Comments:
As a consequence the masculine Art Deco effect of the vertical columns on the dial, resembling a powerful 1930’s steam engine, is accentuated. The lower part of the dial opens up into a large and beautiful circle symbolising wholeness, the infinite nature of energy and... the power of the feminine.
The watch also appears much slimmer, particularly due to the impression of an apparently reduced distance between dial and crystal.
Also on the wrist it makes a restrained impression:
The watch is powered by the in-house tourbillon movement Cal. DW8028, beating at a classical 18,000 vph and providing 72 hours of autonomy. The escapement is regulated by a variable inertia balance and a Straumann Hairspring® with Phillips end-curve. A plate with the signature of the watchmaker gives an additional personal touch:
We would like to note that the watch is technically identical to DeWitt’s special edition in honour of the PuristS’ 10th anniversary .
Depending on illumination, the watch’s design shows its metamorphic qualities in that either the case or the movement it brought out:
The glossy-polished inner bezel draws your attention to the heart of the watch, the circus where a captivating play of layers is staged, within which the tourbillon acts as regisseur:
What is noticed easily is the DeWitt logo integrated into the movement plate’s remains at the 9 o’clock position.
It finds its counterpart on the back side of the watch, adding thus to the play on depths, perspectives and layers:
The movement plates are executed in a sand-brushed nickel silver base with black gold surface finishing.
Another neat feature is the open-worked barrel housing. The upper wheel is designed like the rims of a vintage car’s steering wheel. Moreover, it allows gauging the power reserve of the watch, from fully wound…
… to almost depleted:
Impressive as well is the precision that is applied with the engraving of the base plate:
On the wrist the watch just feels right in place. In fact, it is simply due to the very carefully conceived balance between complexity and richness of detail that such a watch does not overwhelm. Chapeau Mr de Witt!
Baselword 2012 - Official PuristSPro Report: DeWitt
Dear All:
Our second report highlights one of the few truly ‘outstanding’ manufacturers, the Manufacture DeWitt. ‘Outstanding’ not because we think that their products offer exceptional quality, but because of their unique structure as a small, integrated and above all family-owned company.
As the company belongs to the lesser-known ones in the trade, it certainly deserves a more comprehensive introduction. Magnus wrote in his recently published article that
“… (t)he important consequence of this is that the timepieces reflect the mindsets of their creators in a most uncompromised fashion, both because the owners are only responsible for themselves (in contrast to managers and executives that are judged by economic performance), and also because the companies actually have the capacities to transform those ideas into marvellous products.”
This certainly is true for DeWitt. The watches are the direct brainchild of company founder Mr Jérome de Witt, the great-grandson of King Leopold II of Belgium and a direct, fifth-generation descendant of the Emperor Napoleon's brother, King Jérome of Westphalia, a distinguished watch connoisseur.
“Just as Mr de Witt himself, founder and President of the company, the DeWitt brand breathes a unique vision of luxury, daringly different and unconventional.” (Press Kit)
Quite strikingly, DeWitt watches impress with two features:
- A remarkably consistent aesthetic identity thanks to the theme of ‘imperial columns’ framing the case. The idea is derived from co-axial male/female gears. Mr de Witt has a reputation as a dedicated collector and restorer of thoroughbred vintage cars. With differential mechanisms there are concentric gears that consist of an outer female and an inner male part. The decisive benefit is that can the two parts can move relative to each other along their axis. DeWitt transformed this idea into watchcases. Jet engine nozzles inspire the design of the crowns.
- Painstaking dial work in elaborate guillochage executed in-house from A (raw brass/gold etc. material) to Z (finished, printed and lacquered dial).
The sentence above gives an important clue to appreciate the brand. One has to meet Mr. de Witt, a watch connoisseur, an admirer for finer things in life, but most importantly equipped with an intellectual passion for understanding the fundamentals of aesthetical, technological, architectural or musical concepts and transforming and applying them in new contexts such as watch design.
Passion and cordiality is probably their key/secret.
