Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Czapek – ANTARCTIQUE Revrelation Edition


CzapekANTARCTIQUE Révélation Edition 2023

 THE ANTARCTIQUE RÉVÉLATION:
CZAPEK’S BEAUTIFUL HEART UNVEILED

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Geneva, March 2023 – Czapek & Cie has announced the release of a striking new model in its popular Antarctique collection. As its name suggests, the Antarctique Révélation has been skillfully skeletonized and the new bespoke, purpose-built movement exposes its pulsating heart on the dial side, to the thrill of the wearer.

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The high art of skeletonisation allows connoisseur and neophyte alike to discover and delight in the inner workings of a watch, the interplay of the hollowed-out bridges, wheels, and hands around a filigree mainplate.

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Czapek & Cie’s Antarctique Révélation takes this idea even further. The movement itself is placed on the dial side, where it acts as a fascinating animation to thrill the wearer. 

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It recalls the Antarctique Rattrapante launched in 2021, which featured the first split-seconds chronograph to appear on the dial. Inspiration came once more from the fans of the brand, says CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel: “People were in love with the remarkable design of our SXH5 movement, and we therefore asked ourselves how we could somehow make it visible on the dial.”

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What sounded simple at first became a three-year saga of deep exploration into aesthetics and engineering. The powerful SXH5 was an outstanding caliber on its own merit and with an exceptionally stark design, in particular the fine bridges angling over to grip the gearwheels, a hint of the nineteenth-century Czapek pocket watch movements.

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“One of the first requests had been to engrave a drawing of the movement onto the dial, as a ‘trompe l’oeil,’” says de Roquemaurel. “But soon a far more complex idea emerged, namely turning part of the movement upside down in the case and skeletonizing the main plate.” 

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The decision raised a number of significant challenges, the first one being to completely reverse the escapement. Then the oscillating mass had to be engraved on both sides, for example, and the crown mechanism, now visible to the naked eye, had to be reworked entirely. On a more technical note, the seconds hand could no longer be connected by a bridge to the center, so space was made at 4:30 for a small seconds dial.

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The solution was to use sapphire crystal ring for the seconds. It is discreetly attached to the larger sapphire ring carrying the hours and minutes and ensuring as much transparency as possible, so the wearer can take a deep dive into the mechanism.

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Gradually, what emerged was a new movement, the SXH7. As it evolved, elements from other Czapek models found their place, like the central tripod from the Antarctique Rattrapante holding together the finely cut out bridges. The position of the small seconds, too, is reminiscent of the famous day-date subdial of the Quai des Bergues.

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The Antarctique Révélation will be released at Watches and Wonders 2023 with a limited yearly production of 100 pieces. It will be available to order starting from April 1st at the brand’s official international retailers, the Czapek boutique in Geneva, rue de la Corraterie 18, and at czapek.com. Deliveries will start in January 2025.

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About Czapek & Cie
 

François Czapek was a Czech-born Polish watchmaker who fled to Geneva in 1832 after fighting in the Polish uprising. He immediately started his own atelier and in 1839 entered into a partnership with Antoine Norbert de Patek, introducing him to the world of watchmaking. In 1845, at the end of their partnership, he created Czapek & Cie and achieved considerable success. He became the official watchmaker of Napoleon III and opened, what was most likely the first watchmaking boutique on the Place Vendome in Paris. 

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He wrote a book about watchmaking, but unfortunately, he died before publishing a second one. Czapek & Cie has been revived in 2015 with an exceptional collection, whose leading model won the Public Prize in the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie in Geneva in November 2016. This collection takes its inspiration from an 1850’s Czapek time piece. It features a beautiful enamel dial and a 7-day proprietary movement perfectly combining craftsmanship with design and exclusivity with rarity. The Company second collection, a suspended Tourbillon with a second time-zone, was launched one year later in 2017, while the first Czapek chronograph Faubourg de Cracovie was unveiled at Baselworld 2018. The company is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

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TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Model:  GARRICK Antarctique Révélation Edition

  • Stainless Steel case, mechanical skeletonized movement
  • Minutes track and small second subdial in grey smoked sapphire crystal.
  • Micro-rotor SXH7 caliber, entirely conceived in-house by Czapek & Cie. 

