America?s largest luxury watch show, WatchTime New York, returns to Manhattan?s Gotham Hall on October 26-27 (click here for event details and to purchase tickets). As we count down to the big event, we continue to spotlight many of the new timepieces that guests will discover there. Today we turn our attention to one of the new chronograph models within Czapek & Cie’s third collection of timepieces: the Faubourg de Cracovie Dioné & Rhea.
The Czapek Faubourg de Cracovie Dioné & Rhea
Longtime readers of WatchTime should be familiar with the story of François (born Franciszek) Czapek at this point. He was the original partner of Antoine Norbert de Patek (of Patek Philippe) before leaving the nascent brand to form his own watchmaking atelier, Czapek & Cie, in 1845. A Polish immigrant in Geneva, he is credited with opening what is considered the first watch boutique on the Place Vendôme in Paris and served as the official watchmaker to Napoleon III during his lifetime. After his death, the brand slowly faded into obscurity until it was finally revived in 2015. The Czapek Place Vendôme Tourbillon Suspendu from 2017.
In the three years that have passed since the brand’s resurrection, Czapek & Cie has claimed the Public Prize at the Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie for the Quai des Bergues timepiece in 2016 and released a second collection featuring a suspended tourbillon with GMT. This year, Czapek announced its third collection at Baselwor...