Hélène Nardin-Ducommun

Hélène Nardin-Ducommun (1897-1955) was a Swiss businesswoman who became chairwoman of the board of directors for Doxa following the death of the founder, her father, Georges Ducommun, in 1936. Her husband, Jacques Nardin (1892-1950) was general manager of the company.

Hélène-Lucie Ducommun-dit-Verron was born on August 13, 1897 in Le Locle. Her father, Georges-Arthur Ducommun-dit-Verron, had established his own watchmaking operation in the family home in 1889 and expanded it following his marriage to Lucie Droz-dit-Busset in 1896. The young couple moved to a larger house and workshop at Rue des Billodes 28, next door to Georges Favre-Jacot's bustling Zénith factory. Watch production took place in the family home until Georges added a dedicated factory building next door in 1900. Thus, Hélène and her brother grew up surrounded by watchmaking and watchmakers.

On May 16, 1919, Hélène married Jacques-André Nardin. He was the son of Paul-David Nardin, who carried on the work of his father Ulysse Nardin, founder of the Nardin chronometer factory in Le Locle. Around this same time Jacques came to work at the Doxa factory under Georges Ducommun, receiving Power of Attorney in 1920 and bringing in Bernard Laberty and Alcide Matile in 1924 and Edouard-Christian Jenny in 1926 to help manage the growing business.

When Ducommun died on August 25, 1936, ownership of the firm fell to his widow with his daughter and sole heir receiving a 25% share of the successful company. Jacques Nardin moved quickly to create a new Société Anonyme, Manufacture des Montres Doxa, to purchase these shares and re-capitalize the company, which was facing a challenging economic condition. Thus, Georges' widow received 300,000 francs in cash and shares while Hélène received 100,000 in shares in the new 500,000 franc firm.

Having spent her life around the watchmakers working in her father's factory, Hélène was deeply concerned with their wellbeing. Thus, she encouraged her husband to set up a workers' fund in 1944. She personally reviewed cases submitted for compensation, often becoming involved in the lives of the afflicted workers and donating additional money of her own. The fund expanded to cover old-age pensions in 1948. Hélène would take over as president of the workers' fund following the death of her husband in 1950.

Jacques Nardin, husband of Hélène, died on August 26, 1950 following a bout of pneumonia. Hélène took over as chairwoman of Doxa, a position she would hold until her own death five years later. She elevated Edouard-Christian Jenny to vice-president, Eric-Alfred Perrenoud to secretary-treasurer, and Emile-Albert Jauslin to assessor, surrounding herself with competent advisors.

Although she resided in Geneva for much of the year, especially following her husband's death, Hélène cared deeply for Le Locle and her workers. She maintained the town as her primary residence, having inherited the Château des Monts from her father. But she no longer wished to maintain the grand old mansion, and sold it to the city of Le Locle "at a favorable rate" in order to create a museum of the history and watchmaking. Hélène Nardin was forced to take a more hands-on role in 1953 following the death of general manager and close friend Edouard Jenny.

Hélène Nardin-Ducommun died on July 28, 1955, in Geneva following a short illness. She did not have any children but was remembered fondly by her nieces and nephews as well as by the company her family founded and managed. With the sudden deaths of Jacques Nardin, Edouard Jenny, and Hélène Nardin-Ducommun occurring in just 5 years, direction of the company fell to Emile-Albert Jauslin. He managed the company well through the remainder of the 1950s until his own death in 1964. But outsiders also joined the firm, including Max Jaggi, vice-president and managing director, Louis Huguenin, director, Louise-Germaine Dubois, Marcel-Paul Bouverat, and Paul-Edouard Henry.