Quai des Bergues – Aqua Blue

• Limited Edition: 15 pieces
• Case: stainless steel
• Size: 38.5mm
• Movement: hand-wound caliber SXH1
• Function: power reserve, days of the week
• Power Reserve: approximately seven days
• Water Resistance: 30 m
• Dial: Aqua Blue bombé “Guilloché Main” dial i with Czapek-exclusive "Richochet" guilloché
• Caseback: sapphire crystal
• Hands: Skeletonized, rhodium plated steel hands
• Strap/Bracelet: Alligator strap with XO seel pin buckle

The first collection of timekeepers to herald the renaissance of Czapek & Cie is called Quai des Bergues. It is a tribute to the location where François Czapek founded the company in Geneva in 1845.  The dial features Aqua Blue bombé “Guilloché Main”  with the Czapek-exclusive “Ricochet” guilloché pattern, which is inspired by a historical design created by François Czapek in the 1850s. Its unicity is due to possessing two focal points, corresponding to the two characteristics Czapek subdials and creating a fascinating “wave interference” movement in the dial.

The SXH1 caliber is a proprietary movement designed by Czapek.  It was conceived in cooperation with Jean-François Mojon, a designer watchmaker who heads the Le Locle based company Chronode.  This haute horlogerie mechanical caliber boasts 31 jewels. It is finely decorated and remains aesthetically and functionally true to the 1850 original. The architecture remains symmetrical, and the sandblasted finish is a modern interpretation of the ‘satiné frost’ technique used in the 19th Century – a process of gold plating using mercury evaporation.

This hand-wound movement has two barrel springs and runs at a rate of 21,600 vibrations per hour, which translates to 3 Hertz. It features a power reserve of seven days. The manual beveling finish and the sandblasted bridges create a beautiful and modern look, inspired from the past. The most striking elements remain the open ratchets, with teeth polished in ‘bevel’ and unique to Czapek SXH1. They become its mechanical signature.

Czapek