Geneva Watch Days 2026: Czapek & Cie Returns To Its Roots In Geneva With Two New Haute Horlogerie Creations

For Czapek & Cie, Geneva is more than the city where its watches are made. It is where the Maison’s story took shape nearly two centuries ago. As Geneva Watch Days 2026 gets underway, Czapek returns to that history in the most tangible way possible, inaugurating a new flagship boutique at Quai des Bergues 27, just steps from the location where François Czapek first established himself as one of Geneva’s important watchmakers. The homecoming is accompanied by two new timepieces that reflect different facets of the contemporary Czapek identity. The Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” returns in a new 40.5mm stainless steel case, while the Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue, limited to just 10 pieces in platinum, celebrates the continuing creative relationship between CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel and master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer.

A Return to Where It All Began

The address carries considerable historical weight. In 1839, François Czapek, a Czech-born Polish watchmaker who had fled to Geneva following the failed Warsaw uprising of 1830, established a company with a fellow Pole and a local partner from Versoix. Their atelier at Quai des Bergues 29 became the setting for six years of ambitious watchmaking before the partnership ended in 1845. On May 1 of that year, Czapek founded Czapek & Cie, beginning a new chapter that would eventually take him to Paris, where he opened the first watchmaking boutique on Place Vendôme. His name became associated with the finest watchmaking of his era, establishing a legacy that the modern Czapek & Cie would eventually revive.

Nearly 200 years later, the independent Maison has returned to the same quay. Revived in 2015 by a group of passionate entrepreneurs, Czapek has deliberately built its contemporary identity around its historical DNA rather than simply recreating the past. The new flagship therefore feels less like a retail expansion and more like a return home. “After naming our first collection ‘Quai des Bergues’, opening a flagship on the Quai des Bergues was an obvious dream that we have had for a long time,” says Xavier de Roquemaurel. “This is where it all started not just for Czapek, but for modern watchmaking in Geneva.”

He refers to the cabinotiers who once occupied the upper floors of the buildings along the quay, seeking the natural light necessary for their work while remaining removed from the noise of the city. The original Quai des Bergues collection, introduced when Czapek was revived in 2015, was itself a tribute to this important period in Geneva’s watchmaking history.

Midnight in Geneva Returns

The Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” is perhaps the most direct expression of Czapek’s return to its roots. When the Maison opened its first modern Geneva boutique in 2019, it marked the occasion with an 18-piece edition featuring a 42.5mm stainless steel case, a deep-blue aventurine dial and the hand-wound SXH1 calibre with its seven-day power reserve. For the new flagship, Czapek revisits that idea in a more compact 40.5mm case. The new diameter represents a third size for the Quai des Bergues collection while retaining the defining characteristics of the original architecture: the curved case profile, distinctive lug geometry and sapphire caseback revealing the movement.

The case-side recesses have been subtly refined to accommodate the calibre, while the slope of the lugs has been adjusted to improve the fit across a wider range of wrists. It is a relatively discreet evolution, but one that reflects the changing preferences of contemporary collectors for more wearable proportions. The real visual drama remains the dark-blue aventurine glass dial. Its glittering surface evokes the night sky and gives the watch its “Midnight in Geneva” identity. Aventurine is notoriously demanding to work with, particularly when the dial incorporates recessed displays. Rather than cutting cavities directly into the fragile material, Czapek cuts the main aventurine dial completely through and mounts the small-seconds and power-reserve sub-dials onto an underlying metal plate measuring only 0.4mm thick.

The result is an intricate construction that creates depth without compromising the delicate aventurine. As with the 2019 model, production is limited to 18 pieces, a reference to the address of Czapek’s first modern Geneva boutique at Rue de la Corraterie 18. The new edition will be available through the Quai des Bergues flagship and selected authorised retailers worldwide.

Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue

If the Midnight in Geneva is a conversation with Czapek’s past, the Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue represents its continuing engagement with contemporary independent watchmaking. Limited to 10 pieces and presented in 950 platinum, the watch is the latest expression of the Complicité concept born from the friendship between Xavier de Roquemaurel and German-born master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer. “The Place Vendome Complicité Glacier Blue is, above all, the continuation of a friendship,” says de Roquemaurel. “The same complicité between two independent watch creators that gave this collection its name.”

The watch's defining feature is immediately visible on the dial: two independent balance wheels oscillate in opposite directions, each controlled by its own escapement. At 12 o’clock, a differential reconciles variations between their rates, creating a self-regulating mechanical architecture that is displayed rather than hidden. The proprietary hand-wound Calibre 8 comprises 293 components and powers the dual-escapement system with differential gearing and central seconds. A 72-hour power reserve is indicated between the two balances. Each variable-inertia balance incorporates four adjustment screws and four weights, while its Breguet terminal curve is carefully tuned in relation to its counterpart.

The Glacier Blue aesthetic gives the complicated architecture an unusually cool and contemporary character. The main plate is treated with light-blue PVD and a grainé finish, complemented by faceted, mirror-polished rhodium-plated indexes and partially skeletonised sword hands. Two sapphire bridges secured with six rubies in gold chatons expose the gear train, allowing the movement to become the dominant visual element. Turn the watch over and the hand-finishing continues. Eighteen inward angles are hand-chamfered, while the bridges and main plate are hand-bevelled, reflecting the établissage approach that has been central to Lederer’s contribution to the model.

A Homecoming with a Future in Mind

Czapek’s return to Quai des Bergues is ultimately about more than an address. It represents the Maison’s attempt to connect its historical identity with the expectations of contemporary independent watchmaking. The boutique provides a physical home for that philosophy, while the two Geneva Watch Days creations demonstrate how the past can be interpreted without being reproduced.

The Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” takes a historic name and transforms it through a new, more contemporary case size and an exceptionally demanding aventurine construction. The Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue looks in the opposite direction, celebrating the continuing dialogue between two independent watchmaking minds through an unusually sophisticated dual-balance architecture. Together, they make the return to Quai des Bergues feel significant. François Czapek began his Geneva story here as an ambitious young watchmaker. Almost two centuries later, Czapek & Cie has come back not to recreate that chapter, but to write the next one from the same address.

To learn about the complete launches at Geneva Watch Days 2026 click here.