17,825 CHF
Czapek & Cie, Genève, No. 5566, circa 1850.Fine 18 ct. gold, gilt metal and enamel notebook with a watch, with original pencil. Rectangular, gilt brass bar calibre, 8 jewels, cylinder escapement, plain brass three-arm balance, flat balance spring.Signed on the front plate.Dim. 82 x 58. Published in the Sandberg book, pages 476-477. Notes Czapek Lot CieFrançois Czapek was a Polish émigré, who in 1832 arrived in Switzerland after the fall of the Polish insurrection against Russia. On May 1, 1839, Antoni Patek and Franciszek Czapek established a business in Geneva under the name of Patek et Czapek. The partnership lasted six years during which some exceptional watches had been produced. After the dissolution, Patek established Patek, Philippe Co. with a new partner, Adrien Philippe, and Czapek founded 'Czapek et Cie', also with a new partner, Juiusz Gruzewski. Czapek's new company did well. Gruzewski was a personal friend of Napoleon III, and Czapek quickly became watchmaker to the court of the Emperor (Unger's calendar for 1850, Warsaw, 1850).He had a factory in Geneva, a shop in Warsaw, and another in Paris. He wrote a small book about watches and watchmaking in which he announced that he was working on a larger volume, but he unfortunately died before publishing it. An interesting fact is that Czapek's early watches incorporate Philippe's patented sliding pinion winding mechanism. In his book Czapek states that in his shop he used only this design.The largest seri
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2001-03-31
