DuBois et fils

DuBois et fils is a Swiss watchmaker.

Under the brand name DuBois et fils, the oldest watch factory in Switzerland (founded in 1785) produces mechanical luxury watches in a very limited edition. Based in Basel and Le Locle, the company breaks new ground in the tension between tradition and innovation (for example first crowdinvesting in the luxury watch area, launch of “Rent Your Luxury Watch”).

The history of the founding family dates back to the 18th century. First as successful textile entrepreneurs, then as pioneers in watch making, the DuBois family built up their name and reputation reaching far beyond Swiss borders.

• 1743 Moïse DuBois begins trade in pocket watches.
• 1751 Moïse DuBois begins to produce watches.
• 1760 Moïs' children, Philippe und Isabeau, take over the company, which is then renamed “Philippe DuBois & Soeur”.
• 1785 Philippe's sons join the company, which is then renamed to “Philippe DuBois & Fils”.
• 1804 DuBois et fils starts distribution in the USA.
• 1910 DuBois et fils begins to produce wrist watches.
• 1950 The decision to focus on limited edition watches is made.
• 2010 Thomas Steinemann becomes the new owner of “Philippe DuBois & Fils SA”. Repositioning of the brand and development of an innovative marketing and sales concept.
• 2012 Launch of crowdinvesting campaign through the company's own website.
• 2013 Successful closing of the crowdinvestment. 587 people from 21 countries invest 1.5 million Swiss francs on shares of DuBois et fils.
• 2016 Launch of “Rent Your Luxury Watch”.
• 2020 DuBois et fils brings back the first automatic movement with a double-sided winding rotor – the Bidynator – in its original form: a Swiss original from the 1950’s.
• 2021 330 historical Caliber AS 1895 movements were given a digital twin, a DBF Token. A new watch was later created from each tokenized movement: the DBF007. It is the first watch collection in Switzerland to be linked to a blockchain.
• 2022 New series with tokenised movements on sale: 330 Caliber AS 1985 made by Adolf Schild in Grenchen, 176 pieces of Caliber 692 made by Felsa SA in 1948 and 495 pieces of Caliber Record 1959-2 made in Geneva went on sale this year.
• 2022 First digital chronicle in watch industry is going live. From now on, watch owners of DuBois et fils can save pictures, texts, videos, or audio files in the digital dashboard of their personal watch.
• 2022 Launch of the DBF008. A limited number of original Swiss movements from the 1960s tick in the new limited edition watches.
• 2023 First watches with NFT diary sold at auction.

All watch models of the highly limited editions of DuBois et fils are limited to a maximum of 99 pieces per design worldwide. A simple, minimalist design, high precision and processing precious materials characterize the timepieces of DuBois et fils.

In 2013, DuBois gained international notoriety as the first luxury brand ever to pitch a successful, innovative, equity-based crowdinvesting project. Five months after the initial public offering on the company's website, 587 private investors from 21 countries joined the bandwagon investing 1.5 million Swiss francs on shares of DuBois et fils stocks. To date, the DuBois et fils community has grown to 1.000 watch enthusiasts from over 30 countries.

The company maintains a fully paperless relationship with its customers. Each person who shops at DuBois et fils receives a customer profile with a personal dashboard. Individually tailored information on their own products provides information on historical facts about the watch, the latest projects, events or special offers.

Consumer buying behavior has changed markedly in recent years. DuBois et fils has responded to the challenges ahead. For example, by means of the online brand store it is visible which models are still available for purchase, at which retailer it can be found or whether a watch has been reported as stolen.

DuBois et fils was the first watch brand worldwide to present the concept of “Rent your luxury watch”. This exceptional merchandising concept gave interested parties exclusive access to the highly limited watch collection of a traditional company without making a significant financial commitment.

DuBois et fils has an exceptional stock of historic Swiss movements – for example a series of Felsa movements in the DBF0061, a calibre AS-1895 by the manufacturer A. Schild S.A. in the Diver DBF007 2or an AS-1985 from the 1960s in the DBF0083.

In 2021, the company began a special campaign: At DuBois et fils, purchasing a watch starts with choosing a tokenized movement. Those who purchase one of these limited edition Swiss automatic movements will decide in which watch it will be installed later. Owners can later choose to purchase a watch with their movement.

Philippe DuBois et fils SA
Hirzbodenweg 95
CH-4052 Basel

T +41 61 266 1785
F +41 61 266 1789
E info@duboisfils.ch

• DuBois et fils, company website