In our new interview series spotlighting forward-thinking figures in independent watchmaking, Czapek CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel discusses the vision, technical ambition, and creative confidence behind the maison’s new Antarctique Tourbillon Titanium Cosmic Blue
Since its modern revival in 2015, Czapek & Cie. has established itself as one of the most ambitious voices in independent watchmaking. Blending 19th-century heritage with a distinctly contemporary design language, the Geneva-based maison has earned acclaim for its technical sophistication, aesthetic originality, and elevated approach to craftsmanship.
It’s difficult not to attribute much of this success to the brand’s introduction of the Czapek Antarctique, an integrated-bracelet luxury sports watch unveiled in 2020. Powered by the brand’s first in-house calibre, the architectural SXH5, the timepiece captured the eyes of collectors with its sloped bezel, fluid lines, and technical rigour.
Since then, Czapek has continuously expanded the Antarctique collection with new dials, materials, and complications, culminating in the hypnotic and horologically impressive Antactique Tourbillon unveiled at Watches & Wonders in 2025.
This year, at Watches and Wonders 2026, the maison releases another stunning expression of the timepiece. The Antarctique Tourbillon Titanium Cosmic Blue pairs the watch’s already arresting visage with a proprietary rich blue dial. The intense hue, cooled by the muted grey tone of titanium, accentuates the mesmerizing effect of the dial’s vortex-like guilloche and brings further clarity to the visible barrel, gear train, and flying tourbillon that are aligned along a single central axis on the dial.
“This watch reflects our maturity and confidence to take greater creative risks,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. “I hope it will be seen as the moment when the Antarctique Tourbillon found its fullest expression.”
Is the Antarctique Tourbillon Titanium Cosmic Blue your brand’s star novelty for the year?
Without hesitation. We introduced the Antarctique Tourbillon last year and are reinterpreting that piece in titanium and pairing it with a Cosmic Blue dial. This combination changes everything. It is the same soul but in a completely different body.
Why does it stand apart within your work this year?
This year at Watches and Wonders, we are presenting three new titanium Antarctique references, each with the Cosmic Blue dial. But the Tourbillon is naturally in a category of its own.
The other models—the Dark Sector and the Révélation—are expressions of our design and finishing language. The Antarctique Tourbillon carries all of that but is also the fullest expression of where we are as a manufacture.
How does the Antarctique Tourbillon Titanium Cosmic Blue express where your brand stands in 2026?
To understand what the Tourbillon Cosmic Blue says about where we stand today, it helps to look at what we did just a few months ago with the Time Jumper. The Time Jumper was our manifesto for the next decade. The Tourbillon Cosmic Blue is the answer to that manifesto.
It represents the full depth of what we are already capable of: a flying tourbillon, conceived and executed entirely in-house, with an architecture built around beauty first. Bringing it together now shows a brand that knows its own identity well enough to let things mature at their own pace.
What role do you hope it will play in the long-term story of your brand?
The Antarctique Tourbillon was our statement that Czapek is a genuine independent manufacture, capable of conceiving and executing a flying tourbillon entirely on our own terms. This titanium Cosmic Blue edition says that we are also a house with a singular aesthetic vision.
One of my favourite quotes by Oscar Wilde is, “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative”. And the question that has haunted me for all these years is: what if we could combine consistency with creativity? Would the elements of surprise become counterproductive or the opposite?
