The bracelet-based Antarctique collection of luxury watches has been, hands-down, the most important product for Geneva-based Czapek over the last few years. Designed with an integrated bracelet in mind (which can be removed and the case worn on a strap), the Antarctique collection of sportier luxury watches proved a successful exercise in combining the heritage of Czapek with a trendier and more modern high-end timepiece-wearing experience. The Antarctique Revelation isn’t the first skeletonized version of the Antactique, but it is the first three-hand “time only” version. The first skeletonized version of the Antarctique was 2021’s Czapek Antarctique Rattrapante (split-second chronograph). Less expensive (a bit) and smaller, the Czapek Antarctique Revelation is a more universally appealing product that still delivers a lot of visual mechanical intrigue.

The main difference between this Antarctique Revelation and other Czapek Antarctique watches is the dial — or lack thereof. While Czapek has experimented with a number of colors and textures for Antarctique dials, the Antarctique Revelation removes most of the dial, leaving a small gray ring around the periphery of the face, upon which hour markers are applied and minute markers printed. What you see, instead, is a really nice skeletonized rendition of the movement family that exists in most Antarctique models, and visually, it works very well. Czapek made sure to use a variety of gray colors and finishes on the movement bridges and surfaces to further accentuate the sense of depth in the dial. This is a beautiful skeletonized watch, even if that was not the original concept behind the Antarctique collection. According to Czapek, making the movement both skeletonized and attractive was complicated and required making some differences to the movement architecture and core decoration.

The movement inside the Antarctique Revelation is the Czapek caliber SXH7. In addition to being skeletonized, this differs somewhat from the caliber SXH5, which is in most Antarctique three-hand models. The main difference is the use of an eccentric subsidiary seconds dial as opposed to a central seconds hand. The platinum micro-rotor-based automatic movement comprises 152 parts and operates at 4Hz with about 60 hours of power reserve. From the back to the front, this is a great-looking movement in skeletonized form. Best of all, the dial, with its large lumed hands and hour markers, is still very legible when reading the time. Don’t miss the great use of a sapphire crystal ring as the track for the subsidiary seconds indicator.

The Antarctique Revelation case is in polished and brushed steel, measuring 40.5mm wide and 10.6mm thick. The case is water resistant to 120 meters (an odd number shared by the Patek Philippe Nautilus) and has a domed “glass box-style,” AR-coated sapphire crystal over the dial. You can see the Antarctique Revelation on both the matching steel bracelet and the available black rubber strap on deployant clasp. Czapek designed the Antarctique case with a quick-release mechanism for the bracelet or strap – so swapping them out is easy. Another interesting feature of the bracelet is two comfort adjust segments on each side of the butterfly-style deployant. A tug pulls the sections apart, which click into place. This gives the bracelet a bit more breathing room for your wrist if it swells, which can happen as heat and activity levels change over the day.

Czapek is wonderfully transparent on its website about who its major suppliers are, which is a testament to the teamwork mentality mostly present in the “independent watch” space that makes up high-end boutique brands like Czapek. Currently, the brand also still wants customers to pre-order the Antarctique Revelation. As of recently, Czapek had more orders than it could handle, so it started instituting a downpayment system for ordering certain watches. The Antarctique Revelation is a limited edition of just 100 pieces, and Czapek has confirmed that only 21 of those pieces will be sold directly to customers. The rest will go to Czapek’s network of global retailers. Price for the Czapek Antarctique Revelation in steel is 38,000 Swiss Francs, not including taxes. Learn more at the Czapek website.