Franciszek Czapek
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Czapek & Cie. is a manufacturer of fine Swiss watches founded in 1845 in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
.Tellier, Arnaud, & Didier Chaponnière, Mélanie, ''Timepieces for Royalty'', 1850–1910, by ''Patek Philippe'', Geneva, Patek Philippe Museum, 2005 (192 pp.) It is most noted for its bespoke timepieces manufactured for the European nobility in the 19th century.


Company Founder

Franciszek Czapek Czapek & Cie. is a manufacturer of fine Swiss watches founded in 1845 in Geneva.Tellier, Arnaud, & Didier Chaponnière, Mélanie, ''Timepieces for Royalty'', 1850–1910, by ''Patek Philippe'', Geneva, Patek Philippe Museum, 2005 (192 pp.) It is ...
was a Czech-born, Polish master watchmaker who arrived in Geneva, Switzerland in May 1832. Soon after, he gallicised his name, thus becoming ''François'' Czapek. In 1834 he created the firm Czapek & Moreau with local Swiss watchmaker Moreau, from Versoix. François Czapek married (October 22, 1836) Marie, the daughter of clock and watchmaker Jonas Pierre François Gevril de Carouge (1777–1854). Czapek was the author of the first book on watchmaking ever published in the Polish language "''Remarks on the watchmaking for the use of the watchmakers and the public"'' (''Słów kilka o Zegarmistrzowstwie ku użytku zegarmistrzów i publiczności''). The work was printed in 1850 in
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
.


Patek, Czapek & Cie. (1839-1845)

On May 1, 1839,
Antoni Patek Antoni Norbert Patek (french: link=no, Antoine Norbert de Patek; 14 June 1812 – 1 March 1877) was a Polish pioneer in watchmaking and the creator of the Patek Philippe & Co., one of Swiss watchmaker companies, and Polish independence fighter and ...
and François Czapek established a six-year partnership in Geneva under the name of Patek, Czapek & Cie. This partnership produced some exceptional watches which are part of important horological collection (King Farouk Collection, Patek Philippe Museum) or auctions (Antiquorum, Christies, Bonhams, Sotheby's). Czapek was head of watchmaking (“Finisseur”) while Patek led the sales and the Company. As of July 1840, the firm came gradually to employ a half-dozen workmen. Several were Poles: Lilpop from Warsaw; Henryk Majewski from Lwów (Ukrainian
Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
); Siedlecki and Friedlein from Kraków. Approximately 200 watches were produced yearly. After the dissolution, Patek established
Patek Philippe & Co Patek may refer to: * Patek (surname) * Pátek, a village and municipality in the Czech Republic * Patek, Iran, a village in Iran See also * * Patek Philippe Patek Philippe SA is a Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer, located in the ...
. with the new partner
Adrien Philippe Jean Adrien Philippe (April 16, 1815, La Bazoche-Gouet, Eure-et-Loir – January 5, 1894) was a French horologist and cofounder of watchmaker Patek Philippe & Co. of Geneva, Switzerland. In 1842, Adrien Philippe invented a mechanism for watches ...
. Czapek founded Czapek & Cie. also with a new partner, Juliusz Gruzewski.


Czapek & Cie. (1845)

In 1845 Francois Czapek founded Czapek & Cie. with a new partner, Juliusz Gruzewski (1808–1865), a close friend of French Emperor
Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
(1808–1873). Czapek's new company flourished. He became watchmaker to the Court of the Emperor Napoleon III ('Fournisseur de la cour - Purveyors to the Imperial Court") and had an Atelier in Geneva, a shop in Paris, Place Vendome 28 (established 1850), and another in Warsaw (established 1854). In 1855, Czapek & Cie. started supplying its watches to Emperor Napoleon III. Juliusz Gruzewski, Czapek's partner, was a personal friend of the Emperor a fact which no doubt allowed him to become watchmaker to the Imperial Court, supplying many of the watches that were given by him as diplomatic gifts. Czapek's clientele has included Khedive Ismail Pasha of Egypt and the
House of Golitsyn The House of Golitsyn or Galitzine was one of the largest princely of the noble houses in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire. Among them were boyars, warlords, diplomats, generals (the Mikhailovichs), stewards, chamberlains, the richest ...
. For unknown reasons, the company supposedly changed hands around 1869, possibly due to the illness or death of Czapek. Czapek's date of death is unknown. However a stem-winding pocket calendar watch (illustrated) contains a French inscription on the case inside translating as "Former Establishment Czapek and Company / No. 10630 / A. Chaillet Successor / 84 Rue du 4 Septembre / Paris". In another area it is inscribed "1876 / Rudzicki". This indicates that the business continued for some period after Czapek's departure.


Historic Watch Gallery

Image:czapek01.jpg, An open-face pocket watch Czapek & Cie., 18 karat gold Image:czapek02.jpg, Back cover open, movement cover with engraved name of the watchmaker, serial No.10630, and (probably) the name of the store for which it was made. Image:czapek04.jpg, Watch movement Image:czapek06.jpg, Back cover with insignia


Czapek & Cie.’s Renaissance (2011 - )

In 2011, Xavier de Roquemaurel, a luxury marketing consultant and watch lover, Harry Guhl an art expert, and Sébastien Follonier, a watchmaker, came together to revive Czapek. The company was reestablished on October 21, 2011, by creating a first model, a design study Czapek Chronograph. The Company was relaunched and its development funded by an unprecedented equity campaign in November 2015, raising over 2 million CHF and bringing together more than 100 watch lovers and entrepreneurs from around the world. In an effort to remain as faithful as possible to Czapek's spirit and style, they created the first model of the collection based on the design of Czapek pocket watch No 3430 dating back to the 1850s. They adapted the dial design to modern standards and sizes and created a proprietary caliber, SXH1, in collaboration with Swiss movement maker Jean-François Mojon of Chronode, inspired by the original movement of the pocket watch. The architecture of the movement with its double open ratchets and double spring barrels is a modern interpretation of the original movement of the 1850s pocket watch, delivering the same 7-day power reserve. As a further homage to the history of Czapek & Cie, they named this first collection, ‘Quai des Bergues’, which was the address on the Rhone banks of his first Atelier in Geneva.


References

* Tellier, Arnaud, & Didier Chaponnière, Mélanie, ''Timepieces for Royalty'', 1850–1910, by ''Patek Philippe'', Geneva, Patek Philippe Museum, 2005 (192 pp.), pp. 14–15. * Kathleen H. Pritchard, "Swiss Timepiece Makers 1775-1975", published by National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc., 1997 (C-107 - C108 pp.) * Les Archives d'Etat de Genève (AEG), Czapek & Cie initial registration. 23 March 1847. AEG, Jur. civ, ccm 6, 91 pp. * Zefix, SOGC, Heading Swiss Commercial Register * Antiquorum, Czapek Lot descriptions * Martin Huber & Alan Banbery, Montres de Poche Patek Philippe (second edition), 2005, 292 pp., pp 11–13 and 66. * Philip Poniz, “Patek Philippe: The Forgotten Beginnings”, VOX Magazine, 2003, http://catalog.antiquorum.com/catalog.html?action=load&lotid=342&auctionid=40"


External links


Czapek & Cie, Official WebsitePatek MuseumHistory of Patek Czapek & Cie


{{DEFAULTSORT:Czapek and Cie Swiss watch brands Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Manufacturing companies established in 1845 Swiss companies established in 1845