Introducing: The Czapek Time Jumper — A Flying-Saucer-Shaped Half-Hunter Watch With A Spacy Optical Effect

A decade after its revival, Czapek once again surprises with an intriguing creation — the Time Jumper. This is a modern interpretation of a 19th-century pocket watch crafted by François Czapek. The 40.5mm wristwatch with a half-hunter cover presents a fresh twist on traditional guilloché and partially conceals the new open-worked caliber 10.01. In celebration of Czapek’s 10th (re)birthday, the brand will release 100 pieces of the Time Jumper in steel and 30 in yellow gold. Each features a patent-pending jump-hour complication, displaying 24 hours on two discs, complemented by trailing minutes on a peripheral ring. If you’re wondering why you feel slightly woozy, dizzy, or hypnotized when looking at the watch with its cover closed, that’s because the three-dimensional guilloché pattern creates an optical illusion of a black hole; the central magnifying glass represents the event horizon, revealing the open-worked complication.

When I heard that Czapek made a watch called the Time Jumper, I thought of a movie. The 2018 motion picture Time Jumpers was an anthology movie consisting of four unconnected short stories with time distortion as part of each plot. Now that I look at the watch, I see that my association is surprisingly accurate. The optical illusion messes with your brain, and the central glass distorts reality. The Time Jumper sucks you into the timekeeping essence of the watch through a portal. Now, was this kind of experience the goal of the Time Jumper? Czapek CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel has the answer: “Our goal with the Time Jumper was to rethink the expression of time and bring something new and fresh to the table.” Okay, making people feel that they’re lost in time and space was clearly not the goal, so let’s focus on the watch.

The Czapek Time Jumper watch and its new movement

Xavier de Roquemaurel also said this about the Time Jumper: “We have been keen to explore time indications without traditional hands, and a jumping hour is one way to do that. However, the jumping hour displays that have been done until now tend to be quite similar, and we wanted to express the complication in our own, different way.”

So, how different is the new Time Jumper? What makes the watch different is the new open-worked caliber 10. This is the foundation for a series of in-house movements that will ultimately feature a wide variety of complications, and for the Time Jumper, it carries the “10.01” designation. The base movement is constructed in such a way that every complication can be fully integrated. In addition to having a highly adaptive architecture, the caliber is small enough to fit into a 36mm case. Of course, Czapek also made sure it looks good.

The caliber 10.01 inside the Time Jumper

It all starts with a central skeletonized rotor made from recycled 950 platinum. It features open-worked, compass-shaped arms, allowing a clear view of what’s happening underneath. And what you’ll see there is a movement showing graceful curves, concentric circles, and open bridges. Anchored by the rotor’s compass-shaped arms, the architecture is distinctively Czapek. The five-spoke wheels, with their diamond-beveled edges, add another signature touch.

The caliber 10.01 inside the 130 Time Jumpers is the first expression of the brand’s new movement philosophy. It combines central jumping hours on a 24-hour register with trailing minutes on a rotating peripheral ring. The hours appear on two sapphire discs — one for single digits, one for tens. Inspired by the case’s flying-saucer-like form, the 24-hour display mimics the appearance of an astronaut’s instrument. Haute Horlogerie finishing defines the aesthetic, with rhodium-coated bridges contrasting against blackened plates to create depth and play with light. The more traditional negative engraving on the rotor complements laser-engraved, Super-LumiNova-infused hour and minute scales.

Designed, conceived, assembled, and 75% machined in-house, the caliber 10.01 represents another step in Czapek’s evolution. Although the brand remains faithful to the traditional principle of établissage, enhanced internal capabilities give the brand greater freedom to operate, innovate, and also to continue to collaborate with outside specialists.

Fly into the future

A future-proof movement calls for a futuristic case, which is why Czapek chose the form of a flying saucer. Also, it’s because the CEO was fascinated by everything sci-fi when he was a teenager. Interestingly, flying saucers and pebbles share many similarities in terms of appearance, and pebble-shaped pocket watches are not rare. In a way, then, the case is both futuristic and traditional, and that also applies to the half-hunter feature. Thomas Funder, Czapek’s Danish design partner for the project, employed curves and angles to distinctly and unexpectedly convey that tradition.

The design began with the jump-hour display, which dictated the form and style of the minutes. These required guichets, or apertures, which inspired the half-hunter concept and provided the perfect canvas for guilloché decoration. With the cover closed, focus falls on the hour indication beneath the bubble-shaped loupe at the center of the case — you can call it the “cockpit” of this flying saucer. When opened, it reveals the entire front of the movement.

A star-trekkin’ case with “guilloché, Jim, but not as we know it”

Don’t look for straight lines and flat planes, as they’re virtually absent. Case maker AB Concept produced a UFO-like case that is smooth and aerodynamic. Everything shows soft curves, from the oval release button to the shiny lug ends and the rounded, discreetly notched crown. Even the strap’s pin buckle eschews sharp edges.

The guilloché on the cover adds a final, almost paradoxical visual dimension. Metalem made the vortex-like Singularité pattern, which Czapek first showed us on the Antarctique Tourbillon. The new design, exclusive to Czapek, gives the illusion of curves spiraling toward a deep center. At first glance, the watch looks weirdly traditional because of its shape and decoration, but close inspection reveals that it isn’t at all. Rather, it’s smoothly disruptive. It’s also a surprising move by Czapek, indicating that the brand will have energy and creativity for many more years to come.

Numbers and prices

Czapek will produce just 180 examples of the caliber 10.01, marking the 180th anniversary of the brand’s original founding in Geneva in 1845. As mentioned, the Time Jumper debuts as a limited edition of 100 pieces in stainless steel (CHF 42,000 ex. taxes) and 30 pieces in yellow gold (CHF 64,000 ex. taxes). The remaining movements will be reserved for special projects, including 10 bespoke pieces available exclusively through the Czapek boutique.

What do you think of the Czapek Time Jumper? As always, please feel free to share your opinions on the watch in the comments below.