At GT Cadrans, near Lausanne, only one artisan can brush the varnish that shapes the clouds on the Antarctique S Ice Cloud, working entirely by hand.
Czapek introduces the Antarctique S Ice Cloud, limited to 10 pieces, alongside the Promenade Midnight Pearl. Both explore mother-of-pearl with GT Cadrans, a dial maker near Lausanne.
The technique is nacre brouillée, or scattered mother-of-pearl, which Czapek calls rare in watchmaking today. White mother-of-pearl is worked to 0.2mm, about two sheets of paper, and a blue-tinted varnish is brushed onto the underside by hand to suggest clouds. The dial is then fired at over 100°C for hours; after that, nothing can be corrected.
Inside is Czapek’s own Calibre SXH5, turning behind an off-centre micro-rotor in recycled platinum. “Working on these projects for Czapek has been both challenging and immensely rewarding,” says Alexis Chevalier of GT Cadrans.
Even chosen carefully, no two brushstrokes turn out quite the same. No two dials will show quite the same sky – a fitting idea for a watch named after clouds that never repeat themselves.
The Basics
- Brand Czapek
- Model Antarctique S Ice Cloud
- Diameter 38.5mm
- Thickness 10.6mm
- Case material Stainless steel
- Dial Light blue hand-varnished mother-of-pearl (nacre brouillée), fired in an oven; applied metal indexes; made with GT Cadrans
- Water resistance 12 atm
- Bracelet Integrated stainless steel bracelet with “Easy Release” system and micro-adjustment; rubber strap included
- Limited edition 10 pieces
The Movement
- Calibre SXH5, in-house, automatic
- Functions Hours, minutes and central seconds
- Winding Automatic, off-centre micro-rotor in recycled platinum
- Power reserve 60 hours
- Frequency 4Hz (28,800 vph)
- Jewels 28
Images courtesy of Czapek.
