Limited to just 77 pieces, the Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante R.U.R. brings forth the spirit of mechanical ingenuity
Artificial intelligence has (rightly so) been the talk of the town for the past few years. But long before discussions of neural networks and machine learning, a Czech playwright by the name of Karel Čapek had already imagined a world where humans and machines collide. In 1921, the Čapek premiered R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), a dystopian work that not only gave us the very word robot but also asked the same essential questions that dominate today’s conversations: what happens when our creations begin to outgrow us?
A century later, independent watchmaker Czapek & Cie has seemingly chosen to revisit those questions through their latest creation, the Antarctique Rattrapante ‘R.U.R.’. The timepiece, appearing as both a celebration of mechanical ingenuity and a playful meditation on humanity’s fascination with technology, immediately catches the eye with its open-worked dial that reveals the intriguing architecture of its split-seconds chronograph movement.
This, of course, isn’t the first time Czapek has chosen to flaunt the highly complex rattrapante complication. The Antarctique Rattrapante Ice Blue from 2022 was a hit among collectors, admired for its striking open-worked dial that accentuated the sportive elegance of the beloved Antarctique silhouette. While the new iteration sports the same 42.5mm case and boasts the same proprietary calibre SHX6 that was created in collaboration with Chronode, the Antarctique Rattrapante ‘R.U.R.’ replaces the icy coolness of its predecessor with true mechanical expression.
At twelve o’clock, this expression takes the form of a finely crafted robot head, sculpted in titanium by Czapek’s partner MD’Art. Its surfaces are hand-polished and laser-engraved to catch the light, while each eye is painstakingly micro-painted in neon hues. With every press of the chronograph pusher, the head appears to come alive: the eyes glowing yellow at start, shifting to red at stop, and finally settling into blue on reset.
Adding to this visual intrigue is, of course, the rattrapante itself. Activated by a single pusher at 10:30, the split-seconds hand can be halted to record an intermediate time while the main chronograph seconds hand continues its sweep. When released, the immobilised hand “catches up”—or rattraper in French—snapping forward to reunite with its companion. On the dial, the hands are colour-coded for clarity: the split-seconds hand in blue tipped with white, the main chronograph seconds hand in white tipped with blue.
Most importantly, the web of mechanics that enable the rattrapante clamps to engage and release in perfect synchrony, is fully visible through the open architecture of the calibre. This transparency is elevated by the finishing, with the timepiece’s shot-blasted matte bridges, meticulously hand-chamfered edges, and satin-brushed levers all adding to its sophistication.
Limited to just 77 pieces worldwide, the Antarctique Rattrapante ‘R.U.R.’ boasts a 60-hour power reserve and is priced at 58,000 CHF.
