Some addresses are more than addresses. In 1839, François Czapek — a Czech-born Polish watchmaker who fled to Geneva after the failed Warsaw uprising — set up his first company at Quai des Bergues 29, where for six years his quayside atelier produced some of the finest haute horlogerie of the era. Nearly two centuries later, the Maison revived in 2015 has come home: timed to Geneva Watch Days, Czapek & Cie has inaugurated its new flagship boutique at Quai des Bergues 27.
“After naming our first collection ‘Quai des Bergues’, opening a flagship on the Quai des Bergues was an obvious dream,” says CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel. “This is where it all started — not just for Czapek, but for modern watchmaking in Geneva.” The space itself breaks with retail convention: raw stone walls, American walnut, midnight blue Alcantara and no counters — a “horological art gallery” arranged around shared tables, presided over by the mirror-polished Rondo sculptures of Polish artist Oskar Zięta.
Two pieces are born of the occasion. The Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” revisits the aventurine-dialled edition that marked Czapek’s first modern boutique in 2019, now in the new 40.5 mm steel case. The dark blue aventurine glass dial is cut through entirely for its recessed sub-dials — a 0.4 mm construction demanding exceptional precision — over the Maison’s hand-wound SXH1 calibre with seven-day power reserve. Like its predecessor, it is limited to 18 pieces, a nod to Rue de la Corraterie 18.
The Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue, in Pt 950 platinum and limited to 10 pieces, continues the friendship between de Roquemaurel and master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer: two independent balance wheels beating in opposite directions, reconciled by a differential at 12 o’clock, on a light blue grainé main plate — the self-regulating spectacle of Calibre 8’s 293 parts, fully visible on the dial side, with a 72-hour reserve. A homecoming, and a statement.
