Warszawianka is a unique watch, combining Swiss precision with the Polish soul. It is a tribute of Czapek & Cie to the founder of the company and his homeland. Franciszek Czapek was an outstanding watchmaker and also a veteran of the November Uprising (1830–31)*. Although he created his greatest works abroad, he placed patriotic motifs in many of his timepieces. Warszawianka refers to these traditions – a mechanical watch, which is filled with patriotic Polish motifs and references to the history of Franciszek Czapka himself. The creation of the Warszawianka Watch was possible thanks to the cooperation of the Swiss Czapek & Cie manufacture with the Polish company Wealth Solutions.

*also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire.

Franciszek Czapek was an outstanding watchmaker. At the age of twenty he took part in the November Uprising, during which he fought in Warsaw in the ranks of the National Guard. After the fall of this armed rebellion, he emigrated and settled in Switzerland. There, together with a partner, he founded a watch manufacturing company. In exile, he also met another veteran of the November Uprising – Antoni Patek. The gentlemen decided to join forces and found the Patek, Czapek & Cie company. Czapek was responsible for the production of timepieces and Patek for selling and running the company. Their manufactury soon began producing about 200 watches per year.

However, after six years of cooperation, in 1845 their lives take different paths. Patek founded his own company, which is now known worldwide as Patek Philippe. In turn, Czapek together with a new partner created a company that had a workshop in Geneva and showrooms in Warsaw and Paris. She became the official supplier of watches for the court of Emperor Napoleon III. This nineteenth-century watchmaker is also the author of a watchmaker’s treatise written in Polish – ‘A few words about watchmaking’. Currently, the existing Czapek & Cie company refers to its heritage and tries to propagate the achievements of its patron.

Warszawianka 1831 (org. La Varsovienne) is a song written by the French poet Casimir François Delavigne, who decided to create it under the influence of news of the insurgent uprising of Poles and encourage them to fight. It quickly gained popularity in the Kingdom of Poland fighting for independence. Its original version was created in French, but it gained real popularity thanks to Polish translations. The author of the most famous one is Karol Sienkiewicz, brother of grandfather of the Henryk Sienkiewicz (Polish writer and noblist). During the partitions the song was one of the most important patriotic chants, and after regaining independence one of the candidates for the title of national anthem.