Czapek & Cie announces the release of its latest iteration of its most recent horological marvel, the Place Vendôme Complicité Stardust Cobalt. This exquisite timepiece, limited to just 13 pieces of the 100 comprising the first edition, is the result of a collaboration with renowned watchmaker Bernhard Lederer. It embodies the perfect fusion of stunning beauty and masterful engineering.
The Place Vendôme Complicité Stardust Cobalt continues the legacy of the Complicité Stardust and Harmony Blue editions, launched in August 2023, featuring a double escapement that epitomizes precision and reliability. This sophisticated mechanism is elegantly showcased beneath a butterfly-shaped sapphire glass bridge positioned prominently at 12 o’clock, a signature element that enhances the watch’s allure and technical intrigue.
The design follows the layout of the original Place Vendôme, with sub-dials forming a pyramid structure. The double escapement with a central differential creates a stunning kinetic sculpture. The watch features the manually wound Calibre 8, providing a 72-hour power reserve visible on the dial through sapphire bridges. The aesthetic blends modern and traditional elements, with detailed hand-finishing, such as 18 manually chamfered internal angles, and contemporary decoration.
As its name suggests, the Place Vendôme Complicité combines a story of friendship with high horology excellence. Rooted in the concept of établissage, or horizontal manufacturing, Czapek collaborates with the best independent specialists, as a conductor leads an orchestra, to create extraordinary watches. Master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer’s expertise in escapements and his visionary approach have significantly contributed to the creation of this collection.
Initially introduced in grey with a white gold case (Stardust) and sapphire blue with a rose gold case (Harmony Blue), the Stardust Cobalt version is also crafted in white gold, but features shimmering blued indexes and hands contrasting with the circular-grained grey minutes and hours track. To ensure a clearer view of the dial side mechanism, the glass-box of the original collection has been replaced with a domed sapphire crystal.
“At Czapek & Cie, we believe in the enduring appeal of exceptional craftsmanship and striking design,” said Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Czapek & Cie. “We are confident that with the newly implemented dazzling domed sapphire crystal, the Place Vendome Complicité Stardust Cobalt represents the twist in the white gold model that many had been waiting for”.
The Place Vendôme Complicité Stardust Cobalt is available through Czapek & Cie’s official boutiques and authorized retailers worldwide. The first deliveries of the Complicité collection begin in July 2024.
Czapek & Cie Place Vendôme Complicité Stardust Cobalt Technical Specifications
Price: 85,000.00 CHF (EXCL. VAT) / $ 100’000 / € 89’000 / £ 77’300
Still available at the moment of writing: 13 from 13
Functions
- Hours, minutes and central seconds
- Power reserve indicator
Movement
- Calibre 8 in collaboration with Bernhard Lederer
- Open work
- Number of parts: 293
- Double escapement with differential gearing and central second
- Power reserve: 72 hours
- Frequency: 3Hz – 21,600 VpH
- Two variable inertia balance wheels oscillating in opposite directions, with fours adjustment screws and four weights
- Balance springs with Breguet terminal curves
- Two sapphire bridges with six rubies set in gold chaton
Case
- 18K white gold case with domed sapphire and sandblasted hollowed-out lugs
- Crown protectors
- Diameter: 41,8 mm (lugs to lugs 48,22 mm)
- Height: 14,8 mm (height on the wrist: 13.3 mm; perceived height without glass 8.8 mm)
- Domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on the inside and outside surfaces
- Water-resistance: 50 m
Dial
- Open-worked with double escapement on a “Graine” main plate with silver galvanic treatment
- Circular-grained minute and hour track
- Partially skeletonised blued swords hands
- Faceted blued indexes
Bracelet
- Alligator strap with 18k white gold folding buckle
About Czapek & Cie.
Czapek is a contemporary watchmaking Maison created in the spirit of François Czapek, a 19th-century Czech-born Polish watchmaker. In 1832 Czapek escaped from political turmoil in Warsaw and fled to Geneva, where he created a series of businesses during the 1830s. After establishing Czapek & Cie in 1845, he became the official watchmaker of Napoleon III and opened the first watchmaking boutique on Place Vendôme in Paris.
The Czapek & Cie name was reborn in 2015 by a group of watch enthusiasts who sought to revive the Maison’s heritage and craftsmanship. Inspired by an 1850s Czapek & Cie pocket watch, the leading model of the first collection, Quai des Bergues 33bis, won the 2016 GPHG Public Prize. In 2020, the company launched Antarctique, a sport-chic collection with the first in-house Czapek movement. Today, Czapek’s haute horlogerie timepieces are known for their distinctive designs, high-quality craftsmanship and limited production. With headquarters in Geneva and its atelier in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Czapek thoroughly defends the concept of ‘établissage’ in a modern way.
About Bernhard Lederer.
The German-born master watchmaker Bernhard Lederer from Saint Blaise near Neuchâtel is a multiple award winner, inventor of groundbreaking concepts and exceptional watches. His creativity and innovative concepts are born from the way he approaches challenges. He respects and analyses traditional concepts and techniques, but always challenges them. All this with a deep understanding of the heritage of watchmaking and a great respect for the masters of the past. His Central Impulse chronometer was awarded the Innovation Prize of the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2021.
Bernhard Lederer is married and the father of 2 children. He is one of the very first historical members of the prestigious Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (Academy of Independent Watchmakers – AHCI).