Doxa

Doxa is a Swiss watch brand founded in 1889 and once again available today.

Georges Ducommun

Doxa was founded by Georges Ducommun (1866-1936) under his own name in 1889 in Le Locle, Switzerland. Ducommun was born about 1866 in Le Locle, took a practical apprenticeship in watchmaking, and became a caser of watches. He began assembling watches for sale in 1889 in a small house at the bottom of Crêt-Vaillant in Le Locle. The company was registered in April 1895 on Girardet 68 in Le Locle under Georges-Arthur Ducommun as a manufacture of watches. The offices and workshops were co-located at that address, which was likely also his home.

This 1905 ad (and similar ones dating to 1903) show the Ducommun factory below the railroad line in Le Locle and the "Anti-Magnetique Doxa" branding

In 1896, after his marriage, Ducommun moved to a larger building at Rue des Billodes 28, next to the rapidly-growing factory of Georges Favre-Jacot, which would become famous for the Zenith watch. The company boasted of specializing in 24 and 30 ligne movements. In 1900, he built the first part of the Doxa Factory there, which was expanded greatly in 1919. The original Doxa factory still stands, with an additional story added, and houses light manufacturing and businesses.

The Ducommun family welcomed two children, a son and daughter. The son died as a young man while on a visit to the United States to visit customers, so Ducommun's daughter Héléne would become his heir. She married Jacques Nardin, who would take over the factory following her father's 1936 death.

A 1901 full-page advertisement in Indicateur Davoine shows a thriving business for Ducommun. The firm is already focused on "Fabrique de montres anti-magnétiques" with interchangeable anchor movements from 24 to 40 lignes. The images show well-finished pocket watches with "anti-magnetique" on the dial (though no other brand name).

Two other men named "Georges Ducommun", including one from Le Locle, set up businesses in La Chaux-de-Fonds in this same time period. One produced watch cases, a business that continued for years after his death in 1931. The other produced watches, including fancy ladies watches, with his wife under the name Ducommun-Robert.

Doxa

The Doxa brand name was registered on March 7, 1902 by Georges Ducommun of Le Locle. It was specified as "anti-magnétique", suggesting that the name was related to the anti-magnetic stainless steel being developed at that time by inventors such as Charles-Frédéric Guillaume and Paul Perret. These were commonly called "inoxydable" and marked "Inox", giving rise to brand names like Doxa. He registered "Automobil Doxa" in 1903. The name was used in advertising as early as 1903 on anti-magnetic watches.

In 1905, Doxa took part in the Liége Exhibition, though not as a competitor since Georges Ducommun was a member of the jury for watchmaking. In 1925, at the Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris, Ducommun was called upon to serve as president of the Swiss watchmaking group and vice-president of the international group.

The factory appears to have been expanded by 1908 with a new building between Doxa and neighbor Zenith. The company was also advertising 8-day watches and special automobile clocks, and the gold medal won at the 1906 Milan exhibition. The company boasted that it had patented watch movements from 10 to 60 lignes.

The company was officially re-named Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun in December 1909, following the 1908 introduction of an 8-day watch movement that proved its value on the wrists of German soldiers in World War I. The firm was officially called "Doxa Watch Factory" by 1910, when the brand name DOXA was again registered alongside "OXA".

In May 1920, Georges Ducommun relinquished control, giving power of attorney for The Doxa Watch Factory to Jacques André Nardin, son of famed watchmaker and industrialist Paul-David Nardin and grandson of famed Le Locle watchmaker Ulysse Nardin. Nardin married Ducommun's daughter Héléne and would take over the firm following Ducommun's death in 1936. The couple lead it to fame in the post-war period. Nardin brought in Bernard Laberty and Alcide Matile in 1924 and Edouard-Christian Jenny in 1926 to help manage the growing business.

Doxa registered a detailed pictorial logo featuring a classical figure, Roman numerals, and the phrase "La Règle du Temps" in 1926. This is likely the work of Edouard Jenny, who took commercial responsibility and dramatically updated the firm's marketing in the following decades.

