There are hundreds, if not thousands, of watch brands competing for funding on crowdfunding sites. But Czapek & Cie. is the only high-end watch brand to successfully complete a crowdfunding project to finance the relaunch of this historic name in watchmaking. As part of the campaign, the brand offered a variety of packages that included shares in the company and special prices for the first Quai des Bergues models. “ Subscription goes back to the origins of Haute Horlogerie with the notorious Breguet subscription watch ” explains Czapek CEO Xavier de Roquemaurel. “ It is one of the finest "artisan - client" partnerships that an exclusive brand and a demanding watchlover can dream of... and with the internet the modern world offers us to go even further and extend this underwriting concept to enthusiasts around the world. ”
Czapek continues with this participatory philosophy for the launch of its new Place Vendôme tourbillon models, which will be offered for subscription from 3pm GMT today. Why 3pm? “ Because it gives everyone the fairest chance of participating, ” says Xavier de Roquemaurel. “ It will be Saturday morning in California, Saturday afternoon in Europe, and Saturday evening in Japan. Most people will not be at work and will thus have chance to sit in front of their screens in anticipation! ”.
The Place Vendôme is a limited edition of just 25 tourbillon watches priced at a competitive 88,000 Swiss francs for the 15 red gold models and 100,000 for the platinum. For this price you get a precious metal case, proprietary calibre SXH2 hand-wound movement with 60 hours power reserve, second time zone and day/night indicator with sand-blasted finishes and a grand feu enamel subdial at 12 o’clock, complete with Czapek’s signature “fleur de lys” hands.
If you are seriously interested in one of these watches, you may wish to consider bookmarking the Czapek homepage or setting yourself a reminder, since there is already a waiting list of seven people who have pre-ordered Place Vendôme models. A 20% deposit is all that is required to secure your order and the watches will be delivered from October this year at the rate of around two per month (which is a respectable rate for a small brand producing this notoriously difficult complication). All the watches will have the limited number engraved and you have the possibility to reserve your lucky number at the time of ordering.
