A dial the color of water on Hawaii's Lanikai Beach.
Czapek’s first post-revival piece saw the light of day thanks to crowdfunding. In early 2016, the company managed to raise CHF 1.1 million, and 93 investors from 11 countries became shareholders. This is a company that sees working with collectors as the cornerstone of successful business. Among other things, this openness results in interesting joint projects.
The brand's portfolio includes an Antarctique edition with a white dial for Monochrome and a green one for the Fratello watch magazine. But all previous tones and decorations pale in comparison to the bright Czapek Antarctique P.04 Lanikai x Collective Horology model introduced in 2023 in partnership with a California-based watch community.
Collective Horology was set up in 2018 by childhood friends Asher Rapkin and Gabe Reilly, who focus on creating collaborative watches. Their seventh project which took three years to complete was with Czapek.
Czapek Antarctique P.04 Lanikai x Collective Horology
The company explains that they didn't just select a manufacturer they wanted to work with, they admired the Antarctique model and basis of this project from the outset.
The idea was simple: take a luxury sports watch on an integrated bracelet (the market is currently flooded with pieces in this category) and transform the dial into a canvas to tell a brand new unconventional story, yet one told using traditional methods.
It all came together: the cold Antarctic steel case and bracelet were merged with a surprisingly sunny dial by Donzé Cadrans. The engraving on the gold blank and enamel on the dial manages to reproduce the wave-sculpted seabed you can see looking out onto the clear water of Lanikai Beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
When viewed from a different angle, the waves appear to be set in motion. The main specs for Antarctique watches remain the same. It has a three-hand time display (this edition has a yellow seconds hand) and its case measures 40.5 mm × 10.6 mm.
It houses a self-winding SXH5 movement featuring a row of skeletonized bridges and platinum micro-rotor which ensures a 60-hour power reserve. Availability of the Czapek Antarctique P.04 Lanikai x Collective Horology is limited to 50 pieces.