Oldest Swiss Watch Factory DuBois et fils sets up its own Manufactory
Watch professional Thomas Gronenthal takes over the workshop of Switzerland’s oldest watch factory
Basel / Le Locle, June, 18th, 2024 – In 1743, the DuBois family began selling watches in Le Locle, Neuchâtel, and by 1751 they were producing their own models. The company has remained in business ever since and is now based in Basel. DuBois et fils has a collection of original historic Swiss movements. These include thousands of movements that are assembled in the company’s own workshop and installed in new watches in the future. To this end, the company is strengthening its workforce: Thomas Gronenthal, a professional for historical movements and a lecturer at the Bavarian School of Watchmaking, is taking over the development of the DuBois et fils workshop in Muttenz, near Basel. “For us, opening our own workshop to service and manufacture our watches with historical movements is a logical step in our development. Thomas Gronenthal is a proven specialist, especially in historical movements from the best known Swiss manufacturers, and has been supporting us for several years, starting with our successful crowd-investing campaign in 2012. He is therefore the ideal addition to the DuBois et fils team,” says Thomas Steinemann, CEO of the watch brand.
Historic movements in limited quantities
Many DuBois et fils watches can be found in museums, including the historic Sundial pocket watch from 1790 in the collection of the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva. Today’s watches from the historic brand have a unique selling point: The models, with editions ranging from 11 to a maximum of 99 pieces, are all powered by a historic movement from the brand’s old stock. “The historic movements we use offer sustainability and the essence of several generations of famous watchmakers and manufacturers in their construction. These works of mechanical art, with names such as Felsa, Adolf Schild, Record and many more, are renowned for their high precision and meticulous construction, and offer more character with the same performance as today’s movements, which are highly optimised for purely industrial production,” explains Thomas Gronenthal, head of the DuBois et fils atelier. With further acquisitions, the stock of new-old-stock movements is constantly being expanded.
Oldest and most comprehensive digital watch factory
The traditional brand offers the opportunity to acquire a share in the company or to own a single historic movement. All processes – both for the more than one thousand shareholders worldwide and for the sale of movements as investment objects – are completely digital. Interested parties can buy a movement as a token that is anchored in the blockchain. They can then decide whether to buy a watch with their own movement and receive a discount, or sell the movement back to the factory at a profit.
Each watch – as well as the movements – is also anchored in the blockchain. This protects against counterfeiting, theft or misuse, and also allows a special diary to be kept with the watch. Prominent watch enthusiasts such as professional footballer Lucy Bronze, sports presenter Sebastian Hellmann, chess queen Alexandra Kosteniuk and racing driver Fabienne Wohlwend have already kept a private “NFT diary” for DuBois et fils. Their diaries and the corresponding watches were then auctioned off – with impressive proceeds. DuBois et fils’ latest watch project is aimed at aviator watch fans: the DBF009 has a unique combination of crown and protection. A two-bladed propeller is integrated into the design of the side protection, the hub of which serves as a functional crown.
Philippe DuBois & Fils SA (www.duboisfils.ch) is the oldest watch manufacturer in Switzerland, producing strictly limited editions. The factory has been in continuous operation since 1785, and the company received a boost from the world’s first and most successful crowdfunding project in the watch industry. Since then, more than 1,000 watch enthusiasts have invested in DuBois et fils. DuBois et fils watches are powered exclusively by historic movements from the stocks of top manufacturers such as Adolf Schild, Felsa, Record and many more. Only one watch brand owns such a treasure trove and makes the movements transparently available in small quantities via digital tokens. In this way, watch enthusiasts can participate in the development of Switzerland’s oldest watch factory.
