From the workshops in Meyrinm Geneva comes another distinguished participant of the Only Watch 2015 charity auction. DeWitt’s choice for the event is a special version of its automatic Academia out of Time watch which features an original choice of complications that were conceived by the founder of the brand, Jerome de Witt. These are dead beat seconds and free-flowing seconds that symbolize two different and simultaneous approaches to the measurement of time. DeWitt Academia Out of Time Piece Unique for Only Watch is made with a blue dial that depicts nocturnal mountain scenery and it is placed inside a gold housing.
The model by DeWitt is a brilliant horlogical product which is based on creative thinking and on a poetic approach. As the founder of the brand envisioned, it is supposed to simultaneously show different types of time measurements which are expressed with two unlike seconds sub-counters. At the four o’clock position, there is a dead beat seconds indication whose hand moves once each second. On the opposite side of the lower half of the dial there is a completely different indication of the same thing. There is a scale with circular perforations which shows the constant movement of the caliber and the flow of time. The latter one is not really a functional complication, but that was not its purpose in the first place. Instead, it is supposed to give the watch the mentioned poetic quality.
Both of these seconds indications on the bottom half of the dial are paired with a lovely looking scene that dominates the upper part. There we can see a night-scene on the Alps with a large star at the very top. It is achieved with the addition of silver elements that are placed onto a deep blue lacquered surface of the dial. The face of the watch also includes two central hands for hours and minutes and applied hour markers (from four to eight positions). Additionally, the seconds counters are encircled with gold.
DeWitt Academia Out of Time Unique Piece for Only Watch is powered by a self-winding mechanical movement which was developed, produced and assembled by the hand of a master watchmaker in the brand’s facilities in Meyrin Manufactur in Geneva. The automatic movement consists of DW5051 base and additional mechanisms that contribute to the total sum of 217 components in total. Most of them are created in-house.
The movement includes a distinctive rotor with an imperial columns motif that indicates the origin of the brand’s founder. Jerome de Witt who stands behind the creation of the watch is a direct descendent of Napoleon which is, of course, the fact which he likes to point out and which he is proud of. The supported caliber operates at a slower rate of 21,600 vph and has quite an extensive power reserve, considering the fact that it is a self-winding type of movement. The storage keeps the watch running for about 65 hours.
The timekeeper from the DeWitt Academia collection is placed inside a round 18 K rose gold housing. It has the diameter of 42.5 mm and the thickness of 12.85 mm. Furthermore, it features a narrow fixed bezel and a sapphire crystal. The rear side of the case has a transparent section as well. Out of Time timekeeper includes basic water resistance to 30 meters.
The watch which will be sold at the Only Watch 2015 event is paired with a blue alligator leather strap which fastens with a rose gold buckle. The clasp, just like the crown of the watch, is embellished with the brand’s logo.
