De Witt: Academia Endless Drive
10 January 2018The new Academia Endless Drive reveals an original design, consistent with the strong and distinct character of DeWitt creations, with an endless screw as the dial’s distinguishing piece.
The most striking feature is the innovative design of the new Academia Endless Drive’s dial, whose centre features a rotating endless screw, a nod to automotive mechanics, the field of inspiration preferred by the brand’s founder, Count Jérôme de Witt.
The Geneva-based Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie innovates and offers a winding mechanism that confers an unusual movement to the helical screw, which is linked to the power reserve’s winding system. When the 59-hour power reserve decreases, the screw rotates. When the barrel is wound, the screw slides on its longitudinal axis.
The Manufacture’s teams of engineers and master watchmakers adapted the standard DeWitt 5050 automatic movement, entirely developed, produced and assembled by hand in order to give life to a model with shocking allure.
The 42.5 mm diameter round case creates an interplay of contrasting effects through the combination of traditional and innovative materials, 18-carat rose gold and black rubber. (Price CHF. 38.500 no tax)
By Jacopo Corvo