CZAPEK – COLLECTING RARE PEOPLE
“We Collect Rare People” – A tagline that echoed across the watchmaking world, heralding a new era of brilliance as they crystalized the brand’s message and uniqueness
with this new communication campaign. This powerful tagline combined various important elements of the Geneva-based maison and specifically highlighted the brand’s
unusual ability to mix exclusivity with sharing, and rarity with community.
“Since the rebirth of the brand, Czapek, has been proud of its ‘family’. We never planned to create a community, it just
emerged from our way of working. By opening the books during our fundraise, we became naturally transparent, by
being transparent we became collaborative, by being open and collaborative we attracted hundreds of watch-lovers
and made them become Ambassadors and create a Community. By collecting rare people, Czapek becomes stronger
and more enticing.” – Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie.
HISTORIC ROOTS
One of Czapek’s most renowned and loyal customers, ie, 23, Place Vendôme
Emperor Napoleon III.
Maison Czapek & Cie, 23, Place Vendôme
François Czapek was a Czech-born Polish watchmaker who fled to Geneva in 1832 after fighting in the Polish uprising. He immediately started his own atelier and in 1839 entered into a partnership with Antoine
Norbert de Patek, introducing him to the world of watchmaking. In 1845, at the end of their partnership, he created Czapek & Cie and achieved considerable success. He became the official watchmaker of Napoleon
III and opened, what was most likely the first watchmaking boutique on the Place Vendôme in Paris. He wrote a book about watchmaking, but unfortunately, he died before publishing a second one.
REVIVAL AND SUCCESS
November 10, 2015, Czapek & Cie was officially launched in Geneva in the presence of journalists, friends and watch lovers. Fellow enthusiasts were given the opportunity to take part in Czapek’s renaissance by
investing in the company by way of an equity crowdfunding campaign. It became the first haute horlogerie company revived by watch aficionados worldwide.
2016 marked as a landmark first birthday for the newly relaunched Czapek & Cie when their
persistence and passion was rewarded at the GPHG 2016 awards. The yearling company won
the coveted 2016 Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève Public Prize for their innovative Quai des
Bergues No.33bis model. This collection was inspired from an 1850’s Czapek timepiece. It
featured a beautiful enamel dial and a 7-day proprietary movement perfectly combining craftsmanship with design and exclusivity with rarity.
The following years, the company introduced two new collections: the Place Vendôme, featuring a one-minute suspended tourbillon, a GMT function and a day/night indicator; and the Faubourg de Cracovie, a state-of-the-art integrated chronograph with vertical clutch and a 5-Hertz frequency.
The following years, the company introduced two new collections: the Place Vendôme, featuring a one-minute suspended tourbillon, a GMT function and a day/night indicator; and the Faubourg de Cracovie, a state-of-the-art integrated chronograph with vertical clutch and a 5-Hertz frequency.
As success continued to unfold and demand reached a crescendo, there was no retreat and hence in 2019, the first boutique of the resurrected Czapek & Cie was inaugurated in Geneva in the emblematic rue de la
Corraterie, a few steps away from the Quai des Bergues, where François Czapek had his atelier in the 19th Century. The store opening marked an important milestone in the history of the brand.
The brand continued the momentum for success and in 2020 Czapek & Cie unveiled the SXH5
caliber, the first movement to be entirely conceived and developed in-house by the Maison.
This first limited editions of the Antarctique collection powered by the SXH5, sold out within a
few weeks.
WHAT IT MEANS TO OWN A CZAPEK?
“We Collect Rare People” is a play on words, a sort of oxymoron, making people ask themselves about who is collecting, what, why and whether they would like to join the Czapek ‘club’.
“Unlike other brands, it’s not Czapek that defines what sort of person you should be and what watch you should buy. Instead, the ‘bespoke’ or customizable potential of Czapek, combined with its inherent rarity and savoir-faire value is the number one pull-factor. In fact, the only thing you can safely determine about the identity of a Czapek owner is their great taste in watches!”, says Edward Taylor, partner at Taylor/Yandell.
Every client who enters a Czapek boutique to acquire a watch has his unique story, but the focus is on his ability to have access to rare savoir-faire unique to Czapek. From the moment he enters to the moment he leaves the boutique, he is transported from ‘real life’ directly into a Czapek partner’s atelier, where the craftsman is making a component that will become part of his final watch. The client exits the Czapek boutique with the finished watch on his wrist, having acquired his rare object and become part of a family of rare people.
“Unlike other brands, it’s not Czapek that defines what sort of person you should be and what watch you should buy. Instead, the ‘bespoke’ or customizable potential of Czapek, combined with its inherent rarity and savoir-faire value is the number one pull-factor. In fact, the only thing you can safely determine about the identity of a Czapek owner is their great taste in watches!”, says Edward Taylor, partner at Taylor/Yandell.
Every client who enters a Czapek boutique to acquire a watch has his unique story, but the focus is on his ability to have access to rare savoir-faire unique to Czapek. From the moment he enters to the moment he leaves the boutique, he is transported from ‘real life’ directly into a Czapek partner’s atelier, where the craftsman is making a component that will become part of his final watch. The client exits the Czapek boutique with the finished watch on his wrist, having acquired his rare object and become part of a family of rare people.
“We highlight rare savoir-faire, detail and precision, as well as the human ‘transmission’ between craftsman and client – the personal touch – where the
finished watch is passed over by hand to the client”, explains Alex Yandell.
“When you choose a Czapek, you are not just buying a watch. You gain access to rare experiences, customizable components and unique skills, and you become part of a family of rare people in your own way. Everyone has their own journey of how they got there, you’re never defining who the person is, just that they are confidently different to everyone else”, concludes Xavier de Roquemaurel.
“When you choose a Czapek, you are not just buying a watch. You gain access to rare experiences, customizable components and unique skills, and you become part of a family of rare people in your own way. Everyone has their own journey of how they got there, you’re never defining who the person is, just that they are confidently different to everyone else”, concludes Xavier de Roquemaurel.
