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The conversation
“Can you propose me something simple and elegant, like a Patek Calatrava, but with some nice personalisation?”
The story
———— For this client the look, execution and brand story matters. Knowing the client’s collection, and his preference for stepping just beyond the mainstream, Czapek Quai des Bergues was the perfect answer.
The Czapek history and undeniable link to Patek Phillipe is amazing and credible. It was the execution, elegant case shape, and understated personalisation options that made it suitable. The bespoke ‘secret sentence’ enabled two family names to be subtly placed on the dial, which only shows when the light hits a certain angle; a feature to be shared only when he chooses. To complement the blue hands, we proposed a blue-printed dial and caseback with the client’s name engraved. The result is a classic conversation piece that pays homage to family.
About Czapeck watches
———— Everybody loves a tale of mystery and of resurgence. Czapek & Cie has both. In 1832 François Czapek, a 21-year-old watchmaker, fled to Switzerland from Poland after a failed revolution. By 1839 his horological reputation was established and he and fellow Polish exile, Antoine Norbert de Patek, founded Patek, Czapek & Cie. After six years the two parted ways and Antoine founded Patek Philippe with another watchmaker while François astonished the watchmaking world by creating timepieces that seduced the wealthiest royals, aristocrats and merchants of Europe and became the official watchmaker to the court of Napoleon. Then in 1869 the company ceased to operate and François disappeared.
All that remained of François Czapek was his legacy – beautiful, highly accurate watches that languished, locked away in museums and collectors’ cabinets. Then in 2012, three entrepreneurs began to quietly study Czapek’s work and three years later they unveiled the first Czapek watch since the 1860s. The next year Czapek’s No. 33bis Quai des Bergues collected the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie – the watchmaker’s equivalent of an Oscar. The mystery still remains but the revival has been an unprecedented success.
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Brand:
Czapeck
Model:
Quai des bergues
Dial:
White enamel "Grand feu" dial
Bespoke blue printing
Movement:
- Power-reserve > 168 hours
(7 days) on 2 barrel-springs
- Frequency: 3 Hz – 21,600 VpH
- Diameter: 32 mm – 14 lines ¼
- Height: 4.75 mm
- Finish: double open ratchets,
sandblasted bridges, blue screws,
bevelling, final anglage main
Functions:
Hours and minutes
Small second at 7h30
Power reserve at 4h30
Case:
ø 42.5mm
Water-resistance: 30 meters (3 atm)
Hands:
“Fleur de Lys” hands in blued
Crystal:
Curved Sapphire front and back
Anti-reflective treatment
Strap:
Blue bespoke length alligator strap
5N Rose Gold buckle
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In the making
Option A:
A font with expressive serifs in our ideal position.
Option B:
This alternative font was proposed.
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