300Watches 300 Watches
Francois Czapek, one of the most significant names in the world of Haute Horlogerie, has reemerged from the depths of history. Czapek & Cie. returns to the stage with the Quai des Bergues collection that pays tribute to the artistic genius of the legendary watchmaker. However, we won’t be too surprised if your attempt to recall this historical luxury watch brand causes some difficulties. In any case, you have definitely heard about it and its famous founder! Francois Czapek was a Polish watchmaker who worked with his fellow countryman Antoine Norbert de Patek. Well, the second name is always in the limelight, as few people have never heard of the famous Patek Philippe high-end luxury watches for men and women. In the 19th century, these talented watchmakers lived in Switzerland and, what is more, Czapek’s name was synonymous with high society. His pocket designer watches were reputed to be prestigious and extremely rare partly because the watchmaker created his unique timepieces for the nobility, including French Emperor Napoleon III who appointed Czapek to the post of Court Watchmaker.
For today, exceptional high-end watches created by Francois Czapek are in high demand among collectors and connoisseurs of Haute Horlogerie due to their quality and design. The fact is that this talented man not only understood the sophisticated science of chronometry but also knew how to provide his pocket designer watches with the unique style. Let’s just remember Czapek’s historical models with slim hands and elongated Roman numeral hour markers complemented with two sub-dials unusually located at the 4:30 and 7:30 o’clock positions. Nonetheless, this luxury watch brand has been nearly forgotten if not to take into account rare collectors of old vintage designer watches. In this way, we are very pleased to announce the launch of the first collection released under the renewed Czapek & Cie. luxury watch brand. This exclusive series entitled Quai des Bergues is a tribute to the spot where Francois Czapek had his workshop in the mid-19th century.
The new collection includes six peerless models imbued with the unique style of Francois Czapek vintage timepieces. Each of them is equipped with the new Czapek SXH1 caliber developed by Chronode, Jean-Francois Mojon’s company based in Le Locle. This exquisitely decorated mechanism with 29 jewels remains faithful to the aesthetics of original high-end watches from 1850. Operating at the frequency of 21,600 vph/3 Hz, this hand-winding mechanical movement ensures impressive 168 hours of power reserve. Moreover, Czapek new models of watches are available in a variety of cases made of classic 4N rose gold, 1N white gold, and Grade 5 Titanium, as well as exclusively used by Czapek anti-corrosion “XO” steel. In addition, these new luxury watches for men are distinguished by two typical for this brand sub-dials: calendar days and power reserve indicator located at the 4:30 o’clock position and the small seconds hand visible at the 7:30 o’clock position. All new release watches come with alligator leather straps of different colors.