Limited edition of 100 pieces

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MOVEMENT
Calibre SXH7: Czapek's in house self-winding mechanical skeletonized movement
Diameter: 30 mm – 13 lines ¼
Height: 4.2 mm
Number of parts: 152
Jewels: 25

Swiss lever escapement, variable-inertia balance fitted with four gold inertia-blocks
Frequency: 4 Hz – 28800 VpH
Power winding system: Micro rotor with an 100% recycled platinum mass
Power-reserve > 60 hours on one single barrel
Barrel torque: 8.8 Nmm
FINISH
Open ratchets, sandblasted black bridges, bevelling, straight-grained sides, six hand-chamfered inward angles
FUNCTIONS
Hours, Minutes & Seconds
CASE
40.5mm Stainless steel case
Height: 10.6 mm
Sapphire crystal glass-box with anti-reflective treatment ARDur©
Sapphire crystal case-back with anti-reflective treatment
Water resistance: 120 meters (12 atm)
Screwed-down crown
Watch weight: 95g
DIAL
Minutes track and small second subdial in grey smoked sapphire crystal
Luminescent, steel “Sword” hands
BRACELET
Integrated stainless steel bracelet with Czapek exclusive "Easy Release" system and micro-adjustment device
Additional calf leather or rubber strap 
 
Our Partners
    Conception: Daniel Martinez, Adrian Buchmann, Emmanuel Bouchet, Patrick Rossi & Xavier de Roquemaurel
    Components and movement manufacturing: AB Product, Arcofil, Atokalpa, Ceramaret, Chronode, CMT-Rickenbach, Comblemine, Crelier, Generale Ressort, Inca, Inodeco, Inhotec, MLV, MPS, Novasort, Precipro, Risa, Stocco and as well a few standard components.
    Habillage: AB Product, Capsa, Econorm, Gravages, HMS Waeber, Jean Rousseau, Metalem


PRODUCTION
- Limited edition of 100 pieces
🔴  PRICE CHF 38’950 or $ 38’500 (US duties incl.)

🔰Edition - Only of ✅ 100 pieces

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Press Release - 2023
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Czapek & Cie – 2, Rue Saint-Léger, 1205 Genève Suisse
Contact presse: Valeria Garavaglia Pedroni
Email: valeria@czapek.com | jane@czapek.com (UK)
Tel.  +41 79 314 08 54
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Monday, May 22, 2023

HYT – HASTROID Rainbow Nebula Carbon Edition

HYT Watches HASTROID Rainbow Nebula Black Carbon / Titanium Edition - 2023

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  Hastroid Rainbow Nebula: over the rainbow

As unique as a rainbow, the new Hastroid Rainbow is an exclusive creation. To perfect the rainbow colouring on its dial, HYT called upon one of the most exacting of modern artisanal techniques, known as Techno Art. 

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A new challenge combining exceptional skills and vision for the future of Haute Horlogerie.

A nebula in rainbow colours 

The radiant watches in the Rainbow collection measure the passage of time in colour. To create its own modern, high-tech interpretation of this on-trend look, contemporary independent Swiss fine watchmaking brand HYT chose to incorporate the full range of rainbow colours in the display of this model.

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HYT has made the focal point of this piece the outer edge of the dial and the heart of the exclusive fluid module with its retrograde hours display. 

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The colouring is the focus and this serves two purposes: firstly, it creates a stunning decorative effect; secondly, it takes on a technical dimension by enhancing the legibility of the display.

HYT's mecafluid technology is taken to the next level with Techno Art

By nature, each of the 15 Hastroid Rainbow timepieces will be unique and exclusive, as they are the fruit of meticulous work by artisans skilled in an art technique which requires inordinate dexterity. 

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In addition to the precision required in this work carried out by hand, there is also the technical expertise involved in cutting entirely using a laser. The grille onto which the colours are applied is coloured using tinted Zapon lacquer.

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Zapon is a premium single-component lacquer mainly used to provide long-term protection for dials which have undergone galvanic treatment. Applying the lacquer using a pressurised process requires great skill.

