Czapek’s Rattrapante Ice Blue Exploring Aesthetics And Engineering
You should flaunt your engine's beauty if you have one. This is where one may benefit from the skill of openworking a watch. By eliminating the display and exposing the plates and bridges, the watch's mechanism is brought into focus, making it an intrinsic element of the time-telling process. Nevertheless, the embellishing, beveling, polishing, and other forms of finishing in this method need extreme precision. The removal of material from structural elements can also cause undetectable strains in the metal that lead to deformation of the now-filigree bridges. They must give a reliable foundation to a motor's operation. If the engine is powering a mechanism actuated in a split second by clutches, you'll need to find a more secure place to anchor it. The wonderful perspective of a highly difficult grande complexity is, nevertheless, well worth the effort.
Czapek & Cie's Rattrapante watch collection was developed a year ago in response to the company's desire to take on a new challenge and reap the rewards of doing so. The delicate dance of the dial-side mechanism is on full display via the sapphire crystal front and exhibition case back. Both "Czapek" subdials are prominent and easy to spot. There is a 30-minute counter at 4, and the little seconds are displayed at 7. The watch's tripod bridge, which supports the innovative satellite minute train and the split seconds mechanism, is located at the watch's heart. The two column wheels that are integral to the chronograph and split-seconds systems may be seen as well.
Ice Blue is the name of the newest version of the Antarctique. This new Rattrapante, as its name implies, showcases the unique characteristics of this shade, which radiate dignity and poise. “We are continuing to explore the many possibilities offered by this very attractive and popular new family of watches,” says Czapek CEO, Xavier de Roquemaurel. “Adding the blue is like a signature for the whole collection: Antarctica, blue sky, blue sea, blue ice.”
The openworked dial of this model is a metallic gray, and the hands are customarily blued to complement the dial. As you look closely, you can see that the minute track and the two totalizer tracks have a shimmering fumé blue color. In order to achieve this result, metal oxides are vaporized and applied to sapphire crystal rings. The red chrono hand (trotteuse in French) and the tiny red "60" at 12 o'clock give the display a sense of motion.
Visually striking features include the split-second chronograph's clamp, which instantaneously stops one of the chrono wheels when the split-second pusher is used, and the dial's intricate dance of levers and cams. After that, the other hand of the chronograph can't be stopped from keeping track of time. The immobile hand will "catch up" (rattraper in French) to the other once the clamp is removed. Each component must be made to exacting standards to guarantee flawless performance.
Czapek's high-performance in-house caliber SHX6 powers the Rattrapante Ice Blue. It's a mechanical and aesthetically pleasing piece of art made in tandem with Chronode. “The split-second runs on energy tapped from the second wheel,” explains Xavier. “And in this movement, we favored a horizontal clutch rather than a vertical one to highlight the aesthetics of the transmission." Moreover, the number of parts and their thickness were reduced to a minimum to ensure the watch's streamlined appearance. The entire unit has to be contained within its 42.5 mm casing.
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