The Czapek Promenade L’Écume des Jours is a limited-edition mechanical watch inspired by Boris Vian’s 1947 novel. Czapek lists 18 pieces. Its 38 mm stainless-steel case houses the automatic Calibre SXH5.1, and its layered dial combines enamel, mother-of-pearl and hand-painted jade with a water-lily seconds hand.
What the name and design refer to
L’Écume des Jours is the novel by Boris Vian that Czapek identifies as the watch’s inspiration. The model translates references from the story into dial details rather than reproducing a scene literally. Czapek’s official Promenade Ecume des Jours page describes the literary connection and construction.
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What is on the dial?
A layered combination of materials
The dial is built from a Goutte d’Eau enamel base, a mother-of-pearl ring and a jade disc. Czapek credits Donzé Cadrans with making the enamel base and MD’Art with preparing recesses for the mother-of-pearl and jade components.
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A ring of piano keys refers to the novel’s pianocktail. At 4:30, a water lily serves as the small-seconds hand, recalling Chloé’s fate in the story. The titanium hand is laser-cut, finished with miniature painting and assembled individually, according to Czapek.
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How the Promenade layout works
The Promenade collection uses an asymmetrical composition organized around the small-seconds display at 4:30. Czapek says that placement creates a sense of visual movement. A related model, Promenade Goutte d’Eau, uses grand-feu enamel ripples that appear to radiate from the seconds subdial as the watch moves. That model illustrates the collection’s approach, but its dial treatment is distinct from the literary, multi-material composition of L’Écume des Jours.
Which movement does it use?
Czapek names the automatic movement as Calibre SXH5.1. Its key published specifications for this model are a single barrel, a micro-rotor made from recycled 950 platinum and a 60-hour power reserve. It beats at 4 Hz, equivalent to 28,800 vibrations per hour. Seven skeletonised bridges draw inspiration from nineteenth-century Czapek pocket watches, and the small-seconds mechanism sits directly beneath and on the same axis as its dial display.
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Movement dimensions and construction context
Czapek’s Promenade Goutte d’Eau technical specifications PDF lists family-level SXH5.1 dimensions of 30 mm across and 4.2 mm high, with 127 components and 26 jewels. Because that document covers the Goutte d’Eau variant, those figures should be treated as family specifications, not independently confirmed L’Écume des Jours-specific measurements. It also describes a Swiss lever escapement and a variable-inertia balance with four gold inertia blocks.
For L’Écume des Jours, Czapek describes sandblasted black bridges, bevelled angles and straight-grained sides. Its Goutte d’Eau page separately notes hand-chamfered inward angles as part of the family’s movement finishing.
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Case, water resistance and warranty
The case is stainless steel and measures 38 mm. Czapek rates it to 50 m (5 ATM), but says the watch is not suitable for swimming and cautions against wearing it in baths or showers. The brand states that watches bought directly from Czapek or through official retail partners receive a three-year international product warranty.
Czapek lists nubuck and Milanese steel bracelet or strap options for the Promenade collection. The exact configuration for this limited edition should be confirmed with Czapek or an authorized retailer.
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How it fits within the Promenade collection
L’Écume des Jours is best understood as a literary interpretation of the collection’s off-center small-seconds layout: its identity comes from the novel references and the enamel, mother-of-pearl and jade construction. Other Promenade variants use different visual approaches. For example, Czapek’s Promenade “Guilloché Soleil” – Bleu Nuit page describes the collection as a canvas for colour, techniques and materials, in a statement attributed to CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel. The other models’ specifications and edition sizes should not be assumed to apply to L’Écume des Jours.
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