So there we are with the Novelties – we saw several members from their Academia, Twenty-8-Eight and Exceptional collections. The common denominator of the former two collections is the use of a new material called Neotitanium:
"Originally used in the aerospace industry, grade 5 Neotitanium is a new metal whose hardness is 10 times superior to that of grade 5 Titanium. Used in fields as varied as surgery and Formula 1, it now also finds a place in the (DeWitt collection).
The material is treated directly with electro-plasma or micro-arc plasma and anodised, and not only on the surface. In fact, the piece is plunged into a high-amperage bath, a process giving it formidable properties such as excellent impact resistance, lighter weight, and a significant reduction in seizure problems as well as the elimination of all traces when touched." (Press Kit)
The latter collection stands without any peers, as we shall see (follow-up posts!).
The Twenty-8-Eight Collection...
Offering a slimmer and more reduced interpretation of the DeWitt identity, the Twenty-8-Eight collection gains tremendously with the introduction of Neotitanium.
NOVELTIES:
- Twenty-8-Eight Automatic
- Twenty-8-Eight Seconde Retrograde
- Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon
- Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon Squelette
We somehow missed taking pictures of the first two models, but the other two novelties shall make up for this.
Tourbillon
Technically identical to the existing Twenty-8-Eight Tourbillon, the addition of a Neotitanium Bezel and case back immediately highlights the aesthetical finesse brought about by the intelligent use of the material: it’s a black hole for any light, sucking up the tiniest bit of it.
As a consequence the masculine Art Deco effect of the vertical columns on the dial, resembling a powerful 1930’s steam engine, is accentuated. The lower part of the dial opens up into a large and beautiful circle symbolising wholeness, the infinite nature of energy and... the power of the feminine.
The watch also appears much slimmer, particularly due to the impression of an apparently reduced distance between dial and crystal.
Also on the wrist it makes a restrained impression:
The watch is powered by the in-house tourbillon movement Cal. DW8028, beating at a classical 18,000 vph and providing 72 hours of autonomy. The escapement is regulated by a variable inertia balance and a Straumann Hairspring® with Phillips end-curve. A plate with the signature of the watchmaker gives an additional personal touch:
We would like to note that the watch is technically identical to DeWitt’s special edition in honour of the PuristS’ 10th anniversary .
Tourbillon Squelette
Featuring the same movement as above, the Tourbillon Squelette is an entirely different animal. Skeletonising work is done such that the 3D-aspect is emphasised and the admirer (or owner?) is invited to literally ‘dive’ into the watch:
Depending on illumination, the watch’s design shows its metamorphic qualities in that either the case or the movement it brought out:
The glossy-polished inner bezel draws your attention to the heart of the watch, the circus where a captivating play of layers is staged, within which the tourbillon acts as regisseur:
What is noticed easily is the DeWitt logo integrated into the movement plate’s remains at the 9 o’clock position.
It finds its counterpart on the back side of the watch, adding thus to the play on depths, perspectives and layers:
The movement plates are executed in a sand-brushed nickel silver base with black gold surface finishing.
Another neat feature is the open-worked barrel housing. The upper wheel is designed like the rims of a vintage car’s steering wheel. Moreover, it allows gauging the power reserve of the watch, from fully wound…
… to almost depleted:
Impressive as well is the precision that is applied with the engraving of the base plate:
On the wrist the watch just feels right in place. In fact, it is simply due to the very carefully conceived balance between complexity and richness of detail that such a watch does not overwhelm. Chapeau Mr de Witt!
Tourbillon Squelette is really gorgeous.
Skeletonized dial is perfect with the Twenty-8-Eight case and dial.
Fx
Fx
I second that. The DeWitt Tourbillon Squelette is absolutely stunning
It's probably the best designed of all the DeWitt watches IMO - the columns of the case match perfectly with the design of the skeletonized dial/movement.
Cheers,
Anthony
The Academia Collection...
NOVELTIES:
- Academia Mirabilis
- Academia Tourbillon Impérial
Academia Mirabilis
The Academia Mirabilis might appear as one of the many watches with (partly) open-worked dials.
