Horological Meandering

foversta
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Hands on review of the Czapek Quai des Bergues

The article below was written in November 2015 after the SalonQP. Since then, the 17th of February, Czapeck announced that  it completed its fundraising campaign today with a total in excess of CHF1.1 million invested. Ninety three investors from eleven countries on three continents have become shareholders, pushing the capital raised to more than 10% above the original target of the fund drive. Never before has a company conducted such a campaign simultaneously in three jurisdictions (Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom) and with two platforms – Raizers (France & Switzerland) and Crowd for Angels (UK). (extract from the Press Release).


We must be clear: the creation of a brand bearing the name of a watchmaker from the past is a difficult exercise and generally disliked by the connoisseurs as giving the feeling of an opportunistic approach. Facing with these constraints, the project must be carefully constructed and based on a compelling and attractive produvts and with enough elements reminding the work of the "resurrected" watchmaker. Otherwise, the question of its credibility is raised irretrievably.

The Czapek team is led by Harry Guhl, the president of the company, Xavier Roquemaurel, its CEO and Sébastien Follonier who, as a watchmaker expert who worked on complicated Greubel Forsey watches plays the role of technical director. All three of them are well aware of these challenges and it is the reason why the project was built with a lot of care. I can feel it in the business plan, in the structure of the collection and of course in the first proposed watches.




François Czapek was a Polish watchmaker with a Czech origin who emigrated to Switzerland in 1832. He quickly created his first company with a Swiss watchmaker and then in 1839 started his partnership with Antoni Patek which lasted until 1845 when they parted their ways. During those six years, Czapek and Patek proposed exceptional watches that allowed to sit their reputations. Czapek founded later a new company that prospered, becoming watchmaker of the Court of Napoleon III and opened boutiques in Paris, Geneva and Warsaw. He also wrote the first book devoted to watchmaking in Polish. The date of death of François Czapek is unknown but it  is probably when the ownership of his company changed in the late 1860s.

The watch which is the most representative of the Czapek style is the 3430. It was produced in the 1850s and is characterized by a refined design, very thin Roman numerals and hands and two subdials at 4:30 and 7:30. The left sub-dial is dedicated to the second hand, while the aim of the right one is to display at the same time the days of the week and the power reserve with a single hand.



The architecture of the movement of this historical watch is also characteristic with a certain symmetry in the upper area due to the double barrel (with tandem winding) and a regulating organ using a bimetallic balance wheel, a Breguet hairspring and a straight line lever escapement.

This watch thus serves as an inspiration for the first collection of the brand, which symbolizes its true starting point with the presentation of pre-series to the public: the Quai des Bergues. This collection can be divided into two parts. On one side the pink gold or white gold watches that are distinguished by their enamel dial with Roman numerals and the subdial at 4:30 with both the power reserve and the days of the week. On the other side, the titanium or stainless steel "XO" (particularly resistant) watches featuring brass dials covered with a layer of carbon or silver. The power reserve subdial can be the same as gold watches or without the days of the week display.

In any case, different watches in the collection are in the image of the original pocket watch, refined and elegant despite a rather generous size (42.5mm). This size is however not aesthetically speaking troublesome because the dial is pretty well balanced. Its opening remains reasonable due to the thickness of the bezel, and the Roman numerals and hands bring their lightness. I love the shape of the hands and the lay-out of the dial. The principle of the subdial which combines the days of the week and the power reserve displays with a single hand is obviously nice and creates a link with the past but it requires to wind the watch the first day of the week and to wait until the end of the power reserve to wind the watch again to preserve the indication of the right days... it is the price to pay for such dual display. But for timekeeping reasons, I always tend to prefer to wind the movements with long power reserve on a daily basis. I think it would have been preferable to have a real display of the days of the week, independent from the power reserve one and so using a second hand in the same subdial.



However, the case convinced me with its nice proportions, the very curved lugs contributing to the comfort on the wrist and the discreet style effect on the right case side outlining a kind of crown protection which gives a touch of character to the whole.

