Czapek designer Chloé Desbiolles proposed a dial built around the two central motifs of Boris Vian’s 1947 novel: a cocktail-composing piano and a water lily.
Czapek today introduces the Promenade L’Écume des Jours, named after the novel and limited to 18 pieces in steel. It is the first Promenade dial to turn to literature, Czapek says, borrowing the novel’s name, its imagery and its spirit.
Mother-of-pearl piano keys, the black ones painted by hand, circle the blue enamel dial. At 4:30, a titanium water lily turns as the seconds hand, set on a jade disc worked to form the seconds track. Donzé Cadrans made the enamel base, and the atelier MD’Art set the mother-of-pearl and jade by hand.
Inside the 38mm case is the in-house automatic Calibre SXH5.1, its seven skeletonised bridges inspired by François Czapek’s nineteenth-century pocket watches.
“I have always been an avid reader of Boris Vian,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. He contacted the Cohérie Boris Vian, and a reply came almost immediately. Each of the 18 pieces comes with a copy of the novel, in a special edition box.
The Basics
Brand: Czapek
Model: Promenade L’Écume des Jours
Diameter: 38mm
Thickness: 10.8mm
Case material: Stainless steel
Dial: Goutte d’Eau blue enamel base by Donzé Cadrans; mother-of-pearl ring with hand-painted piano keys; jade disc forming the seconds track; titanium water lily seconds hand in miniature painting, by MD’Art
Water resistance: 50m
Strap: Dark blue nubuck leather; stainless steel Milanese mesh bracelet as an alternative
Limited edition: 18 pieces
The Movement
Calibre: SXH5.1, in-house, automatic
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 4:30
Winding: Automatic, micro-rotor in recycled 950 platinum
Power reserve: 60 hours
Frequency: 4Hz (28,800 vph)
Jewels: 26
Images courtesy of Czapek.