Czapek & Cie Antarctique, Squelette Plique-à-jour, Polar Blue

Czapek & Cie Antarctique, Squelette Plique-à-jour, Polar Blue.

Since its relaunch in 2015, Czapek & Cie has built its creative approach around a simple but demanding idea: to bring traditional craftsmanship into dialogue with modern watchmaking. The Antarctique Plique-à-Jour continues this exploration, applying an ancient decorative art, normally reserved for jewellery or objets d’art, to a modern integrated steel watch.

The plique-à-jour technique, whose name literally means “letting in the daylight,” is one of the most demanding forms of enamel work and was developed in the Byzantine Empire in the 6thth century AD. It consists in applying layers of coloured enamel into open metal cells with no backing. The enamel is fired at around 900°C, fusing to the metal framework — typically made of gold— but leaving transparent sections that allow light to pass through. The result resembles a miniature stained-glass window, alive with reflections and variations in tone.

Only ten pieces of the Antarctique Plique-à-Jour will be produced, each one subtly unique due to the natural variations of the enamelling process. The series, as was the case for the Antarctique Tourbillon launched in April, carries the Czapek anniversary logo engraved on the case back, as it is part of the collections marking ten years since the rebirth of Czapek & Cie in 2015 — a decade defined by collaboration, passion, and the pursuit ofindependence and authenticity in contemporary watchmaking.