Launched at Watches and Wonders 2024, the Promenade collection was born from the desire to create a chic and truly modern watch, as a canvas for creative expression, not solely a timekeeping instrument.
Like many developments at Czapek & Cie., there was no straight line from the idea of creating a new collection to the result. Rather, ideas morphed and evolved from the initial intention of developing a women’s watch with a collector-quality mechanism to the desire to make a chic and modern watch that would appeal to those with an eye for style and appreciation of mechanical sophistication – regardless of gender.
“We have always believed that gender divisions in watchmaking are largely artificial,” says Xavier de Roquemarel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. “Beauty and creativity unite men and women; making a beautiful watch cannot be reduced to a gender split. A beautiful watch will please men and women equally, in the same way that a beautifully tailored smoking tuxedo suit looks equally wonderful on men and women.”
A New Dial Inspired By Textiles
Presented in a slim 38mm case, Promenade expresses a relaxed and quietly confident sophistication, injected with playfulness and joie de vivre. The signature of the Promenade dial is asymmetry: the designs radiate from the small seconds dial placed at 4:30, producing a sense of dynamic tension. In 2025, Czapek & Cie. introduces a new dial – Plissé (pleats) – in three colours.
Promenade looks to fashion as a frame of reference – from Marilyn Monroe’s chic-and-sexy white pleated dress in The Seven-Year Itch to Issey Miyake’s futuristic pleats (for men and women) and light-as-air silks that marry couture tradition and high technology, and Yves Saint Laurent’s eternally modern le smoking – created in 1966, the OC of androgynous style.
Inspired by textiles, the Plissé dial is the result of a complex stamping process that gives the impression of fabric being pushed aside by the weight of the sub-dial to bunch up into pleats across the dial. This creates an intriguing play of light and shade and the illusion of flowing, dance-like movement across the dial as the wearer moves his or her wrist. The new stamping technique was developed in partnership with Czapek & Cie.’s regular collaborator, Metalem. An added challenge in developing the Plissé dial was to integrate the applied indexes within the contours of the pleats.
A Sleek Case And A Sophisticated Calibre
The imperative for Promenade was that the 38mm case should be slim, which called for a micro-rotor movement. Thus, Czapek & Cie. translated the strengths of its in-house calibre SXH5 into this new identity, playing with its architecture to achieve the desired dial aesthetics.
The Promenade case is a modern evolution of the original Quai des Bergues model – recognisable by the recessed and sand-blasted case sides, the curved crown protection, and a slim, rounded bezel.
Discover Czapek & Cie. timepieces at the SHH boutique, Lot 1M.01.00 of Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, #B2M-202 of The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, or at the Sincere Fine Watches boutique, #02-12A of Takashimaya S.C.