News: DeWitt Academia Skeleton
If you’ve not heard of boutique Swiss watchmaker DeWitt, you might wonder why the brand’s logo features the very distinctive bust of Napoléon Bonaparte. A quick look at the brand’s story reveals the answer: founder Jérôme de Witt is a direct descendant of the famous Corsican emperor. But rather than world conquest, de Witt is apparently more interested in conquering the horological landscape. He created the eponymously named watch company in 2003, and since has released a collection of sophisticated pieces that feature a selection of rare and difficult complications.
‘I like beauty, it is my education,’ founder de Witt is quoted as saying on the DeWitt website—and that is evident in the design of the brand’s watches. The Academia series of timepieces is not only elegant, but also a wonderful demonstration of mechanical prowess. The design of the Academia Skeleton allows its wearer to see right through the dial to the other side, and its open working gives a beautiful view of the workings of the in-house movement, which is made up of 263 parts.
An impressive 100-hour power reserve sits in the top left hand of the dial, next to the watch’s double mainspring barrel. But the real show-stopper is the semi-circular subdial for the ‘bi-directional seconds’, located at the 7 o’clock position. As the seconds hand reaches 30 on the lower scale, it juts forward towards the upper scale, counting up to 60 in the opposite direction. The hand then returns to its first position to count up to 30 once again. It’s truly a clever and entertaining bit of mechanics to behold, complementing the whirring balance wheel adjacent to it.
The case measures 42.5mm by 10.3mm and comes in 18k rose gold. As you might expect from such an exclusive brand, the finishing of the piece is fit for a prince—or more aptly, an emperor.
