconds placed at six o’clock. The date is integrated into this lower register, using a semi‑instantaneous jumping mechanism that keeps the display sharp without drawing attention away from the chronograph indications.
The two chronograph counters have been reworked so that they remain balanced despite the slightly reduced guilloché area imposed by the tachymeter ring. They are recessed below the main dial surface, their rims diamond‑polished to create a crisp light line, and their centres treated with a fine circular azurage. This layered construction plays nicely against the stronger geometry of the Crossroads engraving and gives the subdials a clear identity when reading elapsed time.
Applied baton indexes with Super‑LumiNova punctuate the hours, with a double index at twelve to anchor the layout. Rhodium‑plated and blackened steel arrow hands handle the timekeeping, with appropriate luminous treatment, while slim, contrasting hands serve the chronograph functions. The overall effect is a dial that feels coherent and technical, yet still very much in the Czapek aesthetic universe.
Movement: calibre SXH3
Inside the Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Victory Green ticks the SXH3, an integrated, self‑winding chronograph calibre developed by Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier and adapted to Czapek’s specifications. It is a high‑frequency engine beating at 5 Hz, or 36,000 vibrations per hour, which allows tenth‑of‑a‑second chronograph resolution and supports stable chronometric performance under real‑world conditions. Power reserve is approximately 65 hours, a generous figure at this beat rate, and the movement holds COSC chronometer certification.
Technically, the SXH3 combines a column wheel with a vertical clutch. This architecture provides a precise, smooth start to the chronograph with no hand jump, and it allows the central seconds hand to run continuously without compromising timekeeping. The reset operation is managed by linear hammers that act efficiently on the heart cams, ensuring a clean, instantaneous return to zero across all chrono hands.
Through the sapphire caseback, the SXH3 presents a contemporary, open character. The 30 mm movement, 6.95 mm in height, uses widely openworked plates and bridges that are sandblasted and treated in anthracite, then accented with diamond‑blasted and hand‑bevelled edges. Snailed “trottoirs” provide further visual depth. The 22‑carat gold oscillating weight is skeletonised, bearing the Czapek logo and operating with bi‑directional winding. Its open structure exposes circular‑grained wheels, polished column wheel, flat polished screws and the regulating organ with variable‑inertia balance and four gold timing screws. The balance uses a classic flat hairspring in a stable alloy designed for longevity.
Altogether, the SXH3 feels like a serious contemporary chronograph calibre, with both performance and finishing aligned to haute horlogerie expectations and a clear effort to create visual drama without sacrificing clarity.
Surgical Steel
The Victory Green edition continues the established Faubourg de Cracovie case architecture, here in 316L surgical steel, with a diameter of 41.5 mm and a lug‑to‑lug distance of 49 mm. The proportions suit a modern everyday chronograph, offering presence without tipping into excess thickness or width. Water resistance is rated at 5 atm, or 50 metres, which is appropriate for an urban sports‑chic piece of this type.
The case is distinguished by its interplay of curves and recesses. The lugs and case flanks are relieved by finely sandblasted insets that visually lighten the silhouette and introduce a tactile contrast against the polished and brushed surfaces. The chronograph pushers are integrated into the crown‑guard structure, which keeps the profile clean and avoids disrupting the fluid line of the caseband.
On the front, a box‑type sapphire crystal with anti‑reflective treatment rises slightly over the bezel, framing the dial and reinforcing the classic chronograph character while preserving good legibility at oblique angles. On the back, a sapphire display window, also treated for reflections, gives unimpeded access to the SXH3 and its openworked rotor.
The watch is delivered on either a hand‑sewn calfskin strap or an Alcantara option, both tapering from 22 mm at the lugs to 18 mm at the clasp, secured by a deployant buckle. This pairing suits the model’s intent as a refined daily chronograph that can move easily between relaxed and more formal contexts.
Ending and conclusion
The Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Victory Green chronograph encapsulates what Czapek has been honing since its rebirth: strong dial work with a clear identity, serious movement content and a case that wears with ease. The Victory Green dial, with its alloy base and deep guilloché, gives this edition an assertive personality without compromising function, while the reworked subdials and peripheral tachymeter show a careful approach to layout and legibility. Underneath, the SXH3 calibre provides high‑frequency precision, contemporary chronograph architecture and a level of finish that stands up well under close inspection through the sapphire back. The integrated steel case ties everything together, balancing sporty cues and classic chronograph codes in a way that feels both current and consistent with the maison’s language.
Limited to 18 pieces and priced at 32,000 Swiss francs before tax, the Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Victory Green sits squarely in the realm of collectors who appreciate independent watchmaking with a defined aesthetic and a serious technical foundation. It is a compact expression of Czapek’s direction today, combining traditional crafts with contemporary mechanics in a chronograph that feels considered, coherent and quietly distinctive on the wrist.
Czapek & Cie Faubourg de Cracovie “Crossroads” Victory Green Chronograph Technical Specifications
Faubourg de Cracovie “Crossroads” Victory Green – limited edition of 18 pieces, International retail price before taxes: 32,000 CHF / 34,600 EUR / 44,800 USD.
Functions
- Chronograph, hours, minutes, central chronograph seconds.
- 30‑minute counter at 3 o’clock.
- 12‑hour counter at 9 o’clock.
- Small seconds at 6 o’clock.
- Date window at 6 o’clock, semi‑instantaneous jumping date.
- Tachymeter scale on the dial periphery.
Movement
- Calibre SXH3, haute horlogerie integrated automatic chronograph movement with Czapek bespoke execution, developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier.
- Self‑winding, central 22‑carat gold rotor with Czapek logo, skeletonised, bi‑directional winding.
- Diameter 30 mm (13 lignes). Height 6.95 mm.
- High‑frequency balance, 5 Hz (36,000 vph).
- Variable‑inertia balance with four gold regulating screws, flat hairspring in stable alloy.
- Column wheel, vertical clutch and linear hammers for reset.
- Power reserve approx. 65 hours.
- COSC‑certified chronometer.
- Movement finishing:
Case
- 316L stainless steel case.
- Diameter 41.5 mm.
- Lug‑to‑lug 49 mm (12–6 o’clock).
- Water resistance 5 atm / 50 m.
- Hollowed, refined lugs with sandblasted recesses on lugs and flanks.
- Integrated chronograph pushers aligned with the crown guard.
- Crystal and caseback
Dial and hands
- Handcrafted Czapek exclusive Crossroads guilloché dial in Alloy 401 (AuPtPdAg). Victory Green colour obtained by PVD treatment.
- Black printed peripheral tachymeter scale.
- Recessed 30‑minute and 12‑hour counters with diamond‑polished rims and circular‑grained centres.
- Small seconds at 6 o’clock with integrated date aperture.
- Applied baton indexes with Super‑LumiNova; double index at 12 o’clock.
- Rhodium‑plated and blackened steel arrow hands with Super‑LumiNova for hours and minutes; contrasting chronograph hands.
- Dial manufactured by Metalem for Czapek.
Strap and buckle
- Hand‑sewn calfskin or Alcantara strap.
- Width 22 mm at lugs, 18 mm at buckle.
- Stainless steel deployant clasp.
