Lot 332

DuBois & Cie.

A representative Swiss silver enamel hunting case pocket watch, sold to the watchmaker and jeweller Rudolf Kähler in Luebeck

Sold

The Uhren-Kähler watch company opened their new jewellery shop including workshop for repair and production in 1928 at Breite Strasse 27 in Lübeck.

In 1785 Philippe Du Bois and his sons founded the "Du Bois & Fils 1785" watch company at the family seat in Le Locle. Du Bois had already established extensive business connections all over Europe and America as a cloth merchant, which made things much easier for the start-up watch company. During the 19th century Du Bois & Fils opened branches in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States and business boomed. Due to its proximity to the trade fairs the German Frankfurt branch was particularly important.
At the time Du Bois & Fils was one of the most important établisseurs of the Le Locle region. He employed a relatively large number of independent artisans. His account books, preserved by the family, show that he sold watches of all types throughout nearly all of Europe, as well as in the United States, the Middle and Far East, and even as far as China.
While certain of their watches are signed, most bear the signature of the wholesaler, the importer, or the retailer.
All these watches, whether or not they have repeating mechanisms, and whatever their signature, were produced in Switzerland. They are among the best watches of the kind made at the time.