Czapek’s first 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 steel, titanum or gold. 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. “It is unmistakably Czapek, traditional but with a modern flair.”

Czapek reintroduces the fascinating handmade guilloché of the Quai des Bergues collection with a new design named “Résonance”. Intersecting circular lines form a pattern of bas-relief squares that make the dial come alive. This traditional technique was made possible by the rose engine lathe, which was devised in the late Eighteenth century and became a key machine in fine dial-making. The guilloché design goes back to François Czapek himself.