CZAPEKQUAI DES BERGUES N°25TER « COURAGE EVERY SECOND »« COURAGE EVERY SECOND » USES ONE OF THE NICEST CRAFTSMANSHIP TECHNIQUES: THE ENAMEL « GRAND FEU » SECRET WRITING TO SUPPORT THE ONLY WATCH CAUSE. THE WATCH PAYS TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO SEEK SURVIVAL IN CHALLENGING TIMES AND MOVE FORWARD EVEN THOUGH THE STRENGTH TO DO SO MAY HAVE VANISHED.

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CZAPEK
QUAI DES BERGUES N°25TER « COURAGE EVERY SECOND »
« COURAGE EVERY SECOND » USES ONE OF THE NICEST CRAFTSMANSHIP TECHNIQUES: THE ENAMEL « GRAND FEU » SECRET WRITING TO SUPPORT THE ONLY WATCH CAUSE. THE WATCH PAYS TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO SEEK SURVIVAL IN CHALLENGING TIMES AND MOVE FORWARD EVEN THOUGH THE STRENGTH TO DO SO MAY HAVE VANISHED.

Model name / Reference: Quai des Bergues N°25ter « Courage every second »
Case: XO Steel : a secret stainless steel alloy unique to Czapek, normally used in the North Sea’s extremely corrosive conditions
Dial: Immaculate white enamel « Grand Feu » dial of 36.7mm ø with two welded sub-dials. The large size of the dial reveals a very rare bombé shape created by capillarity, and a « secret sentence » created using a rare enamel making technique. It also boasts a secret signature by Francois Czapek in the small seconds sub-dial.
Calibre: The SXH1 is a 3 hertz Czapek proprietary, doublebarrel, 7-day, manually wound movement. It is an unusual re-interpretation of the original movement of Czapek model 3430 made in 1850. The movement’s bridges have been finely sandblasted to recall the original frosted finish of the nineteenth century movements. Angles are all finished by hand (bevelling) and ratchets are open as in the original version.
Bracelet: Alligator Mississippiensis « Emperor blue » strap with a stainless steel ardillon buckle
Dimensions: Ø 42.5 mm – Thickness 11.8 mm
Specificities: The uniqueness of this timepiece lies in its enamel « Grand Feu » dial featuring a secret sentence: « Courage every second ». The sentence remains invisible and hence secret until its owner reveals it with a ray of light, for example when the sun is bouncing off the dial at a certain angle. The secret sentence is a première in watchmaking.

Lot Essay

François Czapek was a Czech-born Polish watchmaker who fled to Geneva in 1832 after fighting in the ill-fated 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, one of the first ever written in Polish but unfortunately died before publishing a second one.

Czapek & Cie has been revived in 2015 with an exceptional collection, whose leading model won the Public Prize in the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie in Geneva in November 2016. This collection takes its inspiration from a 1850s Czapek time piece. It features a beautiful enamel dial and is powered by a 7-day proprietary movement, perfectly combining craftsmanship, design, exclusivity and rarity. In 2017, Czapek & Cie has created a unique piece for Only Watch with a very special dial to pay tribute to the children and their families fighting against muscular dystrophy.

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