I wrote this article after listening to the 1977 punk/rock song on the radio and reading the introduction of a new watch. The song “No More Heroes” by the British band The Stranglers said, “What happened to all heroes? When I read somewhere about an introductory article about a new watch from the French brand Herbelin, the song was still playing in my head. The name sparked the memory of the brand as part of a world that we began to discover in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was a fascinating universe where brands like Ikepod, Dubey & Schaldenbrand, Dewitt, Manufacture Royale and more caught my eye. I wondered what they were doing today.
The watch that partially inspired this article was the new cushioned Harvelin Newport Heritage Diver. According to the brand that stopped using the founder’s name in 2022, the watch takes inspiration from the iconic 1970s dive watches, embracing the spirit of Newport in 1988. It sounds a bit confusing, but it leads to a slightly mishmashed clock. The 42mm Newport Héritage diver appears to be descendants of forced polygamous marriages between Cartier Pasha, Panerai Radiomir and an unknown but very familiar diving watch with day/date indications. Anyway, at least the watches designed, assembled and regulated at the Schalkemont Atelier in Harvelin in the Francecomte area reminded me of truly notable watches and interesting brands I’ve never heard of before. What happened to my hero?
Dubey & Schalenbrand aerodyn duo – Image: Analog: Shift
See brands from last year: Dubey & Schaldenbrand
When I was first interested in mechanical watchmaking, I captivated two things about Dubey & Schaldenbrand. First it was a name. How do you pronounce the name in the first part that looks like the second part of French and German? It leads to brain and mouth confusion. Stick to a soft start and a stiff ending and pronounce it like “Doo-Bay Ay Shall-Den-Brand.” “Ay” is actually the French word “et” because Dubay and Charden brand were born from the town of Rachakudo de Fond, a historic and UNESCO-protected watchmaking town in the French-speaking Canton of the same name.
Dubey & Schaldenbrand Spriral Rattrapante
The inventor of split second chronographs
The second thing that fascinated me about Dubey & Schaldenbrand is that it was founded in 1946 by the inventors of the Split Second Chronograph, Georges Dubey and René Schaldenbrand. The two watchmakers created a double chronograph called Index-Mobile. This created a movement that features a coil spring that holds two overlapping seconds of hands. This allowed one hand to stop within 59 seconds and catch up to the other. One pusher resets both hands to zero for the chronograph seconds. The split second chronograph, or Ratlapante, has always been an object of attraction and desire for me. IWC’s famous doppel chronograph is nothing more than a Holy Grail watch. I also remember the Girard-Perregaux Rattrapante Ref. 9014 Crown integrated pusher is very good.
Girard-Perregaux Rattrapante Ref. 9014 – Image: Tahoma Watches
The same can be said for the 2005 Dubey & Schaldenbrand Spiral Rattrapante. Apart from the split second chronograph function, the watch features a blue equality balance spring, and the 40mm case is 46.5mm long, thanks to the mobile lug. Not only is the Rattrapante a homage to its invention in 1946, but also the clear lugs that were fashionable at the time, making the Spiral Rattrapante a real, crusty watch.
Dubey & Schaldenbrand aerodyn duo – Image: View collection
The 1998 Aerodyn Duo is not a Rattrapante, but it is still appealing. This is a dual watch with an Art Deco-inspired Tonneau Calvex case. The interior beats the automatic ETA 2892-A2-based movement that drives the main handset, as well as 12-hour hand, 24-hour indicators and calendar. The way the Arabic numbers and the brand name at the bottom of the dial is attractive and appealing. It can be labeled as a Franck Muller alternative, but I prefer this “Doo-Bay ay shall-den-brand.”
Hemipode Chrono – Image: Craft + Tailored
Hip to round: ikepod
Yes, the ikepod is still up and running, but that’s not the ikepod I once knew. The brand itself says: “Same design, new price.” When Ikepod debuted in 1994, it quickly became one of the hottest names in watchmaking. Its founder is famous for Marc Newson, an Australian designer who designed the Apple Watch in 2015 and designed Swiss businessman Oliver Ike. He is the name “Ike”, and the “Pod” part comes from a large 60mm design in 1986 for a large 60mm watch to be worn on the sleeve. I remember being blown away by modern rounded pieces that didn’t appear to belong to the museum’s gift shop, unlike the current ones. Instead, they looked like modern watches that took their rightful place in the evolving world of traditional watchmaking.
