Hands-On: Czapek Splits The Difference With The New Antarctique Rattrapante Ice Blue

By Logan Baker

It was around 2018 or so when I first encountered Czapek & Cie’s affable CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel and was able to handle a few of the company’s initial watch releases. I struggled then, as I do now, to pronounce the model names, but the quality of the GPHG-winning Quai des Bergues, the tourbillon and GMT-equipped Place Vendôme, and the high-beat Faubourg de Cracovie chronograph were all immediately apparent to me. (I remember being blown away by the dials with “Résonance” guilloché – it’s just beautiful, like ripples on water.) The company’s authentic approach of naming all the various partners it worked with to create its watches was refreshing and only endeared its work to me further.

What started with the complicated and admittedly esoteric appeal of the Quai des Bergues and Place Vendôme has since morphed into a crowd-pleasing operation best known for the Antarctique, an integrated stainless steel sport watch that made waves upon its 2020 release for its fresh take on the genre. The Antarctique didn’t outright mimic any of Gérald Genta’s original designs – it veered off into its own lane, with a rounded tonneau case profile, intricate dial textures, a proprietary automatic movement, and a genuinely unique multi-finish bracelet.

The release of the Antarctique spread like wildfire, and it’s since expanded in a series of limited-edition runs, with new dial colorways, collaborations with media outlets, and in August of last year, a split-seconds chronograph. The Antarctique Rattrapante, which I covered when it was introduced at Geneva Watch Days, ended up being Czapek’s most attention-grabbing debut to date.

All 77 examples of the initial release sold out in less than an hour – a seriously impressive feat for a small-scale independent brand offering a first-of-its-kind watch priced just above $50,000 – and the online reaction from the hypercritical watch cognoscenti seemed to be overwhelmingly positive. The new watch claimed (as far as I’m aware, rightfully) to be the first-ever chronograph with a split-seconds mechanism placed center-stage on the dial side.

It was followed soon after its commercial launch by the Antarctique Rattrapante Sunrise, a unique piece that was included in the biennial Only Watch 2021 auction and sold for CHF 240,000, nearly three times …read more