Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor: Cosmos to the Wrist
by Ian Skellern
Czapek is on a roll with its popular Antarctique steel sports watch and recently introduced a striking green meteorite dial in a limited edition of 100 pieces (which is already nearly sold out.)
Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor on the wrist
From the press release:
Since its launch four years ago, the Antarctique has become recognized as a contemporary classic and has featured many dial variations – always with intriguing textures and atypical colours that appear to change with every shift in the light.
Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor
As is the norm at Czapek, the green meteorite dial is partially a response to collectors’ wishes – and partially a ‘lightbulb moment’ of creativity.
“After creating the Antarctique Viridian Green in 2021 in partnership with Fratello watches, many collectors asked if we would do another green dial, so it has been very much in our minds,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie.
Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor
The decision to use meteorite was a coup de foudre moment, he adds. “I was visiting our partner, GT Cadrans, and held a disc of meteorite against my Antarctique. It looked so right with the style of the watch. And I immediately thought, why not do it in green – a cool tone of green that would complement the color of the steel case.”
Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor
In keeping with Czapek’s love of highly textured dials, meteorite appears to be deeply three-dimensional – sometimes almost infinite, resembling an illustration by M C Escher. However, this is an optical illusion caused as the light catches the geometric lines – known as the Widmanstätten pattern – created by the crystallized structures of the iron-nickel alloy.
Characteristic of octahedrite meteorites, the crystals were formed as the meteorite cooled very slowly during its millions-of-years journey through the cosmos, before colliding with Earth. Thanks to this crystalline structure, the pattern is different on every slice of meteorite used to create a watch dial, making each one unique.
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The Czapek dials have been taken from the Gibeon meteorite, which fell in Namibia in prehistoric times – believed to be approximately around 600 million years ago.
The slice of raw meteorite must be acid-washed and polished to reveal the full beauty of the pattern – the angles of the lines being determined by the plane on which the raw material was cut.
Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor
For the Antarctique Green Meteor, the mineral’s natural grey colour has been transformed by a rich green lacquer; applied in many layers and polished to a perfect finish, it appears to change tone in different light conditions.
The simplicity of the dial indications – faceted trapezoid indexes and sword-shaped hands – gives full rein to the meteorite’s intriguing geometric patterns.
Aside from its beauty, meteorite holds a special fascination in being perhaps the only material found on Earth that didn’t originate on our planet – and, indeed, may have originated before our planet existed. It’s a subtle reminder of the infinity of time and the cosmic origins of our conventions of time measurement.
Back of the Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor
The Antarctique is powered by the automatic SXH5 caliber, conceived in-house by Czapek’s own team. With special attention given to balancing aesthetics and performance, the movement architecture was designed for visual harmony and transparency as well as functionality.
Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor on the wrist
Introduced at Watches and Wonders 2024, the Antarctique Green Meteor will be made in a limited edition of 100 pieces and is available for pre-order. Deliveries will start in Q2 2025.
For more information, please visit www.czapek.com/shop/antarctique-green-meteor-6852
Quick facts: Czapek Antarctique Green Meteor
Functions: hours, minutes, central seconds
Dial: Gibeon meteorite with green lacquer
Case: stainless steel
Dimensions: 40.5 mm diameter x 10.6 mm high
Movement: in-house caliber SXH5 with recycled platinum micro-rotor automatic winding
Power reserve: 60 hours
Second hand: choice of red tip, all red, or natural steel
Water resistance: 120 meters
Bracelet and strap: comes on steel with quick release micro-adjust bracelet, plus additional calf or rubber strap (6 colors to choose from)
Limitation: 100 pieces (only 15 left at time of publication)
Price: USD $29,500
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