Czapek Introduces the New Antarctique Rattrapante R.U.R.
It’s hard to think that the first Antarctique is just five years old. In that time, what started as a bit of a surprise from a relatively unknown independent brand has become core to our understanding of independent sports watches, and the Antarctique in particular has become one of watchmaking’s most compelling platforms. Whether it be interpreted as a compact time-only sports watch or a highly complicated marvel, the Antarctique has been hard to ignore. Now, Czapek is bringing back one of its most notable variations — with a bit of a twist.
The Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante ‘R.U.R.’ builds on what may be the most compelling Antarctiques to date (the GPHG Nominated Rattrapante Ice Blue), but brings in a bit of sci-fi to turn it into something fun and different. The new grey and blue colorway is a big part of this, as is the use of a fictional robotic language inspired by the Predator movies, but the most notable addition when compared to the Rattrapante Ice Blue is undoubtedly the inclusion of a robot’s head at 12 o’clock.
This micro-sculpture — which, in titanium, is hand-polished, laser-engraved, and micro-painted to achieve an impressive amount of fine detail and depth — was made for Czapek by MD’Art, who previously collaborated with Czapek to make the mirror-finished dial used on the Antarctique S Mirrored Sincere Platinum Jubilee Edition last year. The robot head sits just above the column wheel on the dial side of the watch and has eyes that change color with each actuation of the split-seconds chronograph, changing from yellow to red to blue on start, stop, and reset, respectively.
You might be wondering what the connection is between Czapek and robots, beyond the inherent link between automata and mechanical watchmaking. Per Czapek, the idea to include a robot into the movement of the Rattrapante came from a board member, but was reinforced when the team at Czapek realized that the term “robot” (in its current meaning) was introduced in the play R.U.R. — or Rossum’s Universal Robot — written by Czech writer Karel Čapek (pronounced the same way as the brand).
The watch itself is pretty similar to 2022’s Rattrapante Ice Blue. Like the previous watch, the Antarctique Rattrapante ‘R.U.R.’ comes in a stainless steel case with a matching bracelet, measuring 42.5mm across, 46.6mm lug-to-lug, and 15.3mm thick (4.8mm of which is the box sapphire crystal). Inside the watch, you’ll find the Calibre SXH6 Split-Seconds chronograph movement — but it’s not the same SXH6 that came in the previous Rattrapante.
While the new movement is broadly speaking similar to the previous generation, being a horizontal clutch, twin column wheel movement with a mono pusher function for the primary chronograph and a unique architecture meant to lay bare the functionality of the watch, the new watch includes a previously omitted feature in the form of an isolator. This isolator lever decouples the two chronograph wheels of the split-second function, meaning that the stopped Rattrapante hand will not affect the continuing counter. Basically, it means the whole mechanism is just that little bit more accurate. It’s a small but notable upgrade that will matter dearly to those who care about that sort of thing.
The new Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante ‘R.U.R.’ will be available in a limited edition of 77 with a retail price starting at $58,000. Czapek
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