Dubey & Schaldenbrand

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Dubey & Schaldenbrand is a Swiss manufacturer of complicated watches best remembered for a novel rattrapante mechanism in the 1950s.

Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand filed for a patent on a rattrapante chronograph mechanism on March 12, 1946. Although this patent would superseded in importance by a revision filed February 4, 1947, the earlier date is typically used as the starting point for the firm, which was not created for two more years. Dubey and Schaldenbrand had previously filed for patent protection in France (on March 6) and the United States (on March 4).

Their unusual chronograph featured a coil spring connecting two overlapping seconds hands, allowing one hand to be frozen in place and catch up to the other up to 59 seconds later. One pusher reset both hands to zero.

The business partnership between Dubey and Schaldenbrand began on January 15, 1949, when the firm known officially as "G. Dubey and R. Schaldenbrand" was formed. Located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, where both men lived, the company was commonly referred to as Dubey & Schaldenbrand then and now. Their company registration is very broad, allowing for "purchase and sale of watchmaking of all kinds" while focusing specifically on "manufacture and installation of economic catch-up mechanisms" patented a few years before.

Georges-Frédéric Dubey was from Sévaz (Fribourg), and René-Paul Schaldenbrand was from Porrentruy, but both spent their professional lives in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Their company was located initially at Rue de la Serre 103 before moving to Rue Léopold-Robert 78 in March. The firm quickly registered the "Dubey & Schaldenbrand" and "DS" trademarks, which were granted in 1951.

In 1953 the firm added "the manufacture of chronographs and automatic watches" to its registration, showing that the pair were broadening their focus from their patented rattrapante mechanism.

Dubey & Schaldenbrand registered the "Touswiss" brand in 1956.

In 1959 Dubey & Schaldenbrand moved into the so-called Minerva Palace at Rue Léopold-Robert 66. One of the highest-profile addresses in La Chaux-de-Fonds, this office building also housed Gallet & Co as well as lesser-known firms like Albert Luthy (Alutex), Auréole, Brigos, René Bloch (Drama), Cattin, Bourquin & Cie (Norma), Georges Dimier (Uno), and Zibach. The company would remain at this address until 1983.

On June 15, 1972, Georges Dubey took over the business solely as René Schaldenbrand retired.

Dubey ran the company alone until November 1, 1982, when Ernest Bärtschi and Alain Rosat took over. Now officially called Bärtschi and Rosat, the company nevertheless continued to produce and sell watches under the Dubey & Schaldenbrand name. This general partnership was incorporated as a public limited company called De Rosa Bercci SA on April 22, 1983. Raising 50,000 francs of share capital, the new firm purchased assets worth 80,000 francs, a discount and far less than the value of the firm just a few years earlier. Management of the new company was made up of Ernest Bärtschi and Alain Rosat, the same pair who previously owned the firm.

A new public limited company called Dubey & Schaldenbrand SA was created on June 30, 2000. Now located in Les Ponts-de-Martel at Rue de l'Industrie 7, the firm was valued at 250,000 francs despite net assets of over one million francs, with 800,000 francs owned by a single unnamed creditor. The company was run by Robert-Nicoud Cinette of Ponts-de-Martel.

Cinette retired from the company in 2009 replaced by Gil Jonatan. The company moved back to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 2010, now located at Rue des Champs 12. In 2014 it moved to Rue du Pont 14 in the city as Marie-Claude Bähler became the manager.

In 1946 Georges Dubey, together with René Schaldenbrand, founded the company Dubey Schaldenbrand in La Chaux-de-Fonds. They decided to produce a small number of simplified rattrapante chronographs, developed by Schaldenbrand, under the name "Index-Mobile". Moreover, bracelet chronographs and simple wristwatches with manual and automatic winding were manufactured.

Patents

• CH253051, February 15, 1948 - Chronographe à rattrapante. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
• CH260791, March 31, 1949 - Chronographe à rattrapante. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
  • FR942698, February 15, 1949 - Chronographe à rattrapante. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
  • US2548101, April 10, 1951 - Split Seconds Flyback Chronograph. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
• CH278478, October 15, 1951 - Chronographe à rattrapante. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
• CH304447, January 15, 1955 - Pièce d'Horlogerie à Chronographe. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
• CH304784, January 31, 1955 - Pièce d'horlogerie à remontage automatique par masse rotative. (Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand)
• CH348119, September 15, 1960 - Mouvement d'horlogerie électronique. (Marcel Clemence and Georges Dubey)

Address

Dubey & Schaldenbrand SA
Industrie 7
CH-2316 Les-Ponts-de-Martel
Tel +41 32 937 14 30
Fax +41 32 937 14 30

Weblinks

• Dubey & Schaldenbrand