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Consequently, the dial on each of the 15 pieces in the Hastroid Rainbow Limited Edition collection is worked on individually by hand by Yan Patriarca, lacquering expert at MD’Art SA. In the words of this specialist in the art: "Depending on the desired final effect, it is possible to change this product by giving it a satin-finished or a mat look, tinting it translucently using dyes, pigments or even with flakes of metal or mother of pearl."

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In the specific case of the Rainbow grille, a white base varnish was needed to obtain the required brightness. Only then could the pure dyes be sprayed on, by hand, in several very thin layers, each no more than 2 to 3 microns thick.

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"It takes great precision and lots of patience to create the colour gradient effect. The aim is to create some visual magic, so that the colour change is imperceptible; so the eye can't detect where one shade ends and the next begins" Yan Patriarca explains, and the next step is to apply a layer of clear Zapon over the entire grille to protect the finished work and to protect it in the long term."

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It should be noted that the fluid contained in the capillary tube is black and, when it moves around the coloured dial, it gives the impression that it is tinted in the shade assigned to each time slot. The effect is therefore constantly changing and serves as a modern poetic reminder of the ephemeral nature of the phenomenon of rainbows which are created, scientifically speaking, when the mechanics of water meets the Sun as the source of light energy.

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The minute track, with its graduated scale to follow the progress of the fluidic retrograde hours indicator, is also coloured in a special bright shade of purple.

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As on other versions of the Hastroid model, a great deal of work has gone into the dial to enhance its legibility; it therefore features a large central hand with a refined design to enable the minutes to be read at a glance. This hand is also coloured purple to match perfectly. Further key information is given on the two flight instrument-inspired sub-dials: a small second on the one hand and the power reserve on the other. Coated in Lumicast, these hands are black and red for improved legibility.

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The relief hour numerals are also luminescent, thanks to their Lumicast coating which enables them to continue their rainbow magic in the dark. Watchmaking expertise is therefore able to create a phenomenon not possible in nature.
 
HYT Hastroid, the epitome of watchmaking art in the 21st century

The Hastroid is an iconic model featuring all the brand's technical and aesthetic DNA. Made from multi-layer carbon fibre with a profile in mat black DLC-coated titanium, its case measures 48 mm in diameter, 52.3 mm in length and is 17.20 mm thick.

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The remarkable construction of the case achieved by superimposing adjusted and assembled elements was a feat of great precision. The crown is also made from black-coated titanium. The assembly is waterproof to 30 metres and the mechanical movement is protected by a central titanium case. 

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The watch is driven by a manual winding mechanical movement (41 rubies), 501 CM calibre, at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hertz) and with 72 hours' power reserve, designed by Eric Coudray, a renowned master in the field, an artist of watchmaking design.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collections:  Hastroid Rainbow Nebula Carbon Edition   - Only 15 pieces

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Case
Multi-layer black carbon fibre with a profile in mat black DLC-coated titanium & transparent plate
Crown in coated black titanium
Domed sapphire crystal (box) with anti-reflective coating
Width 48.00 mm
Lenght 52.30 mm
Thickness 17.20 mm
Water-resistant: 50 metres
Back engraving: HS-14
Functions:
  • Retrograde fluidic hours
  • Central minutes hand
  • Small second hand
  • Power reserve hand
Movement
Mechanical with manual winding, exclusive caliber 
Calibre  501-CM (352 parts)
Frequency: 28,800 Vph, 4 Hz, 41 jewels
Finishing: Finely sandblasted and sating
Coating & Color: Black coating

Power reserve72-hour
Dial
Black coated brass & transparent plate (50 parts)
3D black coated appliques, rainbow luminous numbers (Lumicast)
Black grid with black background

Hands
Black mat minutes hand, blue & white SLN
Black mat secondes hand, red & white SLN
Black mat power reserve hand, red SLN
All SLN in Lumicast

Strap
Purple / black rubber strap
Buckle simple. Black coated titanium, Satin & sandblasted finishies
 
🔰Limited edition  -  Unique 15 piece

🔴Price:  Price upon request 💰


#HYTWATCHES
#HYTNOVELTY
#HYTHastroid 
#RainbowNebula
 
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Press releases - 2023
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