In the 1920s, Ducommun became involved in other Swiss industrial concerns. He became vice-president of the Sonceboz Watch Factory in December 1920 and was vice-president of the new Martini automobile factory in Saint-Blaise in 1924. He also became involved in Zenith following its rough times in the post-war period under Jämes Favre, joining the board in 1925 as Favre was forced out. Ducommun and Jacques Nardin joined the board of Le Phare (also formerly controlled by Favre) in 1927. It is likely that his Le Locle connections made him a friend of Georges Perrenoud, who took over Zenith and Le Phare at this time and soon spun out the precision machine tools firm Dixi. Ducommun also joined the board of H. Moser & Cie. in 1927. Ducommun and Nardin left Le Phare in 1929 and Ducommun left Martini the following year and left Zenith in 1934.

The Doxa factory purchased an anti-shock patent from the Neuchatel cantonal bank in 1933. This had been registered by the Election factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1929 but almost immediately taken by the bank. Doxa transferred it to Zodiac, also of Le Locle, in 1935.

Manufacture des Montres Doxa under Jacques Nardin

When Ducommun died on August 25, 1936, he was replaced at the helm by Jacques Nardin. He moved quickly to create a new Société Anonyme, Manufacture des Montres Doxa, with 500,000 francs share capital. 300,000 francs (in shares and cash) were paid to Georges' widow and an additional 100,000 francs in shares to his daughter, Héléne, wife of Jacques Nardin. The firm was located at Rue des Billodes 26 in Le Locle, next to the large Zenith factory. Amusingly, the company initially filed to take over "Georges Ducommun, Manufacture des Montres Doxa" before realizing that the official name of the company was the English form, "Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun"; this was rectified in September.

Edouard Jenny of Berne was made commercial director at this time, a role he had been working up to since joining the company 10 years earlier. Jenny focused the company on selling in the upper-mid range at "the finest retailers" and added an emphasis on ladies watches. His descendants would purchase the Doxa brand and re-launch it in 1997. Accountant Bernard Laberty assumed a larger management role as well, and was likely responsible for the company's expansion and financial success through and after the war.

Doxa returned to the battlefield in World War II with a series of popular durable wristwatches and chronographs used by Swiss and German soldiers and aviators. Jenny advertised heavily in Swiss-market journals, focusing on the precision, protection from magnetism, shocks, and water, and thin and updated designs of the company's watches. The addition of chronographs by 1943 was also a reaction to their popularity among aviators.

Under Edouard Jenny, Doxa became a prolific advertiser in the 1940s, hiring the top commercial illustrators in Switzerland and working with the graphic design firms Haefeli and Fiedler.

After the war in 1944 Doxa established the "Fonds des œuvres sociales de Manufacture des montres DOXA" or workers' compensation fund. Many watchmaking companies established similar funds at this time as they shifted from familial to corporate structures. The fund added old-age pensions for workers in 1948. Eric-Alfred Perrenoud of La Sagne and Ponts-de-Martel joined Laberty in managing the financial side of the business along with Emile-Albert Jauslin from Muttenz.

Jacques Nardin died unexpectedly in 1950, with ownership of the company falling to his widow (and daughter of founder Georges Ducommun) Hélène. She managed the firm as chairwoman of the board until her death in 1955.

Doxa in the 1950s and 1960s

Doxa continued a strong association with Germany after the war, outfitting the German World Cup football team with gold watches and introducing "Grafic", a line of Bauhaus square watches in 1956.

In 1967, Doxa introduced the "Sub", a waterproof diving watch popular with sport and military divers. The orange dial of the Doxa Sub would become a hallmark for the brand.

Doxa was facing hard times, however, and the brand joined ASUAG in 1968. It was placed in their new Synchron group alongside Ernest Borel and Cyma and the three brands were marketed together throughout the 1970's. At the height of the quartz crisis, the Synchron group brands were sold and Ernest Borel and Doxa were taken over by Aubry Frères in 1978. Doxa would be Aubry's primary brand in Europe, while Ernest Borel focused on the Americas and China and West End watch in the Middle East.

