Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue

A window to the soul

Born as the natural evolution of the Quai des Bergues and the Antarctique lines, the Promenade collection represents Czapek's vision for the future of high-end watchmaking: refined, sleek, playful and powerful.

The dial is not lacquered, painted, or tinted through the sapphire's mass. Its blue fumé gradient is produced through metallization, a vapour-deposition process in which a metallic coating is applied to the underside of the sapphire disc in a pattern of microscopic dots roughly eight microns in diameter, each several times thinner than a human hair. The density of these dots increases toward the periphery of the dial and thins toward the small seconds register at 4:30, producing the graduated blue tone without altering the optical clarity or the mechanical transparency the collection is named after. The result is a sapphire disc that remains fully see-through at its centre and progressively opaque at its edge, a property achieved at the level of coating density rather than pigment. Unlike the metallic hour markers of the Promenade Transparencies' first edition, the Aqua Blue introduces a new execution: each index is a block of Superluminova in light blue, luminescent in the same light blue tone after dark, applied by hand and affixed to the sapphire crystal dial.

Czapek’s deep respect for the rules of traditional watchmaking allows it to bend its own design rules – and so the signature of the Promenade dial is asymmetry: the designs all radiate from the small seconds dial placed at 4:30, producing a sense of dynamic tension and flowing movement. Driven, as always, by Czapek’s twin imperatives of colour and detail – with the emphasis on creating an intriguing play of light and shade as the wearer’s wrist moves – a classical dial decoration techniques – Guillochage – is used in a new way: Unique to the Promenade, Czapek has dramatically overhauled the handwound SXH1 movement, creating a stunning new aesthetic without disturbing the spirit or capability of the 7-day calibre. The end result is the visibility of deep chamfering and extensive openwork, which clearly delineates a full-fledged three-quarter plate and exposes the geartrain. The bridge plate and balance bridge have also been hollowed out and seem to face each other like two shooting stars about to cross paths, giving the movement a more dynamic look. The mainplate now has a small triangular hole cut in the middle, a cursory punctuation on the matte grey rhodium-plated surface.

Immediately recognizable by the seven skeletonized bridges that hold the gear train in place – inspired by the 19th-century pocket watches of François Czapek – the movement plates and bridges feature fine haute horlogerie finishes, including bevelling, straight-grained sides and hand-chamfered inward angles. Beating at 4Hz (28,800 vph) and wound by a micro rotor with a mass of 100% recycled platinum, SXH5 offers 60 hours of power reserve.

Limited Edition: 38 pieces

Specifications

Functions

• Hours, Minutes & Seconds
• Small second at 4:30

Movement

• Calibre SXH5.1: Haute Horlogerie proprietary automatic movement with a micro-rotor
• Finish: Open ratchets, sandblasted black bridges, bevelling, straight-grained sides

Case & Bracelet

• 38 mm diameter
• Thickness: 10.8mm (42mm L2L)
• Curved Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on the inside surface
• Sapphire crystal case back with anti-reflective treatment on the inside surface
• Water-resistance: 50 meters (5 atm)

Dial

• Smoked blue sapphire crystal
• Created in collaboration with Metalem

Hands

• Rhodium-plated stainless steel hands