Horological Meandering

DeWitt – in-depth view of the collection from Geneva Week 2014 and one more surprise ...

 

DeWitt – in-depth view of the collection from Geneva Week 2014 and one more surprise – Part I

 

We (Magnus & Oliver) would like to introduce to you the Twenty-8-Eight Full Moon, the charming re-invented Alma ladies watches… to mention only a few and not to forget a brand new in-house basic caliber.

Let´s stop talking and have a deeper look instead. At the time we started this article it was full moon, so this is where we would like to start – with the Twenty-8-Eight Full Moon :

 

The new timepiece is a fascinating and quite unusual interpretation of the classical moon phase complication:

There is at first the ¾ arrangement on the dial: a vast silver segment which is home to the (partly) open-worked mechanism inclusive of the moon aperture, and a small cut-out which hints the deep space (realised in goldfluss technique):

The numerical segmentation is not only because it’s intellectually so pleasing, but also because the moonphase gears and levers so nicely full up this space:

The whole is packed into DeWitt’s typical case with its imperial column motif, here in 43mm and crafted in polished titanium.

Wearing comfort is extremely high thanks to the low weight of the watch. In our case it came with a folding buckle:

Once again, DeWitt has shown its taste and aptitude when it comes to create a distinctive, characteristic version of a ‘common’ complication, using Mr. de Witt’s legendary artistic vision combined with the distinctive technological capacities of the manufacture.

The Full Moon thrives on its brilliant contrast of surfaces and their specific functional and – very refined - aesthetic distinction. The moonphase mechanism is a wonderful example of this: it is open-worked but the entire section is really restrained with a rather flat construction and being tinted in like silvery colours. As counterpoint there is a glimmering dark opening into the sky. It’s like a woman subtly teasing us...

Very, very tempting indeed!

 

Twenty-8-Eight Double Fuseau GMT2 Poetic - it was already presented in 2013, but we thought it could be nice to have a look at it nonetheless.

It is one of the more original takes on the GMT complication, equipped with a self-winding mechanical movement with a power reserve of 42 hours, and with three complications: date, GMT, and day/night indicator for the second time zone.

Its contemporary 43mm-diameter round titanium case sculpted with the 24 traditional DeWitt imperial columns plays on the contrast with the very special refinement of the dial. Created in-house by the Maison’s dial makers, its rosette pattern gives structure to various decorations: sunray brushing, beige mother of pearl half-moons, and Arabic and Roman numerals in pink gold appliques, like a garden shaped by the hand of man. In the upper part, the eye is inexorably drawn to the circular aperture at 12 o'clock, where the sun’s rays emerge at dawn and fade at dusk, at the other end of the earth, our thoughts leave us...

The second time zone on the other hand is represented by a small hollow sword-shaped red hand.

 

Depending on the light the face of the watch can be quite different – from readable to kind of “romantic”.

Now we come to an entirely redesigned collection for DeWitt’s female customers, the Alma ladies watches (the seconds after the Golden Afternoon):

The Alma watch is a – like the Golden Afternoon – a female interpretation of the sculpted forms of the famous DeWitt stylised imperial columns. However, it takes a different approach than the former collection:

Alma vs. Golden Afternoon

 

Whereas the Golden Afternoon utilised the columns to convey a strong and edgy character befitting self-reliant and emancipated modern women, the Alma transforms the motif into a harmonious oval case, a slightly cambered profile so as to fit perfectly the shape of the wrist.

In the words of DeWitt:

“Firmly in the 21st century but also marked with imperial dignity”

There is a lot of variety from the start: different case materials, with or without gem-setting etc. We, however, have been particularly fascinated by the rather simple red gold Alma 001 which expresses the collection’s characteristics at best:

This fascination comes from the thrilling tension between the theater-shaped strongly sculptured flange with its “black gold” finish and the “Clou de Paris” decoration of the dial’s center arena, resulting in an elegant, glittering design, full of contrasts, rounded forms and reflections.

Its three hands in 18-carat gold, sword-shaped and with a skeleton format in the case of the hour and minute hands and slender for the second’s hand, add a lot of drama in for of added contrast and play of light in addition to the forms of its relief.

The anti-reflective glass, cambered from 3 o’clock to 9 o’clock and from 6 to 12, gives a generously-curved silhouette to this watch, with its profile immediately recognisable thanks to its imperial columns and its alternately polished and delicately sanded 18-carat gold surfaces.

Its crown and ardillon buckle in polished gold, both engraved with the brand’s distinctive “W” signature, give an additional elegant touch of detail to the watch’s finishes.

The Alma watch houses an automatic calibre with a central seconds hand and a 42- hour power reserve.

Overall, this timepiece is a well-devised counterpoint to the Golden Afternoon. This is for later hours, when the burden of the day has vanished and has given space to a romantic and enthralling evening full of music, poetry and love.

For us men, a visit to a DeWitt ambassador can potentially be a very expensive pastime...

Outlook : the new DeWitt in-house movement :

In this last part of our report we would like to give you a scoop on what the brand is about to present soon: an entirely in-house manufactured movement to serve as base engine for their creations:

Already at an advanced state, the movement is full of great little details. What you can easily note is the openness of the construction, allowing for (pun intended) deep insights into its design.

The second unique detail is not that easy to detect but obvious once you discovered it: the very special decoration which is not concentric but rather a bit centrifugal. A lot of dynamics are at play here!

Lastly, one can tirelessly stare at the lavishly integrated details like the column-shaped rotor plate or at the sumptuous drive of the bridges, cocks as well as many difficult-to-finish angles:

Add to this technical details like the elegant hairspring assembly, and you can be sure that something magnificent is in the making. The constructive and decorative care continues at the dial side, which reinforces the initial impression:

Jerôme de Witt places much emphasis on self-sufficiency and flexibility to turn his visions onto timepieces. The new movement will be a new cornerstone towards this aim.

It could be realised since his wife Viviane Jutheau de Witt set her heart on when she took the reins of the watchmaking Manufacture. “The first decision I made as CEO was to initiate research into the design and production of our own automatic mechanical movement,” she explains.

We are really eager to learn how it will look like once finalised for production. Extrapolating from what we could see so far we can safely state that this movement is more than just another manufacture clockwork!

 

 

Thanks for reading so far and part II will show you some nice Tourbillon´s to say the least …

 

Magnus & Oliver

This message has been edited by small-luxury-world on 2014-09-09 07:00:36 This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2014-09-09 09:56:46

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