Foversta's hands-on review of the De Witt Academia Endless Drive offers a critical look at a pivotal new release for the brand. This article delves into De Witt's strategic reorientation, emphasizing the product's role in their renewed ambition and presence at SIHH. Readers gain insight into the watch's unique design, technical features, and crucial aspects like legibility.
Preamble: the pictured watch is a prototype that was lent to me for a week at the end of the year. The final version may contain differences from this prototype.The year 2018 is crucial for De Witt as the brand is in the midst of a strategic reorientation aimed at rethinking distribution, marketing and communication to give it a new impetus and an increased visibility. But as always, a strategy is nothing if the products are not up to the ambition. In the watch industry, even if a certain number of people think the opposite, the starting point remains the product. The best communication campaigns, the close relationships with collectors or potential buyers are not enough if the watches, in themselves, are not appealing and don't create any emotion. Viviane and JĂ©rĂ´me de Witt know this fact very well and it is the reason why the point of origin of this brand new chapter is the Academia Endless Drive which is currently being presented during the first days of the year.
The Academia Endless Drive is therefore a crucial novelty for De Witt: it lays the foundation for an aesthetic guideline and at the same time symbolizes the arrival of the brand at the SIHH, inside the Carré des Horlogers, thus testifying to a renewed ambition. It prefigures what must be from now on each and every De Witt watch: a piece that highlights Jérôme de Witt's passion for mechanics and his creativity, which stands out for its own and assertive style, which is manufactured according to highly demanding quality criteria and which is part of a catalog with a reduced number of references.
The Academia Endless Drive is without any doubt original and unique. I had the chance to wear it for a few days at the end of the year and I was able to appreciate its unusual character and its flawless execution. What is striking at first glance is obviously the design and the lay-out of the dial: the two horizontally aligned discs and especially the vertically open zone at the diameter of the dial and which reveals a huge helical screw intrigue and attract the eye. Rarely a watch that I have worn has generated so many comments, the most common being to emphasize the beauty of the design or to ask me how to read the time and the purpose of the endless screw.
Reading the time is simple to understand but not so easy to achieve. Just because the principle is understood in two seconds. The discs turn anticlockwise and the hours and minutes are read thanks to the permanent markers. Please note that the hours are not displayed thanks to a jumping hours system and that the two discs rotate continuously. But the difficulty lies in the numerals on the disks: even with a very good view (or with my glasses on), they are not very readable given their size and confusion may quickly occur. I sincerely think that De Witt should review this point because the dial doesn't bring any help on this point: whatever the time of the day, the watch dial always has the same visual rendering.
I regret this problem because for the rest, it is a watch I liked a lot. It is, after all, one of the very few pieces that highlight the power reserve indicator. This is the function of the endless rotating central screw: it displays the power reserve (which has a 59 hour duration) at the top of the dial with colored segments visible in the top window. By winding the mechanism, the green segment becomes more and more present in the window. When the power reserve decreases, the red segment then takes over. The screw is provided with two degrees of freedom to obtain such a result. When you wind the movement, the screw slides on its longitudinal axis. If the watch is no longer worn and the power reserve decreases, the screw turns on itself.
Of course, since we are in the context of a "slow" display, the movements of the screw are not very noticeable except during the manual winding of the watch. But I really appreciated the double role of the screw, both technical and decorative. The watch is also of great aesthetic coherence: the screw is for example surrounded by two toothed wheels that echo the central parts of the discs.
The black galvanic background of the dial allows the discs and the various pink gold applied elements to stand out clearly. The striking contrast between the discs and the dial gives the impression that the watch looks like a robot head and I really like this feeling that reinforces the mechanical universe in which it fits. Of course, we also think about the classic cars atmosphere but I don't know why, the piece also seems to come from Jules Verne's mind.
The pink gold case contributes to the definition of the De Witt style: the imperial column pattern decorates the case side by playing with the materials, alternating gold and black rubber while recalling the gears of the dial. The case diameter is relatively large (42.5mm) but the dominant color reduces the perceived size. However, I would have preferred a more effective folding clasp than that the one provided with the prototype and which had trouble to correctly position the watch on the wrist. But I'm sure this point will be reviewed with the final version.
The automatic manufacture movement that powers the Academia Endless Drive is visible through the see-through caseback. It occupies generously the case because its size is relatively large (30,6mm) thanks in particular to the winding mass which fully encompasses it. Its finishes are very neat and I also love its architecture. The shape of the bridges is pleasant to observe and the design of the winding mass reminds the gears. I consider this movement as a beautiful aesthetic success while offering interesting performances: the power reserve is relatively long (with a 3hz frequency) and the winding efficiency is excellent.
The Academia Endless Drive thus convincingly introduces De Witt's new chapter. Aesthetically inspired and finished with great care, the watch exudes an excellent perceived quality and manages to define an original, coherent and attractive mechanical atmosphere. Its particular charm doesn't leave anybody unmoved, provided that we are not bothered by the inert rendering of the dial. The watch has no second hand and has consistently the same appearance. This specific point can cause weariness among collectors who like animated dials or the presence of a permanent second hand. It is however the small size of the numerals on the disks which posed to me the most sensitive problem. The time reading is made very tricky and I often had the impression to pass a test at the optician. So I hope that De Witt will rework this point (maybe by writting one out of two with a larger and bolder font) because the Academia Endless Drive deserves the elimination of this concern. The watch has all the assets to distinguish itself in a rather wise watchmaking context by staging the creative talent of JĂ©rĂ´me de Witt.
The Academia Endless Drive will be officially presented during the next SIHH with an expected price around 39.000 CHF without taxes.
Thanks to the De Witt team who lent me the watch for this test.
Prost:
+ an aesthetic success based on a well-mastered originality
+ the highlighting of a complication which is rarely in the foreground
+ the quality of the finishes
+ the movement lay-out
Cons:
- the numerals on the discs are too small what affects the time legibility
- an immutable dial that can bother those who love more animated dials
Fr.Xavier
