If it is true that the first Dolnet saxophones were produced in 1888, these are definitely not the first saxophones that Dolnet produced, but are the earliest I've been able to find. It is possible that, like Buffet, their serial number chart has changed a couple of times.

Based on these horns' keywork, I would estimate they were made in the mid- to late-1930s.

More from Mr. Pimblett: [The pictures from Sax'Melody are from] I think, a French guy who just wanted the world to see the progress he was making in his restoration of an earlier Dolnet tenor; it's a gorgeous sax and I would love to get my hands on it. It has a simple bellbrace, and instead of pearls on the keyguards it looks to have red glass or garnet -- perhaps even red amber -- which was certainly popular with the top-class British and American fishing reel manufacturers as a hardwearing and semi-precious bearing material and decoration back in the '20s -'40s.

There also appears to be an 'intermediate' horn in this series without these 'gems', or it could just be that Dolnet wanted to change things for a year or two.

The later horns in this series switch to the 'diamond' bell to body brace which is found on virtually all later Dolnets.

My Dolnet tenor is, I think, a Belair model, but in silver. It's a big bore sax with the typical hexagonal 'Art Deco' touches to the side keys, the crook ferrule and the C/Eb cluster. The LH thumb-rest is a round pearl, as are the centres on the geometric keyguards. The crook-cork collar is rolled, like Selmer's. Keywork is (apart from the superb Dolnet octave system) otherwise conventional.

Engraving is quite distinctive: elaborate concentric geometic scrolling, all emanating from what might be called a central 'cartouche' -- I think the artist was strongly influenced by the patterns in the magnetic field! The overall effect is stunning.

The action is very free and fast, with a colossal lower end and a really juicy B/Bb.This sax just outroars my '68 VI AND easily equals my '75 VII -- a great rock sax in its own right. With this baby I use a Dukoff D7.
Dating is VERY vague but info. to hand suggests a date for the ser. no. 395**G around 1948-50.
My Belair alto matches the tenor quite precisely, with all the same keywork features except for the octave thumbrest which is black Bakelite or rubber, a straight-drawn collar at the crook-cork and a more conventional round crook ferrule.
The action is very fast indeed, despite the quite oversized low B/Bb key-cups. The sound is again very big, but beautifully mellow around middle D; octave and arpeggio-work is very easy and fluid, though I have had a few pitch problems around upper A/B/C/C# emanating, I think, from tired crook corking.
Engraving is -- contrary to what I read about them being plain 'belt and braces' saxes -- quite exquisite. It has highly detailed and painstakingly executed floral motifs -- far more beautiful than my Selmers, Buffets or Conns. (Are critics talking about the same saxes here, or have I just been lucky in picking up three jewels?!)
Dating for the ser. no.729**J is estimated at about 1959-62.

[The 'Bel Air' model name is based on] a conversation I had with an old guy back a few years ago: he had a Bel Air tenor identical to mine, though of a slightly earlier ser. no. (within a few hundred). He bought it new in Paris back in the late 40's (though he couldn't be certain exactly when). My alto, which came from the same source, matches my tenor closely but again is not marked 'Bel Air'.

My 395** tenor is probably younger by a year or two.
Now, his sax MIGHT have languished in a shop for a good while, so we have to be very cautious about date!

These horns are virtually identical to the Imperial model (listed below). It's possible that Dolnet actually labelled these horns 'Bel Air' for a few years, labelled them 'Imperial' for a few years and then decided not to label them anything at all.

Please see the comments on the Bel Air series horns, above.

It's possible that these horns were only available for this thin serial number range.
I don't have a wider sampling.

Next comes something rather special, my M70 (model name engraved on the bell). This I got from a European dealer who listed it as 'a beginner's horn ... very difficult to play'. I got it for very little.
This horn has some remarkable features such as a bell offset sharply to the right with compensatory adjustments to the bell keys and a narrower bore than the Belairs -- yet with a considerable flair to the bell (reminiscent of the early Buescher 400s).

It hasn't got the big sound of its older brothers, but it is one of the sweetest and most clear-voiced classical tenors I've ever played. Just recently I performed a Haydn duet with harpsichord/electric keyboard, and the audience was ecstatic about the sound: it plays the most controlled pianissimos of any of my saxes and has a lightning-fast action.

Again, it has pearl touches to the keyguards which are typically Dolnet art-deco, though the engraving is quite different: this time in very beautiful series of straight and zigzagged lines in true deco style.

Ser. no. 834** places it very late, possibly 1969-70.

I also know that my M70 's original and battered case is one which was in production in the late 60's -- I actually remember them being sold.

(Purely speculatively: could M70 stand for 'Modele (19)70'? Some manufacturers start off a new decade with a new model [e.g. the Mark VII and Super 80]. If it is true that the case is from the late 60's and this horn was only produced in the early 1970's, this might explain the extreme rarity of the sax, the significant departures from earlier Dolnet keywork and the dramatic lefthand angle on the bell.)

The horn also has a redesigned G#/C#/B/Bb cluster, more 'rounded' (i.e. not 'Art Deco') keys and 'Selmeresque' lower keyrods. If you accept my theory that Dolnet borrowed heavily from Buffet design, this horn looks an awful lot like a combination of a Buffet Super Dynaction or S1 and a Buescher 400 'Top Hat and Cane'.

These are a slightly less elaborate version of the M70: it doesn't have an offset bell and has different engraving, but otherwise appears identical to the previous model.

I have heard of altos and sopranos in this serial number range.

As far as I have been able to determine, this is the last model Dolnet. If the M70 was introduced in1970, I see no reason not to believe that these horns were introduced in 1980.

These are one of the few stencils I've ever seen that actually have MORE features than the horn they were stencilled from

There are at least two models of these horns: 'The Royal Jazz Model', which sometimes has additional keywork (altissimo D# trill, G# trill, etc.), rolled tone holes and a microtuner neck, a la Conn and one sometimes labeled 'Artist Model' that generally doesn't have all the additional stuff, but is striking, nonetheless.

As mentioned in the introduction, these models sometimes have been done in Sparkle Lacquer, like some Buffet Superdynactions. I've now seen two of these models, so I doubt that these horns were relacquers.

Please see the comments on the Bel Air and Imperial series horns, above.

Dolnet Resources at SOTW (archive board is in red)

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