Doxa S.A. was founded in 1889 by Georges Ducommun as a maker of dress watches and other timepieces. The brand would eventually become known for producing some of the most robust dive watches in the world, but they continued making really beautiful dress watches at the same time.

Case in point, this model, which precedes the first of those dive watches by about a decade. On the surface, it's a relatively subdued, albeit highly attractive, stainless steel dress piece that would look as good with a suit as it would a t-shirt.

But underneath, it gets a bit more interesting. That's because this ref. 15001 features a deadbeat escapement—also known as a "jumping seconds" movement—which foregoes the typical sweeping motion of a mechanical movement and instead "snaps" to each second like a quartz movement. It's similar to what you'd find inside an Omega “Synchrobeat” or Rolex Tru-Beat and, while it's more or less a novelty today, it's also a really interesting mile-marker in watch history. 

SPECS

CASE & BRACELET

The impressive 35mm stainless steel case retains strong factory dimensions and minimal signs of use present. The Doxa crown is original to the watch. The case back shows nominal wear and retains all of its original factory markings in deep and crisp condition. It comes supplied on a two-piece leather strap.

DIAL & HANDS

The excellent silver dial is in exceptionally well-preserved condition and features a subtle yet handsome warm patina throughout, showing no damage. The radium lume-filled hour markers have aged to a rich golden-beige patina, under UV light inspection the 3 o'clock lume plot exhibits minor degrdation with the rest of the lume plots remaining fully intact. The original radium dauphine-style hands coordinate with the dial patina nicely with no degradation present under UV light inspection.

ACCESSORIES 

None. The watch was recently serviced and is keeping time perfectly, backed by a 1-year warranty on accurate timekeeping.