ANTARCTIQUE PASSAGE DE DRAKE POLAR SKY LIMITED EDITION OF 99

Czapek's Antarctique Aventurine is a unique combination of elegance and zeitgeist. Like a smoking jacket over everyday pants and vice versa, codes are broken and reconciled to better combine and highlight each other. A unique style that allows the wearer stylistic subtlety and, above all, endless freedom of expression. For a wrist above 16.mm, its contained size of 40.5mm, and above all its finesse, will be a guarantee of discreet but remarkable presence while combining an indisputable form of power thanks to its rough angles, its flanks open to the movement drum and its contrasting finishes. 

But let’s talk a bit more about the dressy part: Czapek has a longstanding love affair with aventurine, having harnessed its mysterious beauty for special editions of both Quai de Bergues (‘Midnight in Geneva’ limited edition to celebrate the first Geneva boutique opening, in 2019) and Faubourg de Cracovie (2022). “It’s a material that we love to play with, and it was a logical evolution to use it for the Antarctique – they were made to go together. Moreover, Antarctica is the world's best spot for stargazing!” says Czapek’s CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel.

Aventurine is a type of glass, developed by chance when a 17th-century Murano glassmaker accidentally dropped some metal shavings into a cooling glass mixture, creating a multicoloured sparkle as they crystallised (its name is derived from all’avventura – Italian for ‘by chance’ and it pre-dates by at least a century the discovery of the natural quartz gemstone of the same name). Working with aventurine requires considerable expertise, since it is naturally fragile and prone to cracking when being manipulated. Czapek’s collaborative approach – working with specialists in different crafts, in the traditional watchmaking spirit of établissage – proved once again to be a great strength when producing these dials.