Czapek reimagines its Promenade watch and puts its movement front and centre – but you won’t get one

Czapek has unveiled its new limited edition Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue watch. Reimagining its popular Promenade design, Czapek has made this new timepiece all about the movement, and it might be my favourite Promenade model to date.

The Czapek Promenade collection stands out for a number of reasons. During the brand’s relaunch, the Promenade made its debut as Czapek’s first-ever time-only dress watch, and is most recognisable for its asymmetrical dial design, complete with a small seconds register between four and five o’clock.

Previously, the Czapek Promenade has always had a colourful, non-skeletonised dial, until the Promenade Transparencies Viridian Green was launched two years ago. Now, Czapek is back with a new Promenade Transparencies model, but this time, it’s in Aqua Blue.

The Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue has many of the same features as the previous Transparencies model, including a 38mm stainless steel case, curved lugs and hollow flanks, which gives the watch a 10.8mm thickness. The dial is made from sapphire crystal, just like the caseback, but this watch is all about the movement.

As shown via the smoked sapphire dial and caseback, the automatic, skeletonised Calibre SXH7 can be seen in its entirety. The movement has seven openworked bridges which references Czapek’s pocket watches from the 19th century, and it beats at 4 Hz, giving the watch a 60 hour power reserve.

To ensure its visibility on both the front and back of the watch, Czapek reversed the movement’s escapement. It relocated the small seconds subdial to sit at 4:30 to allow it to be driven off the fourth wheel directly. The rackets, bridges, flanks and inward angles of the Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue are also symmetrical applied front and back to make it look more cohesive and integrated.

As the name states, the Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue has a dramatic blue colour. Produced through metallisation, the dial has a blue flume gradient which is applied underneath the sapphire disc in a microscopic dot pattern.

The dots are insanely thin – according to Czapek, they’re thinner than a human hair! – and they increase in diameter as they meet the outer edge of the dial. It’s a bold blue colour which is also transparent to show off the movement. Blue hour markers overlap it which feature Super-LumiNova for enhanced legibility in the dark.

Limited to just 38 pieces, you’ll need to be quick if you want to get your hands on the Czapek Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue. It’s available from today at select Czapek retailers, boutiques and online.