Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Czapek Quai des Bergues Order of Malta Special Edition (with Video)
If you are a regular reader of MONOCHROME, you will be familiar with the independent watchmaker Czapek. A name with a lot of history (François Czapek was a Geneva-based Polish watchmaker whose 6-year partnership with Antoni Patek gave birth to remarkable watches before the latter founded Patek Philippe with Adrien Philippe), the brand was revived in 2015 with the launch of the Quai des Bergues. The first modern Czapek creation was awarded the Public Prize at the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in 2016. At Baselworld 2017, the brand introduced the Place Vendôme tourbillon featuring a GMT indication.
Over the past months, Czapek has released variations, bespoke iterations and special editions of its Quai des Bergues model showcasing traditional crafts like Grand Feu enamel or hand-guilloché dials. The latest execution of this collection presented just ahead of Baselworld features a grené – iridescent silvered dial featuring a highly-detailed Order of Malta coat of arms painted by miniature artist André Martinez.
The design of the coat of arms is based on an original made by the French cartoonist Jacques Terpant. It takes about two full days of work to paint the humanitarian organization’s logo on the eye-catching silvery grained surface of the dial. The Roman numeral hour markers are ringed by a railway minute track and paired with openworked lance hands.
This art piece is encased in a 42.5 mm steel case characterized by its crown shield, elongated lugs, curved case profile and sloped bezel. The sapphire crystal is slightly curved and features an anti-reflective coating.
The Quai des Bergues is powered by the manual-winding SHX1 caliber, a Czapek proprietary movement developed and manufactured with Chronode in Le Locle. Operating at 21,600 vibrations per hour, this twin-barrel hand-wound caliber can store up to seven days/168 hours of power reserve.
It displays central hours and minutes, a subsidiary small second counter between 7 and 8 o’clock, and the power reserve indication with weekdays at 4:30. Visible through the exhibition case back, the SHX1 caliber features bridges that are sandblasted, chamfered by hand and held by blued screws; its two ratchets are openworked.
The Czapek Quai des Bergues Order of Malta special edition is worn on an alligator leather strap secured with a pin buckle. it will be priced at CHF 14,800. For more information about Czapek Genève, please visit www.czapek.com.
