“Oops … I did it again” is a famous pop song (despite not being my favourite one at all), and I believe it successfully summarizes the second chapter of an exclusive limited-edition timepiece by our friends at MONOCHROME. They followed up their debut collaboration with Habring2 and extended the “subscription watch” template by partnering with another watch brand belonging to Indie watchmaking, i.e., Swiss boutique brand Czapek & Co., whose comeback is widely regarded as a case history by the industry.
About the pre-order process, please read.
Before discovering the nuts and bolts behind the new product, let’s spend a few words about the pre-order process, even more so given the low number of timepieces available of the new Czapek Antarctique “Monochrome White” Edition: 33pieces.
While the brand and media are taking the curtain off the new watch today, be aware you won’t be allowed to pre-order yours within the next 24 hours. Therefore, if you’re eager to make yours one piece, get ready to jump to the MONOCHROME shop a few minutes before 3 PM Central European Time, December 16. Therefore, do not hurry, but wait and good luck.
Why did they choose the Czapek Antarctique?
Our friends gave us a hint about why they chose Czapek for their Subscription watch N° 2 in their press release, and here is what I got. They were equally eager to involve a high-end boutique watchmaker and create a luxury sports watch in steel for the first time. The Antarctique is among the most wanted luxury sports watches and epitomizes what a superbly crafted luxury sports watch (for the very few) stands for.
Its clean design, featuring a fully integrated bracelet, comes with one of the most outstanding calibres you may find on any three-hander this luxurious. I also feel the Antarctique worked as a source of inspiration for some excellent recent releases like Parmigiani’s Tonda PF Micro-rotor we recently reviewed.
The Czapek Antarctique “Monochrome White” Edition
The Antarctique is, by all means, a Holy Grail in its class of products. The flat case with an integrated bracelet and polished links measures 40.5 mmacross and 10.6 mm in height, including the slightly curved glass box. It is an exquisitely proportioned wristwatch, conceived with superior comfort and usability in mind, unusually blending “understatement” on the dial side with terrific engineering and refinement on the inside. Nonetheless, the standard “flinqué” dial is not my cup of tea and looks somehow over-designed.
Here is where the “Monochrome White” sets itself apart by introducing a cleaner, no-frills style. The dial is sandblasted in silver white and thus allows the applied Arabic numerals and indexes to stand out against the base. The outcome is a sophisticated watch, looking and feeling like some pure early-seventies and full-steel sports watches. The wording “Automatique” appears for the first time on any Antarctique, too.
It is as pure on the outside as captivating on the inside.
Who’s familiar with a Czapek Antarctique will appreciate the contrast between a toned-down design and unrivalled technical prowess; this timepiece is a call to action to the most demanding connoisseur who’s not accepting any flaw. The SXH5 calibre, the first-ever in-house movement by Czapek & Co., is among the industry’s finest engineered and decorated automatic movements.
Featuring a 100% recycled platinum micro-rotor, the movement stores the energy into a single barrel totalling more than 60 hours of power reserve when fully wound. What looks ordinary is not, considering the SXH5 is a slim 13 and 1/4 lines large movement.
It’s a feast for your eyes whatever your perspective; I love the distinctive seven-bridge layout, along with “Haute Horlogerie” finishes: the bridges are blackened and sandblasted, and hand-finishing is applied on the most hidden parts, while the contrast between such engineering and the pure white dial makes it the ultimate Czapek & Co. Antarctique watch. It is arguably the finest self-winding calibre in the benchmark.
The icing on the cake: the micro-adjustment.
MONOCHROME‘s Montre de Souscription 2 introduces a new micro-adjustment mechanism to allow the wearer to finely adjust the bracelet close to the butterfly-designed folding clasp. It proves that the Czapek Antarctique “Monochrome White” Edition is next level Antarctique and adds new features we’ll hopefully see on future models.
Price and availability
The new Czapek Antarctique “Monochrome White” Edition‘s price is on par with the brand’s current offering and retails for 17,200 Euros excluding taxes. The sales process is as follows: by pre-ordering the watch, you’ll deposit a non-refundable 5200 Euros (taxes not included) while paying the remaining sum, plus VAT, before delivery, which is expected to be fully completed by Czapek & Co. by the end of March; also, each watch will come with a three-year international warranty as standard.
It encases the mechanical movement and is crafted in one or more parts. It can also be a single piece, as with some professional diving watches, or made of unconventional…
Rotor
Part of an automatic watch that winds the mainspring by constantly rotating. Depending on the watch's winding capability, movement design, and value, it comes in various geometries, sizes, and materials.…
Calibre
A calibre is the type of watch movement encased in an assigned timepiece. Its name is usually associated with the manufacturer's name and a standard code, e.g., ETA 2824.
Power Reserve
A mechanical watch feature displays, on the dial or the case back, the remaining power in a watch movement, showing the length of time until the timepiece must be rewound.
Barrel
It is a cylindrical metal box closed by a cover that contains a spiral spring called the mainspring, which provides energy to run the timepiece.
