The California Dreamin’ chronograph is driven by a bespoke automatic movement, the SXH3. It delivers 65h power reserve from a single barrel that drives the balance wheel at 36,000 vph and is COSC certified. The movement makes use of some of the most advanced and effective mechanical elements, like the linear hammer, which reduces wear and tear on parts and resets all the associated dials in one easy movement. A modern solution, the vertical clutch, ensures a perfect start for the chronograph hand. Finally, the diamond-blasted anthracite bridges give the final aesthetic twist to the movement visible through the transparent case back.

The Faubourg de Cracovie comes in a slightly modified 41.5-millimeter Quai des Bergues Revolution case in sober steel. The famous crown protectors are still in place and now serve, ingeniously, as pushers. “Take the romantic nobility of our first watches and add a chronograph to give it some athletic pizzazz,” says Czapek & Cie CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel. “That’s our latest model, and it’s unmistakably Czapek, traditional but with a modern flair.”

The Czapek Design Study Chronograph served as an inspiration for the Faubourg de Cracovie California Dreamin’ with its anthracite electroplated brass California dial:
the SuperLuminova® coated hour markers are in Roman numerals from X to II and Arabic from 4 to 8.

The California dial is an unusual choice for a modern timepiece, whose origins are part of the ‘mysteries’ of watchmaking: nobody really knows why this type of dials are named after the West Coast state. Some theories state that it is so-called called this way because that particular design was exceedingly popular in the state of California in the ’30s and ’40s, others speculate that it’s because of a famous Los Angeles-based dial finisher, Kirk Rich, who did made some popular dials with the design in the 1970s; however, nothing is definitive.