Doxa Today

In 1997, the Doxa brand was purchased by the Jenny family of Bienne, Switzerland. The Sub was re-launched in 2002 and the Grafic in 2007. Once again, Doxa focuses on sport and especially dive watches, with the orange dial Sub prominently featured. In 2014 the brand released an 8 Day "manufacture" movement watch to celebrate their history.

Timeline

• 1866 - Georges-Arthur Ducommun-dit-Verron is born in Le Locle
• 1889 - Georges Ducommun begins production of watches at his home, Girardet 68, in Le Locle
• 1895, April - The head of the business Georges Ducommun in Le Locle is Georges-Arthur Ducommun, in Le Locle, domiciled there. Type of business: Manufacture of watches. Offices and workshops: 68 Girardet
• 1896, May - Georges Ducommun marries Lucie Droz-dit-Busset; two children soon follow
• 1896 - The Ducommun family and business move to a larger house at Rue des Billodes 28
• 1900 - Georges Ducommun constructs a factory adjacent to his home on Rue des Billodes
• 1902, March 7 - The "Anti-Magnétique DOXA" trademark (CH14384) is registered in Switzerland
• 1903, September 3 - The "Automobil DOXA" trademark is registered in Switzerland
• 1904, December 6 - The "SIDUS" trademark is registered in Switzerland
• 1905, January 28 - The "Protos" trademark is registered in Switzerland
• 1907, August 6 - The "Va Sano" trademark is registered in Switzerland
• 1909, December - The eponymous business of Georges Ducommun in Le Locle changed its name to "Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun".
• 1909, December 13 - Two design patents (CH17517) are registered for watch movements
• 1910, March 5 - The stand-alone "DOXA" trademark is registered in Switzerland
• 1910, December 30 - The "OXA" trademark (CH28603) is registered in Switzerland
• 1919 - The Ducommun factory at Rue des Billodes is expanded
• 1919, May 16 - Hélène-Lucie Ducommun marries Jacques-André Nardin, son of Paul-David Nardin and grandson of Ulysse Nardin
• 1920 - The young son of Georges Ducommun dies while on a business trip to New York
• 1920, May - The Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun in Le Locle gives power of attorney to Jacques-André Nardin
• 1920, December 3 - The "DOMINANT" trademark is registered in Switzerland
• 1920, December - Georges Ducommun becomes vice-president of the board of Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Sonceboz
• 1922, June 9 - The "Anti-Magnétique DOXA" trademark (CH52223) is renewed in Switzerland
• 1923, December 21 - The stand-alone "DOXA" trademark (CH55494) is renewed in Switzerland
• 1924, January 30 - The "SIDUS" trademark (CH55669) is renewed in Switzerland
• 1924, June 28 - Georges Ducommun is made vice-president of the board of La Nouvelle Société Anonyme des Automobiles Martini of Saint-Blaise
• 1924, September - The Doxa Watch Factory Georges Ducommun, manufacture of watches, in Locle gives power of attorney to Bernard Laberty, from Le Locle, and Alcide Matile, from La Sagne, both domiciled in Le Locle, who will commit the house by their signature affixed collectively.
• 1925, February 4 - The "Protos" trademark (CH58076) is renewed in Switzerland
• 1925, April 23 - Georges Ducommun joins the board of Comptoir des Montres Zénith in Le Locle
• 1926, October - Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun, in Le Locle gives power of attorney to Edouard-Christian Jenny, originally from Bern, who will sign jointly with Bernard Laberty and Alcide Matile.
• 1926, November 22 - The "DOXA - La Règle du Temps" picture mark (CH63151) featuring a classical figure holding the hands of a clock with roman numerals is registered
• 1927, November 8 - Georges Ducommun, Jacques Nardin, and Alfred Nardin join the board of Fabriques Le Phare SA in Le Locle
• 1927, June 3 - Georges Ducommun joins the board of H. Moser & Cie. in Le Locle
• 1929, December 16 - Georges Perrenoud takes over Fabriques Le Phare SA, removing Georges Ducommun, Jacques Nardin, and Alfred Nardin from the board
• 1929, December 26 - The pictorial "DOXA" logo (CH71491) with hands emanating from a pocket watch is registered
• 1930, June 30 - Georges Ducommun is removed from the board of La Nouvelle Société Anonyme des Automobiles Martini
• 1930, May 18 - Georges Ducommun is removed from the board of Comptoir des Montres Zénith and Zénith Watch Co., Great Britain
