Watchmaking genius Francois Czapek first partner at Patek Philippe
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Francois Czapek - Swiss watchmaker of Czech-Polish descent.
Franciszek Czapek (Czech: František Čapek, French: François Czapek) was a watchmaker, and partner of Antoni Norbert Patek de Prawdzic in Patek, Czapek & Co. .
Czapek was a naturalized Pole of Czech descent. He was born on April 4, 1811 , in Semonice (now part of Jaroměř), Bohemia. He was the son of Jan Czapek and Catherine Walaschek.
Franciszek participated in the Polish November Uprising as a soldier in the National Guard in Warsaw. On July 1, 1832 , he arrived in Geneva, where he changed his name to François Czapek.
Shortly thereafter, he founded the company Czapek & Moreau, together with a certain Moreau from Versoix. On October 22, 1836, he married Marie Gevril de Carouge, the daughter of the watchmaker Jonas Pierre François Gevril de Carouge (1777-1854 ), in Versoix. On May 1, 1839 , he founded the watchmaking company Patek, Czapek & Co. in Geneva with the businessman and nobleman Antoine Norbert, Count de Patek , and a third business partner, presumably Mr. Moreau.
Paragraph 5 of the agreement stated that Czapek received 100 francs a month, and the profits were to be divided equally among the three partners. During the company's first fourteen months, it appears that Patek and Czapek worked alone, perhaps assisted by one or two workers.
They purchased blank movements, called "blancs," and watch cases from specialized manufacturers. Czapek was the finisher, meaning he was responsible for finishing, fitting, casing, and final inspection. As of July 1840, the company employed half a dozen workers. Several were Poles: Lilpop of Warsaw, Henryk Majewski of Lwów, Siedlecki , and Friedlein of Kraków.
About 200 Watches were produced in 2008. However, due to differences between the two, the collaboration was discontinued; the partnership lasted only 6 years.
Czapek & Cie
Franciszek Czapek founded his own company in 1845 under the name Czapek & Cie with business partner Juliusz Gruzewski (1808-1865) , a hero of the 1830 Uprising (after remaining active in politics, in 1863 he became the official representative in Switzerland of the Polish National Government, responsible for the purchase and transportation of weapons to Poland).
Both men were Protestants, which was rare in the largely Catholic community of Polish émigrés in Switzerland. Many of Czapek's Polish customers remained loyal to his business, as they did not believe that with the arrival of Frenchman Jean-Adrien Philippe , Patek & Co. would become a truly Polish national manufacture, as Antoine Norbert de Patek had intended.
Many of Czapek's clocks were produced for the Polish market and frequently featured cases decorated with portraits or scenes of a commemorative, historical, or religious nature. Around 1854, Czapek established a business in Warsaw, and in 1860 , he established a subsidiary on the Place Vendôme in Paris. Juliusz Gruzewski's friendly relations with Napoleon III (1808-1873), the French Emperor from 1852 to 1870 , presumably led to the Czapek company becoming a supplier to the imperial court. For unknown reasons, the company was liquidated around 1869 .
In 1895 , the "Great Illustrated Polish Encyclopedia" declared that Franciszek Czapek died in poverty at an unknown date. Franciszek Czapek was the author of the first book on watchmaking ever published in Polish, (Słów kilka o Zegarmistrzowstwie ku użytku zegarmistrzów i publiczności), printed in Leipzig in 1850.
Portrait of the re-established watch brand Czapek
In the best tradition
A great history, sophisticated watches, and ambitious goals: The re-established watch brand Czapek aims to build on its early successes – inspired by the pocket watches of its former founder.
Connoisseurs know of an early connection with Patek Philippe: The Czech-Polish watchmaker Franciszek – later François – Czapek opened a watchmaking company after fleeing his Bohemian homeland to Switzerland and partnered with fellow countryman Antoine Norbert de Patek in 1839. The two men founded the company Patek, Czapek & Cie. in Geneva and created several extraordinary pocket watches within six years.
Steep career
But then their paths diverged. Patek entered into a partnership with his colleague Jean Adrien Philippe and renamed the company Patek, Philippe & Cie. in 1851.
François Czapek founded the company Czapek & Cie. and had a meteoric rise. He became a supplier to the French royal court, maintaining offices in Geneva, Warsaw, and the Place Vendôme in Paris. But the story ended abruptly: In 1869, Czapek disappeared without a trace, and the company was struck from the registers. The watchmaker's whereabouts remain unknown to this day, and his name was forgotten.
Heritage revived
A few years ago, several men set out to revive his legacy: the art dealer Harry Guhl, the watch expert Xavier de Roquemaurel, the watchmaker Sébastien Follonier and Patrick Czapek, a descendant of the Polish family.
The initiative came from Harry Guhl, who registered the Czapek brand in 2008. After successful crowdfunding, he launched the Czapek & Cie. brand together with his partners in 2015 and presented the first models inspired by Czapek's historic pocket watches.
This met with positive feedback: In 2016, the premiere model, Quai des Bergues, received the Audience Award at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). This model is inspired by a pocket watch from 1850 that perfectly embodied the style and values of its forefather in terms of clean aesthetics and elegant typography.
This modern interpretation boasts all sorts of classic attributes: a 42.5-millimeter rose gold case houses a white enamel dial, beneath which the hand-wound SXH1 caliber, developed by Czapek in collaboration with designer Jean-François Mojon, who, through his company Chronode in Le Locle, can also produce complete series of movements and modules. Thanks to two mainspring barrels, combined with a frequency of 21,600 vibrations per hour, the hand-wound movement has a power reserve of 169 hours, or an impressive seven days.
The horizontal manufactory
Open communication about collaboration with suppliers is the brand's policy: "We call this concept 'horizontal manufacture' or 'établissage,' and thus follow the original principle of Swiss watchmaking," explains CEO de Roquemaurel. Currently, ten employees work for the watch brand, two of whom are watchmakers, who assemble the supplied components and finish the watches in the company's workshops in Le Locle.
The collection is constantly evolving: In 2017, Czapek launched the second line, Place Vendôme, a hand-wound tourbillon watch with a second time zone display. This movement, the SXH2 caliber, also comes from Chronode.
The "Faubourg de Cracovie" chronograph followed in 2018. Its editorial team described it as a classically designed model with a cleanly proportioned 41.5 mm diameter. Its SXH3 automatic movement with integrated chronograph function is made by Vaucher and is equipped with column-wheel control and a vertical clutch.
The next step
The next innovation will arrive in summer 2020: Czapek will present its own automatic movement with a micro-rotor, the SXH5 caliber. In addition to modern design details, the company emphasizes its connection to the classic art of watchmaking of the 19th century.
All of this is entirely in keeping with François Czapek's philosophy, the current company owners agree. They want to remain true to his legacy, as Xavier de Roquemaurel reveals: "Our vision is to remain faithful to the founder's style and his quest for timeless beauty. For this reason, we always reserve a free seat for François Czapek in our creative meetings, as if he were still with us."