PROMENADE GOUTTE D EAU LIMITED EDITION OF 100

THE GENESIS OF A NEW COLLECTION

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 real complexity of this collection lies in its simplicity: a chic, contemporary watch that appeals to those with a certain sense of style and an appreciation of mechanical sophistication.

The aim of Promenade was to express a truly modern idea of elegance: chic, relaxed and very easy to wear. The case should be slim, which called for a micro-rotor movement. Thus, it was a natural decision to translate the strengths of Czapek’s in-house calibre SXH5 – originally developed for the sporting Antarctique collection – into this new identity. 

The style of Promenade gives a subtle nod to the calibre’s sporting origins, but is deliberately not a sports watch. “We love to play with colour, techniques and materials, so Promenade is not just a timekeeping instrument but also a canvas for creative expression,” says Czapek's CEO, Xavier de Roquemaurel.

A SLIM CASE 

Remaining true to the spirit of elegance, the Promenade case pays homage to Czapek’s icon – the original Quai des Bergues model. The result is a modern evolution, rather than a revolution, recognisable as part of the family thanks to the recessed and sand-blasted case sides, the signature curved crown protection, and a slim, rounded bezel that fully opens the dial to view. A key criterion was that the 38mm case should be as slim as the calibre would allow – below the threshold of 10 millimetres. 

A DECORATIVE TECHNIQUE REINVENTED 

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, Grand Feu enamel, is used in a new way:

‘Goutte d’Eau’ (drops of water) harnesses the beauty of grand feu enamel to mesmerising effect: as the watch moves, an optical illusion is created – as when a raindrop falls on the still surface of a pond, ripples appear to radiate out from the seconds sub-dial. Czapek’s partner in creating the Goutte d’Eau dial is Donzé Cadrans.

THE MOVEMENT

Since its introduction in May 2020, the automatic Calibre SXH5 has continually evolved.  For Promenade, Czapek and its engineers played with its architecture purely for the sake of the dial aesthetics – another example of the Maison’s “Beauty above all” approach, positioning the small seconds mechanism now directly beneath, and on the same axis as the dial display. 

Immediately recognisable by the seven skeletonised 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.