This extremely beautiful watch and brooch is exceptional not only for it?s small size but for the very rich decoration of the case which is almost unique in a miniature watch. The firm of Czapek & Cie was at 28, Place Vendome for only nine years between 1860 and 1869 so dating the watch to within this period, it is also significant that Juliusz Gruzewski, Czapek?s partner, was a personal friend of Napoleon III through which he became watchmaker to the Emperor. The French Imperial eagle emblem was used by Napoleon III between 1852 and 1870, this coupled with the miniature size and luxurious decoration make it almost certain to have been a personal and private gift of the Emperor. The initials ?CB? incorporated into the design of the case could refer to the Emperor himself as Charles Bonaparte or perhaps the initials of one of his mistresses, the Countess de Beauregard.

The French Imperial Eagle The principal element is the symbol of imperial Rome, Jupiter's bird, was associated from the earliest antiquity with military victory. The decree of 10 July, 1804 stipulates that the coat of arms of the Emperor should be: " d'azur à l'aigle à l'antique d'or, empiétant un foudre du même " (azure with a gold, ancient eagle clutching a thunderbolt of the same colour). This eagle, very different from the motifs of traditional heraldry, also took elements from the Carolingian eagle. The day after his coronation, Napoleon I had an eagle placed at the top of the shaft of every flag in the Napoleonic army. The emblem continued to be used by his successors.

Czapek & Cie. Franciszek Czapek was a Polish émigré who arrived in Switzerland in 1832 after the fall of the Polish insurrection against Russia. On May 1, 1839, Antoni Patek and François Czapek (his name having been gallicized) established a business in Geneva under the name of Patek et Czapek. The partnership lasted six years, during which some exceptional watches were produced. After the dissolution, Patek established Patek, Philippe Co. with a new partner, Adrien Philippe, and Czapek founded "Czapek et Cie", also with a new partner, Juliusz Gruzewski. Czapek?s new company did well. Gruzewski was a personal friend of Napoleon III, and Czapek quickly became watchmaker to the court of the Emperor (Unger's calendar for 1850, Warsaw, 1850). He had a factory in Geneva, a shop in Warsaw, and another at 28, Place Vendome, Paris. He wrote a small book about watches and watchmaking in which he announced that he was working on a larger volume, but he unfortunately died before publishing it. An interesting fact is that Czapek's early watches incorporate Philippe's patented sliding pinion winding mechanism. In his book Czapek states that in his shop he used only this design.

Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoléon III, Emperor of the French (1808?1873) Was President of the French Republic from 1848 to 1851, then from 2 December 1851 to 2 December 1852 the ruler of a dictatorial government, then Emperor of the French under the name Napoléon III, to 1870. He was the last monarch to rule France. The nephew of Napoleon, he spent his youth in exile in Switzerland and Germany (1815 ?30). With the death in 1832 of Napoleon's son, Napoléon-François-Charles-Joseph Bonaparte, duke von Reichstadt, he became the claimant to the French throne. After an abortive coup d'état, he was exiled by King Louis-Philippe to the U.S. After another attempted coup (1840), he was arrested, tried, and imprisoned. He escaped to England (1846) and returned to Paris (1848), where he was elected to the national assembly. He evoked the legend of Napoleon to win the popular vote as president of the Second Republic. Attempting to expand his power, he staged a coup in 1851 and made himself dictator; in 1852, as Napoleon III, he became emperor of the Second Empire. Seeking to re-establish French power, he led France into the Crimean War and helped negotiate the treaty at the Congress of Paris (1856). He sided with Sicily against Austria (1859) and was victorious at the Battle of Solferino He aided Italy in achieving unity and annexed Savoy and Nice (1860). He promoted liberalized policies within France, which enjoyed prosperity during much of his reign. In the 1860s he gradually introduced political liberalization. He expected material rewards from his "Latin empire" after installing Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico (1864 ? 67) but was disappointed. He kept France neutral in the Austro-Prussian War (1866), but in 1870 Otto von Bismarck contrived to involve France in the disastrous Franco-Prussian War. After leading his troops to defeat in the Battle of Sedan (September 1870), Napoleon surrendered and was deposed as emperor. He died in England in 1873.