Preowned Dubey & Schaldenbrand Watches

About Dubey & Schaldenbrand

When watchmakers Georges Dubey and Rene Schaldenbrand invented a little spring that they found worthy of patenting on March 12, 1946, they surely never thought that the company they would form around it would still be in existence sixty years later. But a good idea never dies, and the simple mechanism they developed to enhance a stopwatch’s split-seconds function became a cult object, bringing the pair a reputation as innovative watchmakers offering classic, affordable timepieces. But it was perhaps the visible spring on the front of the watch’s dial that fascinated people most.

Dubey, an instructor at the reputable school of watchmaking in La Chaux-de-Fonds, and watchmaker Schaldenbrand had wound the spirally shaped spring around the stem of the sweep second hand of a Landeron chronograph caliber. This little spring was the ingenious main ingredient of the reset system for the large second hand of the rattrapante. This ‘people’s rattrapante,’ a mechanism less expensive to manufacture than the traditional variation, took the hearts of watch fans by storm, and its official name, Index Mobile, became synonymous with that of the Dubey & Schaldenbrand brand.

Today the Dubey & Schaldenbrand philosophy is not only cemented in the ingenious invention of its founding fathers, but also rests in the anachronistic, affectionate care for production founded on the principles of the classic art of making beautiful watches. The owner of the company, Cinette Robert, a daughter of the watchmaker dynasty Meylan-LeCoultre and an absolute expert on early watch masterpieces, has an impressive talent for combining the technology of modern mechanical movements with timeless and classic lines.

Inspired by a new feel for hues and textures available in this modern age of watchmaking, Robert has now created a colorful model that appeals not only to a new generation of watch fans, but also to dyed-in-the-wool mechanical traditionalists looking for something a little different.

The new Coupe’s stately case perfectly hugs the wrist thanks to its aeorodynamic shape. But the stunning dial is actually what immediately draws the eye to this timepiece. This component is as meticulously finished as the timepiece’s movement, featuring twenty-four shining guilloche rays emanating from the center, intertwined with a wavy guilloche pattern, known in Switzerland as vagues, giving the white dial its very special gleam. The eye-catcher is, however, the twelve rare, painstakingly hand-painted rainbow numerals that range from ‘warm’ hues of red and yellow at the top of the dial to ‘cold’ colors green, blue, and violet opposite them. These numerals of the Rainbow Coupe interplay with the oval-shaped minute scale encircling the center portion of the dial and containing the sub-dial for subsidiary seconds at the bottom and the double window for the large date at the top, a style that makes the date extremely legible without being overly obtrusive. The numerals are also available in a silver or gold powdered style.

This model’s hands are also of special note, for they are based on a design found in a vintage Dubey & Schaldenbrand advertisement. ‘La montre DS marche bien,’ it read: ‘the DS watch works well.’ And it still does, outfitted as this model is with a finely finished ETA-based automatic movement with a chronometer-quality escapement.