In this context, the movement must meet the expectations created by the resurection of such prestigious name. The exclusive movement equipping the different Quai des Bergues watches was developed by Chronode which is a guarantee of seriousness and reliability. The inspiration from the pocket watch 3430 is reflected in its architecture with two open ratchets and a symmetrical lay-out close to the crown area. I also appreciate the sandblasted bridges, the quality of the chamfering and the shapes of the bridges with great intelligence avoid some difficulties (no inward angle) while offering a rather appealing look. However I would have liked more ambition in the treatment of the regulating organ to be more faithful to the pocket watch spirit. The overall rendering is neat, nicely done but I would have expected a little more daring approach. The movement performances are not surprising, with a 3hz frequency and the already famous (for the reasons explained before) power reserve of seven days. The movement diameter of 32mm is large enough to avoid to give the impression of being lost in the case and it is a good point.



The feeling given by the  pink gold version of the Quai des Bergues when put on the wrist is very nice. The watch is positioned correctly on the wrist and the finishes of the enamel dial with depth effects coming from the two sub-dials, confirm its elegance and refinement. I have however been less attracted by the titanium or steel versions. Their lighter weights and more contemporary styles seemed to me less convincing. I much preferred the gold versions that seem more consistent with the intended spirit. However, the decision to complete the range with watches using non precious meterials and therefore more affordable is judicious.

I touch here one of the strengths of the launch of the Czapek brand: nothing has been left to chance and everything has been well studied including of course the fund-raising plan. It is a very rare case for a brand of that price level since Czapek offers the opportunity to become a shareholder of the Company and so to take advantage of various benefits such as the acquisition of watches at a preferencial price or for those who have invested at least 50,000 CHF in the capital, to be part of the Advisory Board of the company.



People attracted by the offer of Czapek and wishing to participate in the development of a new watch company have the opportunity to enter the capital according to their financial means through several formulas that vary depending on the number of shares to be purchased. To convince investors, Czapek offers a presentation of their business plan and strategy on its website. I highly recommend to read this document to get an idea of ​​what is a brand strategy for a newcomer. In this context, Czapek adopts a very transparent attitude by also giving the names of the suppliers and by starting to explain what would be the next steps. If I appreciate this transparency, the ambition of the brand in the coming years seems very optimistic and perhaps maybe a bit too ambitious due to the market realities  while the initial offer is, in my point of view, much more realistic. In fact, a watch is expected in 2018 in the  250,000 CHF price range and the future collection would have a very wide span from 10,000 to 500,000 CHF. I still think that unless your name is Jaeger-Lecoultre or some other very established generalist brands, large price differences within the same catalog are extremely difficult to manage. In addition, clients for watches with 6 digit prices search more than ever the security and the sustainability and new brands always raise questions around this topic.



Czapek, in my point of view, should stay in line with the launch of the Quai des Bergues collection which is cleverly made, attractive and reasonably priced. The immediate challenge is to keep building up its capital via direct shareholding or the Raizers platform and to start the production. Once  done, it will be time to think about the future developments which will necessarily include market parameters. Even if a business plan is well done, the fact remains that success will come only if customers are attracted. In a highly competitive market, the task of a newcomer is never easy. The question is to know if  Czapek brings enough new features to distinguish itself from the competition. It is perhaps in this very point that lies the weakness of the strategy: the Quai des Bergues collection is perhaps not that surprising despite its unquestionable qualities.

Thanks a lot to the Czapek team for their warm welcome during the SalonQP.

Pros:
+ A comprehensive collection including a stainless-steel entry level
+ A very neat presentation and an attractive aesthetic
+ A convincing and exclusive movement
+ The finishes of the enamel dial

Cons:
- The sub-dial with displays of days of the week requires a weekly winding of the movement on the first day of the week
- The architecture of the regulating organ lacks some ambition when compared with the pocket watch one

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