Geneva, February 2022 – Czapek introduces two new hues to its successful Antarctique Passage de Drake family of watches. The Passage de Drake Glacier Blue, which will be part of the regular collection, and the Passage de Drake Salmon, a limited edition of 99 pieces.
At Czapek, the continuous quest for Beauty through both mechanical and aesthetical innovation is an obsession. Initiated by the Maison’s spiritus rector, the XIX Century watchmaker François Czapek, this relentless experimentation kept going in the modern history of the company since its relaunch in 2015.
Often, research and development are driven by listening to the aspirations and desires of Czapek’s “Rare People”, as stated in the brand’s motto “We Collect Rare People”. This was the case for the two new dial colours now enriching the Antarctique Passage de Drake collection.
“We at Czapek are watch lovers at the service of watch lovers. Our mission is to provide a creative platform for watch collectors to express their personality through our timepieces. At the same time, we are often avant-gardists in trends”, says Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. “Both the light blue and the salmon hues were in our pipeline, but before even announcing them we had many bespoke demands for these colours by collectors. It was then obvious that it was the right path to follow!”
Both the Passage de Drake Salmon and Glacier Blue dials feature the Czapek “Stairway to Eternity” registered pattern, an atypical trapezoid motif whose three-dimensional stamped surface creates a play of shadows across the dial. While the salmon colour is created by “galvanoplastie”, galvanic treatment, the Glacier Blue hue could only be produced with a PVD (physical vapour deposition) treatment. In both cases, Czapek collaborated with its Swiss-based longtime partner Metalem.
Both timepieces are powered by the 30mm SXH5 automatic calibre, the first Czapek in-house movement. Its powerful micro-rotor, made of fully recycled platinum 950, is placed off-centre to allow a plunging view into the mechanism. The gear train is held in place by a series of seven skeletonized bridges whose shape is inspired by both the XIX century pocket watches, and by the very modern Czapek Faubourg de Cracovie chronograph’s rotor. The movement has superlative finishing on the bridges merging Haute Horlogerie angling techniques with state-of-the-art laser engravings.
The Antarctique Passage de Drake Glacier Blue and Salmon will be available on Czapek.com, at the flagship boutique in Geneva, 18 rue de la Corraterie, and at the brand official retailers worldwide as of February 8, 2022.
