Czapek & Cie returns to radical clarity with the Promenade Transparencies Aqua Blue, a 38-piece limited edition that trades opacity for intention. A smoked sapphire dial reveals the in-house skeletonised Calibre SXH7 from both sides, while a new light-blue palette cools the composition with restraint. Orders open August 20, 2026.
The dial is sapphire, not painted or tinted in the mass. Its blue fumé gradient comes from metallization – a vapour-deposited array of microscopic dots, roughly eight microns across, denser at the edge and sparse at the center. The effect preserves optical honesty: fully see-through at the heart, progressively shaded toward the rim. Indices are blocks of light blue Super-LumiNova, applied by hand and affixed to the crystal, replacing the earlier metal markers and keeping the vista uncluttered day and night.
Calibre SXH7 is a fully skeletonised evolution of SXH5, designed to be read like architecture. Seven openworked bridges arc inward, echoing François Czapek’s multi-bridge pocket watches. For legibility, the escapement is reversed, the keyless works are brought dial side, and the small seconds sits at 4:30, driven directly off the fourth wheel. A micro-rotor in 100% recycled platinum is engraved on both faces, a neat nod to symmetry.
Finishing is equal front and back – no backstage shortcuts. Expect open ratchets, sandblasted rhodium-plated bridges, hand-chamfered inward angles, and straight-grained flanks. The calibre runs at 4 Hz – 28,800 vph – with 25 jewels, 152 parts, a single barrel good for 60 hours, a variable-inertia balance with four gold blocks, and a barrel torque of 8.8 Nmm. Mechanical honesty, shown rather than declared.
The 38 mm stainless steel case is slim at 10.8 mm with curved lugs and hollow flanks that keep it poised on the wrist. Sapphire front and back receive internal anti-reflective treatment, and water resistance is 50 m. A dark blue nubuck strap is standard, with an optional stainless steel Milanese mesh bracelet for those who prefer steel to suede.
The idea, as CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel puts it, is to let the mind complete the mechanism: “Transparencies plays with the excitement of seeing some details yet not all of them… a sort of mechanical eroticism… The blue shades originate from the small seconds… A tribute to Czapek’s design language, built on symmetry and surprise.”
Availability is through Czapek authorised retailers, the Geneva boutique, and czapek.com. Retail price before taxes: 28’800 CHF, 31’700 EUR, 40’300 USD. In a market loud with color, this piece whispers in blue – and the movement does the rest.
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