However, on the second view it reveals all its magic:
“The Academia Mirabilis reveals a part of its secrets at the end of the day when the noise and stress give way to silence and peace. Like a night flower that opens at dusk, the subtly designed open-work between 7 and 12 draws the eye into the heart of this watch. The delicacy of the gears, the finely sanded surface of the bottom plate and the hand-finished details all evoke a bed of vibrant, fragile flowers.” (Press Kit)
It has a very philosophical approach to watch design. Precisely telling the time when it is needed, revealing its vivid (-> escapement window!) and more relaxed facets in respect to chronometry once the work day has come to a close:
The movement is a new Concepto calibre finished with a grey frosted treatment and a signature gold rotor with DeWitt logo. Its power reserve is 48h.
This is a very beautiful watch, it looks good (24h/7days – office or beach) on a connoisseurs wrist. It is subtle and bold, special but not too extroverted … all at the same time. Those watch “sucks” you in, because you start to look at the details of the case, the dial and the hands … until your view catches the “whole”. Now you want to look inside … ☺ Especially when the regular business day is over, there is no need for the exact time and so you can enjoy the view inside – kind of romance comes to mind.
The combination of red gold and Neotitanium fits just perfect. It is 44mm, but not very heavy. It fits under a (business) shirt and looks good even on smaller wrists like Oliver’s:
Academia Tourbillon Impérial
This is what other manufactures would proudly present as ‘Grande Complication’, a tourbillon with split-seconds chronograph and a calendar complication, in this case date and moon phase.
The watch follows Mr de Witt’s romantic idea of placing the passing of time side by side to the counting, the one is perpetual and out of reach and not to be influenced; the other being at your mercy and only waiting to be suspended at will.
The bottom part of the dial is reserved for the chronograph counters, the moon phase and the date, …
… whereas the top is designed for the residence of the ‘guiding light’, a tourbillon set into a sapphire disk engraved with sun rays. This pattern given an additional radiating effect to the tourbillon’s movements:
On the backside you see a movement almost entirely crafted in gold (black gold for the movement and rose gold for the balance and the wheels). It’s again driven by a Concepto movement constructed after a well-known historical masterpiece. Please take note, that the engraving shown is not the final one – prototype only. It will be much more 3D!
It is surprisingly easy to wear:
The Exceptional Collection...
NOVELTIES:
- Concept Watch No 3: X-Watch
The X-Watch is the third in line of exceptional watches created in support of the Only Watch charity events dedicated to fund research for a disease called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
The timepiece (its really more than a watch) is another testimony to the philosophical approach to time typical for Mr de Witt. It is a reversible watch featuring two faces, one dedicated to the passing of time (time, power reserve, tourbillon), and the other one to the measurement of time (chronograph).
In standard configuration, the watch is set to the former face, with a power reserve indicator on 12 and the tourbillon on 6 o’clock. The time is displayed as retrograde hands for hours and minutes, respectively:
On the side of the watch you’ll find push-pieces that release the X-shaped braces covering the watch:
The braces are inspired by a mother’s arms sheltering her child (how apt for a watch that is intended to raise money for a child charity!). Once open, the dial is exposed in full. It reminds on an hourglass with the sun in a backlight situation (hence the rays):
With the braces open, the entire watch case can be turned along the axis...
... to reveal the second side with the chronograph:
It measures time intervals in seconds…
… and minutes (with a three-pronged hand underlying the respective minute):
Even with the chronograph face the time can be read - like on the other side - through a second set of retrograde hands.
Please note the elaborate shapes of springs that work in the chronograph part of the movement. Furthermore, you notice the rotor of the peripheral automatic winding system that powers the watch, providing between 67 and 72 hours of autonomy.
With a diameter of 49mm and a thickness of almost 22mm one wonders how this ‘beast’ wears. We were surprised how light it was! We don’t have the exact weight, but certainly the use of Grade 5 Titanium and steel for the “X”-shaped brace played well here.