Ikepod seaslug gmt from the brand’s vintage corner
Monoblock watches were exclusive and costly. They also had great names like Hemipode, Megapode, Seaslug and more. This work introduces a new design language to watches. The design-driven collectors embraced the brand, but it wasn’t enough to keep it up. In 2012, Ikepod shut down. The current brand is a 2018 reboot. The watch is more affordable than ever, but it has lost a significant portion of the original magic. Luckily, there are still some magic available in the vintage section on the IKEPOD website.
Dewitt WX-1 Concept Watch
Named: Dewitt, Emperor Napoleon, King Jerome of Westphalia, Leopold II of Belgium
When Baselworld was still the biggest watch fair, a temporary space outside the large exhibition hall housed a high-end independent brand, and the two I visited were the production of DeWitt and Royale. It must have been fascinated by my history. Let me explain. Jerome de Witt, founder of DeWitt, is a man with a passion for music, mathematics and mechanics, and is a direct descendant of Emperor Napoleon, King Jerome of Westphalia, and Leopold II of Belgium. Founded in 2003, Dewitt, the Haute Horlogerie brand, quickly stood out in a case built on so-called empire pillars.
Dewitt Academia Endless Drive
In true autohorology fashion, the brand has launched a mini miracle of many traditional complications, unique ones, telescopic WX-1 watches and groundbreaking micromechanics. However, my favorite DeWitt model is later creation. The Academia Endless Drive was announced at the 2018 Salon International De La Haute Horlogerie (SIHH). The watch features an in-house 320-part caliber DW1653, featuring a rotating endless screw that appears in the center of the dial, reminding me of the owl’s face. The helical screws connect to the watch’s winding mechanism. When the 59-hour power reserve is exhausted, the screws will rotate. When you rewind the clock, the screws move along the vertical axis along the attractive sight.
Today, Dewitt’s headquarters are located in Meyrin-Satigny, Geneva, and includes a museum dedicated to the brand and its founders. In 2015, the museum was in the news as it was a victim of the invasion. The robber stole most of the museum’s collection, leaving two clocks on a broken display and dropping another.
We manufacture Royale Adn
Enlightened Watch Manufacturing
Manufacture Royale is a brand with links to the Age of Enlightenment and the famous philosopher Voltaire. I recently passed the Chateau des Voltaire near the Swiss-French border. Built in Farnie Voltaire near Geneva between 1758 and 1766, the site was one of the most famous philosophers of Enlightenment for 20 years. For a while I thought that Voltaire would support the watchmaking studio in the area and establish the Royale production in 1770, but soon forgot again. Thanks to the strangler, it’s all back.
The modern manufacturing royale was revived in 2010 by Arnaud Favre. In 2013, the brand was purchased by GTN Luxury Holding SA, as announced by the Swiss Watch Industry Federation. Ownership today is blurred as there is no information to check the status of the two entities beyond the 2013 announcement. The brand has a website launched in 2024, so Royale’s production may still produce watches today.
Royale Opéra Répétition Several Minutes Tour Billon No. 01 Manufacture – Image: Ineichen Auctioner
Opera House-like clock
Think about making Royale watches. This is a sculpted piece with an outstanding case featuring a tubular shaft surrounding a round frame. Luxurious, complicated, for everyone, they were certainly interesting and very interesting in the 2000s spirit. The 2017 ADN will feature a 67-part case housing with a width of 46mm and manufactures its ninth in-house movement, Royale’s Calibre MR09. The movement’s offset tour bion is attached to ceramic ball bearings and uses silicon escapement wheels and pallets. It also displays two separate time zones.
Opéra Répétition Fractional Tourbillon No. 01 is even rougher. The watch features an MR01 caliber developed by the Fabrique Du Temps Completions atelier for Royale production and comes with a 50mm folding bellows-shaped case. And yes, “Opera” links to the clock design cue, the famous Sydney Opera House.
Royale Opéra Répétition Several Minutes Tour Billon No. 01 Manufacture – Image: Ineichen Auctioner
What happened to the hero? Possible explanations
So what happened to my watch hero? They seem to be working in the shadows recently, rather than in the same spotlight that allows high-end brands like De Bethune, Urwerk, and Mb&F Shine. This is amazing. Because the luxury and enthusiastic works of Manufacturing Royale and DeWitt are in the same spirit. Other factors must be at play, such as distribution, communication, not part of a powerful conglomerate. Luxury watchmaking is a field where brands risk losing their relevance due to economic slump, increased competition and changing consumer preferences. Geopolitical instability is no use either, nor is it a lack of innovation or engagement with a young audience.
Some of my heroes last year were unable to adapt to these structural and cultural changes and were able to decline irrelevantly. Should we try to make them relevant again? For example, do you think you’re wearing a new version of the Art Deco-inspired Aerodyn Duo? Please let me know in the comments below and share some of your forgotten heroes.
