Review Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante

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Last year we witnessed a plethora of haute horlogerie timepieces. Between them, stands out a small independent with a phenomenal complication. I talk about Czapek & Cie and their spectacular Antarctique Rattrapante.

Unfortunately, the video was shot in the most unhappy light conditions and my phone had struggled to render the colour and resolution

The Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante is an old idea and a personal dream to fulfil of Xavier de Roquemaurel, Czapek’s CEO. The watch is inspired by their 2012 efforts of starting Czapek as we know it today – a team with the purpose to excel in watchmaking refinement, with innovation and designs not for sake of just manufacturing something but for the pleasure of creation and for the joy of the collectors.

Xavier is explaining in the video below the entire history of the piece and describes the watch in detail:

Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante

Xavier does such a good explanation that my review is almost futile. But I will still share some info and personal thoughts about it.

The Antarctique case

With Antarctique, Czapek & Cie revealed the next step for the brand. Entering the full metal jacket design with an integrated bracelet is quite heard nowadays. The market is full of legends and various designs from fairly cheap to outrageous prices.

We can recognise in the case design elements that Czapek managed to allot them as distinguishable and recognisable brand language. I am referring here to the mass substruction on the caseband visible on the Place Vendome and the crown protection and pushers of the Faubourg de Cracovie.

The integrated bracelet has a top contribution in bringing the merely traditional-looking Czapek pieces in the quotidian. The stylised “C” not only represent the first letter of the brand’s name but makes a superb contrast – a mirror polish against the links’ fine brushing.

Dial / movement

Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante is a fully revealing piece. All the interesting parts are not just displayed but highlighted on the dial side. It is not a skeletonised piece per se, although the visibility of all components was enhanced by minimising the footprint of the top components.

This split-seconds chronograph is not just a turned 180 degrees mechanism. Everything was redesigned from scratch and we can see some very ingenious solutions found to enrich this grand complication.

Knowing Xavier personally since 2017 (time flies when you are having fun with nice watches), I am sure that only his stubbornness was the reason why this watch was possible. And this kind of determination is something that our world needs (not only in the world of watches) for evolution.

A smart selection of finishes creates an unprecedented multidimensional design for a brand, that until the launch of Atarctique, was known for its “traditional and modern” braided characteristics, although Place Vendome is a good start.

The back of the watch surprises us with a restyled rotor weight with sharper lines and stronger contrast. This goes excellent with the rest of the watch characteristics. I wonder how it would look like with a white gold (or platinum) rotor weight. Would be more aligned with the front of the watch?

Needless to say, the finishes and overall work on the Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante are exquisite. Like nothing I wouldn’t expect: shot blasted bridges with hand-polished chamfers that contrast the circular satin-finished wheels, straight brush satin-finished chronograph levers with hand-polished chamfers, black polished studs and column wheels, all fixed with black-polished screws.

Final words

Connoisseur or not, the Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante is not something that will escape even the most frugal look. It stands out with its intricacies and unusual look. Pressured by time, I did not have the chance to make a proper hands-on video, but I played with it every time I had in my hands. And oh boy what a pleasure.

But the most spectacular feature of the Antarctique Rattrapante is not the phenomenal good look but its behaviour. The use of the chronograph was tuned to… perfection. The balance of the actuation force with the feedback is remarkable. I was surprised about the finesse in work, the actual feel of this fantastic complication. And since we are talking about an independent brand here, Czapeck & Cie. offers some bespoke elements. So if you want to smile every time you look at your wrist (it is enough just to think about and will do) and have a gasp of horological pleasure every time you are using the chrono just try (or better buy) a Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante.

Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante Technical Specifications

Stainless steel case, open-worked split-second chronograph on the dial side. Limited to 77 pieces

Functions

Split-second monopusher chronograph, hours, minutes & seconds
Chronograph’s minutes at 4:30
Small seconds at 7:30
Split-second pusher at 10:30

Movement

Calibre SXH6: haute horlogerie automatic power-horse movement with a split-second monopusher chronograph module
Power reserve: 60 hours
Frequency: 4 Hz – 28’800 VpH
Variable inertia balance wheel
Two-column wheels, chronograph horizontal clutch, patent-pending split-second clamp
49 jewels, 292 components
Recycled 5N rose gold rotor with Czapek logo
Diameter: 34mm

Finish