Frozen Star S

Czapek presents the Antarctique ‘Frozen Star’ S featuring a dial made from the rarest precious metal on Earth – osmium.

It took one year to completely re-engineer and rethink the case of the original Antarctique to create this new 38.5mm diameter and thus guarantee harmonious proportions. The Antarctique S is powered by the SXH5 caliber, the first movement to be entirely conceived in-house by Czapek. This automatic caliber features a micro rotor with a recycled platinum mass.

But the singularity of the Frozen Star S is due to its one-of-a-kind osmium dial. Being one of the six platinum group metals, osmium is very hard, dense and heavy. Eleven times rarer than gold, osmium is the least abundant stable element in Earth’s crust. Moreover, pure osmium does not occur in nature; it can be obtained only as a by-product from processing nickel or copper ore and, it is estimated, only about one ton is produced globally each year.

Twice as dense as lead, hard yet brittle, unstable unless crystallized, and resistant to extremely high temperatures (with a melting point of 3,000 C), osmium is notoriously difficult to work with. However, with a pronounced structure that creates a unique surface texture, and an intense natural brilliance, crystallized osmium has a profound and intriguing beauty. Shimmering as the light catches it – from a deep bluish-grey to almost white-blue – the osmium dial of the Antarctique S creates a dramatic contrast to the cool silvery tones of the steel case and bracelet.

Precious dial but sporty curves, thanks to its integrated steel bracelet with Czapek exclusive ‘Easy Release’ system. The screw-down crown allows up to 120 meters of water resistance.