Developed within a three-year saga of deep exploration into aesthetics and engineering, Czapek & Cie’s Antarctique Révélation takes the art of skeletonization to its highest level.
The new bespoke, purpose-built SXH7 movement exposes its pulsating heart on the dial side, to the thrill of the wearer. It recalls the Antarctique Rattrapante launched in 2021, which featured the first split-seconds chronograph on the dial side. Inspiration came once more from the fans of the brand: “People were in love with the remarkable design of our SXH5 calibre, and we therefore asked ourselves how we could somehow make it visible on the dial. One of the first requests had been to engrave a drawing of the movement onto the dial, as a ‘trompe l’oeil,’” says CEO Xavier 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.”
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, and the crown mechanism, now visible to the naked eye, had to be reworked entirely. Gradually, what emerged was a new movement, the SXH7. The Antarctique Révélation will be released with a limited yearly production of 100 pieces.