Scrabble the Seconds: Czapek & Cie. Celebrates Its Birth and Revival
Our Scrabble-inspired Watches and Wonders countdown continues by looking at the brand’s forward-thinking goals.
By Rhonda Riche
Editor-At-Large
As we discussed in a recent article, 2025 is a big year for Czapek & Cie. Not only has it been 180 years since the firm was founded, but it has also been 10 years since the haute horology house was revived.
The anniversary party got started early with such outstanding 2024 releases as the TimeForArt Antarctique Artists & Artisans Pièce N°1 – a trompe l’oeil watch that featured the art of master engraver Michèle Rothen – and the Antarctique Purple Storm with its swirling hand lacquered dial.
We can’t wait to see what the Maison has in store for us at Watches and Wonders 2025, but instead of speculating, let’s look back at Czapek’s greatest hits.
The Comeback
Founded in 1845 in Geneva by the Bohemian-born watchmaker François Czapek, the brand once stood alongside the greatest names in watchmaking history, creating timepieces for the Imperial Court of France and acting as the official watchmaker of His Imperial Highness, Prince Napoleon.
At its height, the company had boutiques in Geneva, Warsaw, Paris, and Place Vendôme. However, in 1871, Czapek mysteriously disappeared from the historical record.
Then, over 140 years later, in 2013, Xavier de Roquemaurel, Sébastien Follonier, and Harry Guhl decided to bring the brand back to life and steeped themselves in Czapek’s archives. “It was the three of us, sitting around a table, imagining the future,” de Roquemaurel told my colleague Ash Longet during a recent interview. “But there was always a fourth chair - reserved for François Czapek. We asked ourselves: If he were alive today, what would he create?”
Finally, in 2015, the revived Czapek & Cie debuted the 33 bis Quai des Bergues with a crowd-funded campaign, a first for a revived haute horology brand. This timepiece would go on to win the Public Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2016.
Dial-Up
In the decade that followed, Czapek has remained committed to the ideals of its mysterious founder, especially when it comes to taking a unique approach to traditional watchmaking.
For example, just as the indie brand broke new ground by embracing crowdfunding, it was also at the vanguard of small-batch manufacturing. By putting quality over quantity, Czapek quickly became a collector favorite, with the first limited edition of its Antarctique collection selling out within a few weeks of its release in 2020.
Another big draw for Czapek fans is its dials. A prime example of the brand’s spectacular dials is the aforementioned Antarctique Artists & Artisans Pièce N°1 made for the TimeForArt auction that featured a face crafted from a rare gold alloy, Alloy 401, which Czapek has branded as the “Secret Alloy.”
The dial featured a detailed depiction of the SXH5 calibre (the first movements to be entirely conceived and developed in-house by the Maison), creating a “trompe l’oeil” skeletonized dial effect.
While this uncanny dial references the Maison’s past, it is also an example of Czapek’s investment in the future of watchmaking. When most luxury brands have been bragging about making everything in-house, Czapek touted this Antarctique as the first of a series of collaborations with artists and artisans like Metalem and Michèle Rothen.
More of this, please!