Czapek

François Czapek, a Polish watchmaker of Czech origin, fled to Geneva in 1832 after fighting in the Polish insurrection. He immediately set up his workshop here, and in 1839 formed a partnership with Antoine Norbert de Patek, introducing him to the world of watchmaking. In 1845, following this partnership, he founded Maison Czapek & Cie and enjoyed considerable success, becoming the official watchmaker to Napoleon III and probably opening the first watchmaking boutique on Paris's Place Vendôme. He also wrote a treatise on watchmaking, one of the first written in Polish, which may have disappeared before a second volume was published.