Doxa
In 1889 the pocket watch still reigned supreme, and it was therefore this type of timepiece that Georges Ducommun principally had in mind when he opened his workshops in the small Jura town of Le Locle that year. After the turn of the century, the fine quality of his production earned Ducommun several awards and medals, notably in Liege in 1905 and in Milan the following year. In 1908 he received a patent for an eight-day movement. Two years later, the by now successful entrepreneur registered the trade name "DOXA" for all his time-keeping products. By the start of the 1920s, the portfolio of activities included the completion of instrument-panel clocks for cars and planes. Wristwatches with movement calibres ranging from 8 ¾ to 13 lignes were also included in the collection. During the following years the DOXA collection expanded to include successively ring-watches, ladies' jewellery wristwatches, railway and travel-clocks as well as Japanese-style timepieces, fashion watches and alarms. The company regularly inserted advertisements for all these products in the relevant trade journals. The message proclaimed that DOXA watches had, from the very beginning, been distinguished by their exceptionally reasonable prices. The trend towards value continued even after the death of Ducommun in 1936. It was then that his brother-in-law, Jacques Nardin (grandson of Ulysse, founder of the Ulysse Nardin watch company), assumed responsibility for running the business. DOXA noisily celebrated its 50th anniversary under his management in 1939. A lavish color catalog revealed a huge spectrum of assorted watches. DOXA was even present at the 1939 Swiss national exhibition, displaying diamond-set watches for women and rectangular models for men, including some with desk-shaped cases. 1944 saw the arrival of a round-dialed wristwatch with a hand indicating the date. In the 1950s wristwatches with jumping seconds were among DOXA's products. The 1958 "Grafic" won acclaim for its attractive square case. The "Sub 300" divers' watch, launched in 1967, was, as its name suggested, water-resistant to an underwater depth of 300 meters. DOXA has belonged to Aubry Freres since 1978.
Wristwatches, by Gisbert L.Brunner & Christian Pfeiffer-Belli - Konemann
LINK
- Our Doxa page