Plissé: Timekeeping Meets Tailoring

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, and a canvas for the brand's signature creative expression through both design and timekeeping. 

Presented in a slim 38mm case, Promenade expresses a relaxed and quietly confident sophistication. The signature of the Promenade dial is asymmetry: the designs radiate from the small seconds dial placed at 4:30, producing a sense of dynamic tension. Nicknamed Plissé (or 'pleats' to borrow a textile parlance from fine tailoring), the Plissé dial is the result of a complex stamping process that gives the impression of fabric being pushed aside by the weight of the sub-dial to bunch up into pleats across the dial. This creates an intriguing play of light and shade and the illusion of flowing, dance-like movement across the dial as the wearer moves his or her wrist. The new stamping technique was developed in partnership with Czapek’s longtime collaborator, Metalem. An added challenge in developing the Plissé dial was to integrate the applied indexes within the contours of the pleats. 

Allowing the decoration to take centre stage, the timekeeping indications are pared back to a minimum: fine, semi-skeletonised arrow-shaped hands and applied indexes with diamond-cut angles to reflect the light.

The imperative for Promenade was that the 38mm case should be slim, which called for a micro-rotor movement. Thus, Czapek translated the strengths of its in-house calibre SXH5 into this new identity, playing with its architecture to achieve the desired dial aesthetics, while retaining the movement's signature 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.

The Promenade case is a modern evolution of Czapek’s icon – the original Quai des Bergues model – recognisable by the recessed and sand-blasted case sides, the curved crown protection, and a slim, rounded bezel. 

Limited Edition: 18 pieces

Specifications

Functions

• Hours, Minutes & Seconds
• Small second at 4:30

Movement

• Calibre SXH5.1: Haute Horlogerie proprietary automatic movement with a micro-rotor
• Finish: Open ratchets, sandblasted black bridges, bevelling, straight-grained sides

Case & Bracelet

• 38 mm diameter
• Thickness: 10.8mm (42mm L2L)
• Curved Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on the inside surface
• Sapphire crystal case back with anti-reflective treatment on the inside surface
• Water-resistance: 50 meters (5 atm)

Dial

• Specially stamped 'Plissé' textured pattern
• Created in collaboration with Metalem

Hands

• Rhodium-plated stainless steel hands