Czapek Returns to Quai des Bergues With Two New Editions

Inside the Release

• Housed in a new 40.5mm stainless steel case with an aventurine glass dial, the Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” 2026 edition limits production to 18 pieces and carries the Calibre SXH1 with a seven-day power reserve — Czapek’s proprietary hand-wound movement, now presented in a third size for the collection.
• The Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue pairs a light blue PVD-treated main plate with Pt 950 platinum case and is limited to 10 pieces, powered by Calibre 8’s double escapement with differential architecture.
• Both pieces mark the inauguration of Czapek‘s new Geneva flagship at Quai des Bergues 27, the address where François Czapek founded his first company in 1839.
• The boutique opened to the public in July 2026, with an inaugural evening on 1 September, timed to Geneva Watch Days.

Quai des Bergues 27 sits metres from where François Czapek and his partners first set up an atelier in 1839, and that proximity is not incidental. Czapek & Cie, revived in 2015, chose this address to anchor its Geneva retail presence at the precise point where the brand’s historical identity is most legible. Opening here, on the eve of Geneva Watch Days, frames the occasion as both institutional and personal.

The Dial Construction

Aventurine at 40.5mm presents a different set of demands than at the collection’s larger diameters.

Rather than carving recesses into the aventurine for the small seconds and power reserve sub-dials, Czapek cuts the main dial through entirely. The sub-dials sit on the underlying base metal plate at just 0.4mm thickness, visible through the apertures. This approach preserves the structural integrity of the aventurine while maintaining the visual depth that defines the piece. The sapphire caseback gives an unobstructed view of the Calibre SXH1, with its seven-day power reserve coiling behind the mineral glitter of the dial.

The 2026 edition keeps the edition count at 18 pieces, a figure that references the number of Czapek’s first modern Geneva boutique on Rue de la Corraterie. The case retains the curved silhouette, lug geometry, and case-side recesses of the original 42.5mm reference, with the lug slope adjusted to suit a broader range of wrist sizes. Immediate delivery is available through the flagship and selected authorised retailers worldwide.

Calibre 8 and the Complicité

The Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue carries a mechanism whose dial-side architecture rewards sustained attention.

Two independent balance wheels beat in opposite directions, each governed by its own escapement. A differential at 12 o’clock reconciles any rate variation between them — a self-regulating system fully visible on the dial face. The light blue PVD-treated, grainé main plate and faceted mirror-polished rhodium-plated indexes frame the mechanics without obscuring them. Calibre 8 comprises 293 parts, delivers a 72-hour power reserve displayed between the two balances, and drives central seconds. Each variable-inertia balance carries four adjustment screws and four weights, its Breguet terminal curve tuned alongside its counterpart so the two oscillators maintain constant positional dialogue.

On the movement’s reverse, 18 inward angles are hand-chamfered and the bridges hand-bevelled, the level of finishing made possible by the établissage approach that master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer, a founding member of the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants, contributed to this model. “The Place Vendome Complicité Glacier Blue is, above all, the continuation of a friendship,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel. “The same complicité between two independent watch creators that gave this collection its name.” The Glacier Blue is limited to 10 pieces in Pt 950 platinum.

A Space Designed Around Conversation

The boutique at Quai des Bergues 27 introduces Czapek’s new retail concept in a fully dedicated space for the first time.

Developed with Live Teams, the layout replaces the traditional counter with shared tables and open display stands. Raw stone walls reference the historic Geneva streetscape; American walnut and midnight blue Alcantara carry the interior palette. Presiding over the gallery are Rondo works by Polish-born artist Oskar Zięta: mirror-polished steel sculptures whose inflated forms are shaped by what Zięta calls “controlled loss of control.” A dedicated living room accommodates collector conversations and private viewings of the full Czapek range, including vintage references. The Quai des Bergues Sursum Corda and the Antarctique Révélation Titanium Cosmic Blue are among the references accessible from the moment one steps inside.

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