wan song, the end of the road, the final curtain: whatever the metaphor, a page has turned for Dodane. In the hands of its founding family for five consecutive generations, in September 2022 Cédric Dodane filed the company for bankruptcy. With more liabilities than assets, it is now in the process of liquidation.

This will be sad news for many, both inside and outside the watch industry. For anyone familiar with the history of pilot’s chronographs, Dodane is a name that commands respect. The Dodane family, which registered the brand in 1857, has been making watches without interruption since 1848 and up until the mid-1990s Dodane was a fixture of the civilian and military markets. The company maintained strong ties with Swiss industry without ever leaving its home in Besançon and without ever relinquishing its independence.

Dodane watches in a 1972 issue of Europa Star

©Archives Europa Star

Cédric Dodane opened its archives to Emmanuel Breguet when the latter was researching his book on military chronographs, prior to the return of the Breguet Type XX – certain of which were, at one point, assembled by Mathey-Tissot. Dodane, meanwhile, was partner to Heuer, Sinn, even Van Cleef & Arpels. For more than a century, Dodane was a go-to contractor, appreciated as much for its discretion as for the precision of the watches it supplied to pilots and the armed forces.

A changing landscape

So what happened? One factor has been the significant decline in military sales over the past 30 years, as pilots have traded mechanical instruments for Garmin smartwatches. The retirement then death of Laurent Dodane, father to Cédric and his watchmaker brother Florian, was another turning point. A regular at Baselworld, where he couldn’t take two steps without being hailed by a friend, retailer, partner or competitor, this jovial figure had built up a network on a par with his fifty-year career.

In 1989 Europa Star published this article on Laurent Dodane. The entrepreneur was an eminent member of several official bodies representing the French watch industry.

©Archives Europa Star

ENor is the competitive landscape the same. Founded in 1994, Bell & Ross got an early taste of success with its BR-01. Four years later, Chanel took a stake in the brand, giving it additional clout. In 2000 Richemont bought IWC whose Top Gun collections siphoned off sales of pilot’s chronographs for years.

In 2009 Breitling demonstrated its manufacturing chops with its first in-house movement. Eight years later, in 2017, a majority stake was sold to CVC Capital Partners, which put former IWC Chief Executive Georges Kern at the helm (Kern who, incidentally, also bought the remaining shares). Then there is Breguet’s offensive in the pilot’s watch segment with the now 100% in-house-manufactured Type XX. Investments such as these, which run into the tens of millions, were well beyond the means of family-owned Dodane.

Cash-strapped

Numerous doors remained open, nonetheless. The brand had several contracts signed or pending with military forces. Cédric Dodane was also working on the relaunch of the company’s in-house movement, introduced in 1936 (possibly earlier) alongside collaborations, over the decades, with Valjoux, Dubois Dépraz and Excelsior Park.

However, the family firm lacked the cashflow to put these opportunities to work. Even more problematic was the steady build-up of debt: small amounts but sufficient for banks to refuse the loans the company needed if it were to remain in business.

Compulsory liquidation was ordered in May 2023 and the company’s accounts were closed. Cédric Dodane had taken the (wise) precaution to separate the company from the brand which he owns… and which he must sell to cover debt. In a cruel twist of fate, he is left in possession of a prestigious name worth a potential six figures and a company worth nothing at all.

What next?

Discussions are underway with a court-appointed receiver and several letters of intent have been forwarded, with no shortage of brands and investors eager to gain control of such a desirable property – not least its name and history.

Cédric Dodane hasn’t dismissed the idea, but on certain conditions: “It would be unthinkable [for someone] to lay claim to the work of my ancestors over five generations and the family not be associated. My brother and I are responsible for the preservation, both culturally and historically, of the contribution which descendants of the Dodane family have made to watchmaking in France. We are the guardians of this brand which belongs to us and is none other than our family name.” He has had his fill of recovery plans and management roadmaps; all he wants is to “keep the brand alive, and to design and sell beautiful watches. It’s what I do.”

Some potential buyers are prepared to let him go on doing this. While the first rule of capitalism is to make more and spend less, a number of family firms are lending a sympathetic ear to Cédric Dodane’s concerns. Herbelin is one. Contacted in an individual capacity, Maxime Herbelin can see “definite interest. This is a strong French brand, a brand that has soul, and it shouldn’t be let go.” Like Cédric Dodane, Maxime Herbelin is at the head of a legacy; a name that is also a brand. Except Herbelin is collegially managed and the project hasn’t been fully examined. A page has turned but the next chapter will depend on which pen Cédric Dodane chooses.