Czapek & Cie’s Faubourg de Cracovie has always been an unusual kind of sports chronograph, more interested in dial craft than obvious track-day aggression.
The new Crossroads Lightning shifts that balance with a sharper motorsport palette, taking its black, silver and red livery from the racing helmet of Swiss GT driver Jacopo Mazza.
It’s still a Czapek first, rather than a generic paddock watch, with hand-guilloché work, a column-wheel chronograph movement and a global run of 18 pieces.
At a glance
- Czapek & Cie has unveiled the Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Lightning, a limited-edition chronograph of 18 pieces globally.
- The watch uses a black Crossroads guilloché dial with red gradient tachymeter detailing inspired by Jacopo Mazza’s racing helmet.
- It is priced at CHF 32,000, EUR 34,600 or USD 44,800 before tax, with strap options in Alcantara or calfskin.
A sportier turn for Czapek’s chronograph
The Faubourg de Cracovie collection takes its name from the Warsaw address where François Czapek opened his third historical boutique in 1850.
Launched in 2018 as the brand’s third core collection, it introduced Czapek’s first chronograph and paired the complication with a high-frequency column-wheel movement made by Vaucher.
For much of its life, the line leaned into traditional dialmaking, including Grand Feu enamel and guilloché dials.
That changed in 2024 with the sportier Crossroads guilloché pattern and the arrival of an angled tachymeter scale on the California Dreamin’ variant, a feature that became standard for the Crossroads series.
The helmet livery becomes the dial
The Crossroads Lightning builds its character around contrast, setting a deep black dial against silver counters and red chronograph accents.
Czapek links the colour scheme directly to the helmet livery of Jacopo Mazza, a young Swiss GT championship driver.
The angled tachymeter scale is finished in a red gradient, lighter toward the upper portion and darker near the base.
A silver-coloured precision minutes and seconds track sits between that tachymeter and the main dial surface, giving the composition a cleaner, layered read.
The dial itself uses Alloy 401, described as a blend of gold, platinum and palladium, and is decorated by Swiss dial manufacturer Metalem with the Crossroads guilloché pattern.
Its wide-spaced straight lines are intended to recall tyre treads without turning the watch into a literal motorsport pastiche.
The silver sub-dials are placed horizontally, with a 12-hour chronograph counter at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock.
Both use circular-brushed frames and snailed interiors, while the running seconds are marked directly on the black dial to preserve more of the guilloché surface.
A colour-matched date aperture keeps the calendar from interrupting the palette.
Red lacquered hands appear across the three counters and echo the red tip of the central chronograph seconds hand.
Applied baton indices and the arrow tips of the hour and minute hands are treated with Super-LumiNova.
A streamlined steel case with integrated pushers
The case is made from high-grade stainless steel and measures 41.5 mm across, with a 49 mm lug-to-lug span.
Czapek hollows the caseband to accommodate the crown protectors that house the integrated chronograph pushers, giving the watch a smoother profile than a conventional pusher layout.
A glassbox sapphire crystal covers the dial, while a sapphire crystal caseback opens the view onto the movement.
Water resistance is rated to 50 metres.
Calibre SXH3 and the 1/10th-second brief
Inside is calibre SXH3, an automatic integrated chronograph movement built by Vaucher to Czapek’s specifications.
The movement is COSC chronometer-certified and uses a column wheel with a vertical clutch.
It runs at 5Hz, allowing the chronograph to measure intervals to 1/10th of a second.
Power reserve is 65 hours when fully wound.
Its finishing is deliberately modern, with anthracite sandblasted and diamond-polished bridges set against a pink gold openworked rotor.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Czapek & Cie |
|---|---|
| Model | Faubourg de Cracovie Crossroads Lightning |
| Case size | 41.5 mm diameter, 49 mm lug-to-lug |
| Case material | High-grade stainless steel |
| Crystal | Glassbox sapphire crystal and sapphire caseback |
| Dial | Deep black Alloy 401 dial with Crossroads guilloché by Metalem, silver counters and red accents |
| Movement | Calibre SXH3 automatic chronograph by Vaucher to Czapek specifications |
| Chronograph architecture | Integrated chronograph with column wheel and vertical clutch |
| Frequency | 5Hz |
| Certification | COSC chronometer-certified |
| Power reserve | 65 hours |
| Water resistance | 50 metres |
| Strap | Alcantara or calfskin strap with deployant clasp |
| Limited edition | 18 pieces globally |
| Price | CHF 32,000, EUR 34,600 or USD 44,800, excluding tax |
The Crossroads Lightning should appeal to collectors who like the mechanics of a serious chronograph but want the dial to carry more personality than a standard racing watch.
Its limited production, specialist dial work and Vaucher-built calibre make it a focused addition to Czapek’s chronograph line rather than a simple colour update.
