Czapek Unveils a New Tourbillon in a Redesigned Antarctique
As a writer and a dabbler in watercolors, I can say that there is nothing more exciting than a blank canvas. I’m happy to say that Czapek seems to agree. According to CEO Xavier de Roquemurel, their sporty Antarctique has long been seen as a blank canvas to showcase the talents under the maison. Enter the Antarctique Tourbillon. At its core, it’s a tension between the avant-garde and the traditional, making for a watch that toes the line perfectly between sophisticated and playful. To achieve this, Czapek designed an all-new pattern called Singularité, named after the astronomical phenomenon where the laws of physics begin to break down – like that of a black hole. This is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek name for the technique used to describe the Singularité design. It may look deceptively simple – like a black hole – but in reality it’s a mixture of technique, artistry, and precision to create the pattern, which has no one starting point, unlike traditional guilloché. The case’s design, too, belies the technical precision needed to create something so simple. The case of the Antarctique Tourbillon has been redesigned to echo the curvilinear aesthetic of the dial. To achieve this, the front and back sapphire crystals have been raised a tiny bit, giving the impression on the reverse side that there is no bezel. Thanks to bridge design that gives the whole dial an airy feel, the wearer is left with the impression that components are floating in mid air. All of...