• 1931, April 2 - The "OXA" trademark (CH74653) is renewed in Switzerland
• 1933, April 26 - Doxa takes over patent CH141098, "Dispositif d'absorption de chocs et de protection de pivots d'axes dans les mouvements d'horlogerie, compteurs etc" from the Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise; it was originally registered by Fabrique Election on July 27, 1929 before being transferred to the bank on July 15, 1930
• 1934, April 6 - Jacques Nardin replaces Georges Ducommun on the board of Fabriques des Montres Zénith
• 1935, August 28 - Patent CH141098 is transferred from Doxa to Montres Zodiac of Le Locle
• 1936, February 1 - Doxa registers the "AXOD" trademark (CH87685) in Switzerland
• 1936, August 25 - Georges Ducommun dies
• 1937, February 8 - A new public limited company called Manufacture des Montres Doxa with headquarters in Le Locle took over the assets and liabilities of the firm "Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun", and continued the operation of the factory. This recovery takes place on the basis of an inventory and a balance sheet as at 31 December 1936 with assets of 698,169 fr. 43 including: real estate, goods, receivables, securities and cash, and liabilities of 398,169 fr. 43 including: a claim secured by mortgage of 196,750 fr. and unsecured claims. The net assets of 300,000 francs are payable by the delivery of 200 shares of 1000 francs to the widow of Georges Ducommun and 100 shares to Héléne Nardin née Ducommun. The duration of the company is unlimited. The share capital is set at 500,000 francs, divided into 500 bearer shares of 1000 francs each, fully released. The company's publications will be made in the Swiss Official Trade Gazette. The administration of the company is entrusted to one or more members who bind the company by their individual signature. Only one director was appointed in the person of Jacques-André Nardin, son of Paul-David, industrialist, from Locle, domiciled there. Offices: Rue des Billodes 26.
• 1937, March - Following the death of Georges Ducommun, the firm "Doxa Watch Factory, Georges Ducommun" is deleted, with assets and liabilities taken over by the limited company "Manufacture des Montres Doxa"; Edouard Jenny is made commercial director and accountant Bernard Laberty is board proxy of the new company
• 1939, January - Georges Ducommun is officially removed from the board of H. Moser & Cie.
• 1943, November 8 - The "DOXA" mark (CH105623) is renewed under the new company name in Switzerland
• 1944, May 31 - The "Fonds des œuvres sociales de Manufacture des montres DOXA" (workers' compensation fund) is established for Doxa workers; the board of directors consists of Jacques-André Nardin (president), Edouard-Christian Jenny (vice president), and Bernard Laberty (secretary and treasurer)
• 1944, July 20 - The company name is changed to "Manufacture des Montres Doxa SA"; the purpose of the company is "manufacture, purchase and sale of watches. It may be interested in all: commercial, industrial, financial, movable or real estate transactions relating directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, to the above object or to any similar or related objects, both in Switzerland and abroad"; 500 bearer vouchers without nominal value are issued giving holders the right to a portion of the net profit; directors are named: Jacques-André Nardin (managing director) and Edouard-Christian Jenny (director and commercial director)
• 1945, December 18 - The board of the workers' fund is modified: Jacques-André Nardin remains president while Edouard-Christian Jenny becomes first vice-president and Bernard Laberty becomes second vice-president; Eric-Alfred Perrenoud of La Sagne and Ponts-de-Martel becomes secretary and treasurer
• 1946, January 17 - the board of directors confers power of attorney to Emile-Albert Jauslin from Muttenz
• 1946, January 26 - The "DOXA - La Règle du Temps" picture mark (CH114073) is renewed
• 1948, January - The board of directors confers power of attorney to Eric-Alfred Perrenoud
• 1948, January 28 - The workers' fund is expanded to cover old-age pensions
• 1949, December 7 - The pictorial "DOXA" logo (CH131514) with hands emanating from a pocket watch is renewed