October 3, 2019

Mazurek – a unique Swiss watch with a Polish heart

The Mazurek Watch was created by the Swiss manufacturer Czapek & Cie in partnership with the Polish company Wealth Solutions. The edition draws upon the tradition of making timepieces with Polish patriotic motifs, initiated by Franciszek Czapek – a 19th-century watchmaker, a November insurgent, and the founder of Czapek & Cie brand.

The Mazurek edition, in line with the tradition started by Franciszek Czapek (1811-1895), was fitted with Polish patriotic motifs. The watch is dedicated to the most important Polish patriotic song – “Dąbrowski’s Mazurka” (pol. Mazurek Dąbrowskiego), which has served as Poland’s national anthem since 1927. The dial of the watch features, at 12 o’clock, the coat of arms of the Duchy of Warsaw – a state created thanks to the efforts of Polish soldiers fighting alongside Napoleon Bonaparte. This happened merely 10 years after the formation of the Polish Legions in Italy – the same time “Dąbrowski’s Mazurka” was written by Józef Wybicki, who then accompanied the army on its way to the country on the Vistula River.

Next to it, the dial bears the inscription “Poland Is Not Yet Lost”, painted in its original Polish wording (“Jeszcze Polska nie umarła”). It is undoubtedly the best known part of the song. In addition, the cabochon features a piece of amber – one of Poland’s symbols, recognized all over the world. The design is complemented by Polish names of the weekdays on the power reserve. The result is a truly exquisite watch that combines Swiss precision with a Polish soul.

It is the second watch in the contemporary history of Czapek & Cie dedicated to a Polish patriotic song. The first edition in this series was created in 2017 and called Warszawianka, in tribute of the song from the period of November Uprising, which the founder of the Swiss manufactory, Franciszek Czapek, participated in.

“I am very happy that for the second time together with Wealth Solutions we created a watch which refers to Polish history. It would certainly please François Czapek that we found a way to marry his passion for watchmaking with a cause he always supported,” –  said Xavier de Roquemaurel, CEO of Capek & Cie.

The Mazurek edition consist of merely 10 steel (XO steel) and 5 gold (5N pink gold) timepieces. The watch is equipped in seconds hand and a power reserve indicator, corresponding in appearance to the solutions used by Franciszek Czapek in the 19th century, as well as in Polish names of the weekdays. The heart of the watch holds a SXH1 mechanism with a 7-day power reserve. All elements of the dial, such as numbers, the coat of arms of the Duchy of Warsaw, and the line from “Dąbrowski’s Mazurka” were hand-painted in a Swiss manufactory. The Mazurek Watch is available only in the Wealth Solutions’ offer – a partner of Czapek & Cie manufactory and a specialist in the delivery of luxury, collectible items, and artworks to demanding clients all over the world. The premiere of this edition took place on October 3 in the showroom of the Audi City Warsaw. Partners of this event were: Swiss Chamber Poland, Bendura Bank, Zegarki i Pasja, BOOK of Luxury

“I am very glad that we were able to create the Mazurek edition together with Czapek & Cie manufactory, which also highlights the Polish roots of our company, because even though after 12 years of its creation we cater to clients all over the world, Poland will always remain our most important market. That is why we try to include special items in our offer, created primarily with Polish collectors in mind,” said Łukasz Baranowski, Deputy President of Wealth Solutions SA.

More information: http://en.wealth.pl/offer/mazurek-2/

Media contact:
Piotr Suchodolski, email: piotr.suchodolski@wealth.pl, tel.: +48 512 965 658.

Franciszek Czapek earned a reputation of a superb watchmaker. Aged 20, he took part in the November Uprising and fought in Warsaw as part of the National Guard force. Once the military rebellion was crushed, he migrated to and settled down in Switzerland. That is where he founded, in cooperation with his business partner, a company producing watches. While in Switzerland, he met another November Uprising veteran – Antoni Patek. The two gentlemen decided to join their forces and founded a company under the name of Patek, Czapek & Cie. Mr. Czapek was in charge of manufacturing chronometers, while Mr. Patek was supervising sales and the operational side of their business. The company soon reached the production volume of approximately 200 watches per year. However, in 1845, six years after starting cooperation, the two Uprising soldiers decided to go their separate ways. Antoni Patek established his own company. Franciszek Czapek, in turn, joined forces with another business partner and founded a company that operated its own showrooms in Warsaw and Paris. It also became the official supplier of watches to the court of the Emperor Napoleon III. The 19th-century watchmaker is also the author of the watchmaker’s treatise “Some remarks on watchmaking” (Słów kilka o zegarmistrzostwie).

In November 2015, three enthusiasts of the art of watchmaking reactivated Czapek & Cie company, after three years of intensive preparations and research. They created an innovative model which financed the project based on three crowdfunding systems. The company’s head office is located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Quai des Bergues 33bis model created by Czapek & Cie won the Audience Award in the prestigious GPHG contest (Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève), merely one year after the reopening of the company. For more information, please visit: www.czapek.com

Founded by true enthusiasts for collectors and lovers of luxurious items and beverages, Wealth Solutions was established in 2007. The company’s core offer features the finest Bordeaux wines, unique cognacs, works of art, and other collectors’ items. Over the past twelve years of its operations, it acquired more than 8,000 customers.

Wealth Solutions is responsible, inter alia, for marketing one of the oldest whiskies in history, such as the 67-year-old Glen Grant 1949. The cognac houses Tiffon and Bache-Gabrielsen surprised our customers with special editions of the beverage dating from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. Wealth Solutions was the originator behind the idea of creating the Spirit Watches line featuring watches with capsules filled with special and old alcoholic beverages. The first in the series – Cognac Watch – had the 1762 Gautier cognac inside. The beverage was officially registered in the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest cognac ever sold on the auction market. The second watch in the series – i.e. Rum Watch – was fitted with a capsule filled with 1780 Harewood Rum, officially registered in the Guinness World Records as the oldest rum in the world. The last instalment in the series is called Whisky Watch, featuring a drop of Old Vatted Glenlivet 1862 – the world’s oldest whisky. For more information, please visit: www.wealth.pl

The song was written in 1797 in Reggio, Italy – i.e. the place where the Polish Legions formed to fight alongside Napoleon’s army under the command of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski. Given the time and place of its creation, the song’s original title was “Song of the Polish Legions In Italy”. Its text was written by Józef Wybicki, while the composer of the melody based on folk motifs remains unknown.

The song accompanied Polish soldiers on the battle trail alongside Napoleon, which prompted, as one of its important elements, the creation of a free state. That is why the first public performance of “Dąbrowski’s Mazurka” on the Polish soil took place on the occasion of creation of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807. The song was popular throughout the 19th century, and after Poland regained its independence, it became an obvious candidate for the national anthem. It has finally obtained this status in 1927.

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