Xavier de Roquemaurel, chief executive of Czapek & Cie, built the Promenade collection on an idea he states plainly: a beautiful watch has no gender.
Czapek introduces the Promenade Plissé, a new textile-inspired dial for the Promenade line, in Ivory, Pearl White and Rose, 18 pieces of each. A complex stamping process gives the dial the look of fabric pushed into pleats by the weight of the small-seconds counter.
Czapek developed the pattern, a registered flinqué it calls Plissé, with the dial maker Metalem, fitting the applied indexes inside the folds. The 38mm steel case stays slim thanks to a micro-rotor movement, and Rose comes on a Milanese mesh bracelet, Ivory and Pearl White on nubuck leather.
“We have always believed that gender divisions in watchmaking are largely artificial,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. Inside is the in-house Calibre SXH5.1, its micro-rotor cast in recycled platinum, with 60 hours of power reserve from a single barrel.
Promenade has looked to fashion since it launched, and Plissé carries that further: a dial that reads like cloth caught mid-movement.
The Basics
Brand: Czapek
Model: Promenade Plissé (Ivory; Pearl White; Rose)
Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 10.8mm
Case material: Stainless steel; sapphire crystal glass-box, anti-reflective; sapphire case back, anti-reflective inner side
Dial: Stamped brass, registered flinqué “Plissé” pattern; Ivory and Pearl White by galvanic treatment, Rose pink-coloured; applied indexes, diamond-cut angles; semi-skeletonised arrow-shaped hands; small seconds at 4:30
Water resistance: 5 ATM
Strap: Ivory: taupe nubuck (also Milanese mesh). Pearl White: grey nubuck (also Milanese mesh). Rose: Milanese mesh (also nubuck)
Limited edition: 18 pieces per colour
The Movement
Calibre: SXH5.1, in-house, automatic
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 4:30
Winding: Automatic, micro-rotor in recycled platinum
Power reserve: 60 hours, single barrel
Frequency: 4Hz (28,800 vph)
Jewels: 26
Images courtesy of Czapek.