Czapek at Geneva Watch Days 2026: New Boutique and Limited Editions

Czapek & Cie celebrates a true return to its roots with a high-impact double release for Geneva Watch Days 2026. On one hand, the independent manufacture opens its new flagship boutique at the historic Quai des Bergues 27, the very site where François Czapek established his watchmaking legacy in Geneva back in 1839. To mark this milestone, the brand introduces the Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” in a new 40.5 mm stainless steel case with an aventurine dial, accompanied by the exclusive Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue, a platinum high-complication timepiece created in collaboration with master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer.

Return to Quai des Bergues 27: A New Retail Concept

Number 27 Quai des Bergues is far more than a street address; it represents the birthplace where Czapek’s history evolved from rebellion to mastery. After relocating to Geneva in 1832 following the Warsaw Uprising, François Czapek founded the workshop along the quayside that gave birth to his earliest fine watchmaking creations. Nearly two centuries later, the brand relaunch in 2015 returns to its exact starting point.

Designed in collaboration with agency Live Teams and Xavier Dietlin, the new space departs from traditional retail conventions. The boutique eliminates traditional counters, organizing the layout around shared tables and open display cases designed as a watchmaking art gallery. Raw stone walls, American walnut furniture, and night-blue Alcantara accents pair with striking mirror-polished steel sculptures Rondo by artist Oskar Zięta.

Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” 40.5 mm

To honor the flagship opening, Czapek reinterprets its 2019 classic. The new edition of the Quai des Bergues “Midnight in Geneva” debuts a 40.5 mm diameter stainless steel case (featuring a perceived thickness of just 9.5 mm and 47.67 mm lug-to-lug), updating the side hollows and lug slope for improved ergonomics.

Its domed dark blue aventurine glass dial displays the brand’s signature elongated Roman numerals and fleur-de-lys hands. Crafting the dial presented a complex technical challenge: the concave subdials at 7:30 (small seconds) and 4:30 (power reserve indicator with days of the week) are not milled directly into the aventurine. Instead, the main dial plate is fully cut through, and the subdials are secured onto a base plate measuring just 0.4 mm in thickness. Powering the watch is the in-house manual-wind SXH1 calibre, made of 160 components and 31 jewels, delivering a 7-day (168-hour) power reserve via twin barrels. This model is strictly limited to 18 numbered pieces.

Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue: Platinum Mastery

The second headline launch for the Geneva gathering is the Place Vendôme Complicité Glacier Blue, encased in a 41.8 mm Pt950 platinum case (48.22 mm lug-to-lug) with a glass-box sapphire crystal, sandblasted lugs, and hollowed flanks. This creation celebrates the technical synergy and friendship between Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek, and master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer.

The open-worked dial reveals a grain-finished mainplate treated in light glacier blue PVD. Its mechanical architecture features two independent variable-inertia balance wheels beating in opposite directions, whose frequencies are averaged continuously by a differential mechanism visible at 12 o’clock.

The manual-wind Calibre 8, running at 3 Hz with a 72-hour power reserve, displays high-watchmaking hand finishing: sapphire crystal bridges set with 6 jewels in gold chatons, 18 hand-beveled internal angles, and hand-chamfered edges. The watch comes fitted with an alligator leather strap featuring a platinum (Pt950) buckle and titanium folding clasp. Production is limited to just 10 numbered pieces.

Technical Specifications – Czapek & Cie (GWD 2026)