Czapek has built a reputation for giving dials a genuine reason to exist. Their February 2026 releases, the Antarctique S Ice Cloud and the Promenade Midnight Pearl, take that philosophy further than most Geneva independents dare go. Both watches rely on mother-of-pearl crafted by GT Cadrans near Lausanne, both carry green iridescence from their nacre, and both exist in production numbers dictated by the scarcity of human expertise rather than commercial strategy. That detail alone tells you something important about what Czapek is trying to do here.
Two Dials, Two Disciplines
The Ice Cloud starts with a base of polished white mother-of-pearl, thinned to a controlled 0.2mm. The defining technique is nacre brouillée, or scattered mother-of-pearl — a process so uncommon that a single specialist at GT Cadrans holds the knowledge to execute it. That artisan applies a horsehair brush loaded with cool, blue-tinted varnish to the underside of the nacre, building random cloud formations by hand. Firing the dial in an oven at over 100°C locks those formations permanently; after that point, there is no correction. The green iridescence from the underlying nacre reads through the blue tinting with every shift in light, making each of the 10 pieces genuinely unrepeatable.​
The Midnight Pearl operates in an entirely different register. Its foundation is Tahitian nacre — chosen specifically for its characteristic grey body colour and naturally occurring violet and green iridescent reflections. A second layer of blue aventurine glass, also thinned to approximately 0.2mm, covers the nacre through a patented sandwich construction, bringing total dial thickness to around 0.4mm. The aventurine adds a metallic starlit sparkle over the Tahitian nacre’s green shimmer. Only two specialists at GT Cadrans can execute this technique, and milling the groove for the small seconds subdial at 4:30 into the fragile aventurine layer, without compromising the nacre beneath, requires CNC programming of surgical precision. Each of the 38 dials is unique by definition — the sparkle distribution and iridescence vary across every single one.​
The Calibre Family
Both watches run derivatives of Czapek‘s in-house SXH5. The Ice Cloud carries the SXH5 in its standard configuration: an automatic with an off-centre micro-rotor machined from 100% recycled platinum 950. Seven skeletonised bridges — drawn from François Czapek’s 19th-century pocket watch architecture — structure the movement’s visual language. The variable-inertia balance wheel carries four gold adjustable weights and beats at 4Hz (28,800 vph), drawing 60 hours of power reserve from a single barrel. Finishing throughout includes hand-chamfered inward angles, bevelled edges, straight-grained bridge sides, and sandblasted black bridges.​
The Midnight Pearl takes the SXH5.1, a variant reconfigured to display small seconds at 4:30 rather than central seconds, serving the dial’s asymmetric layout precisely. All core specifications hold: 30mm diameter, 4.2mm height, 127 components, and 26 jewels. Both movements reward extended time through the sapphire caseback, where the platinum micro-rotor performs its eccentric orbit above an open, architecturally coherent calibre.​
Steel Cases Built for Purpose
The Antarctique S Ice Cloud measures 38.5mm in stainless steel, 10.6mm tall, with a lug-to-lug of 43.5mm. A screw-down crown and anti-reflective sapphire caseback deliver water resistance to 120 metres, and an integrated C-link bracelet with butterfly clasp adds daily practicality without undermining the dial’s refined character.
The Midnight Pearl sits in a 38mm stainless steel case at 10.8mm height — the Promenade format, which carries a distinctly dress-casual identity alongside its sporty credentials.​
A Rarity That Isn’t Manufactured
What I find most compelling about both pieces is that their scarcity is structural, not decorative. Ten Ice Clouds. Thirty-eight Midnight Pearls. Those numbers reflect actual artisan capacity, nothing else. At press time, Czapek had not officially published retail prices for either reference, though comparable Antarctique S editions currently start from CHF 42,500 and previous Promenade limited editions with complex nacre dials have reached CHF 32,000 and above. Both watches are available through Czapek‘s Geneva boutique and authorised dealers. Given the production constraints, I would not wait to enquire.
