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| Joined: | Tue Jan 12th, 2010 |
| Location: | Tampa, Florida USA |
| Posts: | 28 |
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My father (Jon D.) and I started this company about 5 years ago in the U.S. under the name of Steinhart. We picked this name because the guy we were employing as our designer at the time was named Steinhart. We built up a reputation for service and quality products.
Two years into it, we were threatened with a lawsuit from Steinhausen to change our name. We decided not to be in court for the next few years, so after long research we found the historic name of Debaufre. Once the change went into effect, our designer decided he didn't want to work for a company not bearing his name and abruptly abandoned us, went back to Germany, took our designs with him and started his own little company. He is not associated with us.
With my father recently retiring and the addition of Brandon (new CEO) and a few other key individuals, some fundamental changes are in progress for Debaufre. To clarify, we are still a U.S. based company, we still maintain the strictest attention to customer service and exceptional manufacturing and we are building to be a global brand.
What's changing is the underlying definition of our stylistic branding, slowly transitioning from traditional homage pieces to custom designed pieces. Naturally in any evolution there's going to be some misses among the hits and not every design is going to resonate with everyone, but this is to be expected. Our vision for the future of Debaufre is as a unique brand, but the road to that goal traverses peaks and valleys. We regularly conduct design surveys and gather advice from watch aficionados to guide our creative compass.
Our recent release of the Triton 2000 meter diver, the Aero Gent officer's timepiece and the Nav-B Gmt are a first step towards that goal. Each watch resonates with a different expectation of function and style, granted perhaps not the duplicate homage pieces you are used to, but viewed under unbiased light and given a fair chance, these watches are great in their own right. Remember that many of our designs are a direct result of the input from fellow members on the watch forums.
I hope this clarifies the confusion surrounding Debaufre and the German off-shoot company. If you have any questions, please let us know.