The 30mm. SXH5.01 automatic calibre powering the Antartique Collection has been conceived internally by a multifaceted team. Special attention was given to both performance and appearance, so the movement’s parts are arranged for visual harmony and transparency. At the root is a free-sprung balance wheel with variable inertia provided by four gold masselotte weights, which enables the highest level of precision tuning for a mechanical watch. The powerful microrotor is made of fully recycled Platinum 950. It was placed off-centre to allow a plunging view into the mechanism. The SXH5.01 runs at a fast 28,800 vph. The single barrel harbours a flat spring wound via the traditional Czapek ratchet wheel with five arms. The timepiece has a power reserve of over 60 hours, a truly remarkable feat for a microrotor.

The Frozen Star S dial is made from the rarest precious metal on Earth – osmium. Very hard, dense and heavy, and one of the six platinum group metals, it was discovered in 1803 by British chemist Smithson Tennant. Found mostly in the Americas and in the Russian Federation, and 11 times rarer than gold, osmium is the least abundant stable element in Earth’s crust. Moreover, pure osmium does not occur in nature; it can be obtained only as a by-product from processing nickel or copper ore and, it is estimated, only about one tonne is produced globally each year.

Twice as dense as lead, hard yet brittle, unstable unless crystallised, and resistant to extremely high temperatures (with a melting point of 3,000 C), osmium is notoriously difficult to work with. However, with a pronounced structure that creates a unique surface texture, and an intense natural brilliance, crystallised osmium has a profound and intriguing beauty.

To create a case 3mm smaller than the original design was not just a simple matter of shrinking; starting from scratch, the case had to be totally re-engineered and the codes rewritten to ensure that all of the proportions work perfectly – not least the ratio of overall thickness to the new diameter. The 38.5mm case is defined by the same taut lines that characterise the original Antarctique but now the sides are flat, rather than cut away, and the shoulders protecting the crown have been subtly pared back – simplifications that achieve better visual balance in the smaller dimensions. And Czapek’s attention to detail went beyond just the visual: the weight of the watch on the wrist had to feel appropriate to its reduced size.