DE BETHUNE MAESTRI’ART DW5 Romania De Bethune showed DW5 Armilia, a unique piece in its Maestri’art series.
To create this extraordinary timepiece, De Bethune drew inspiration from the graphic novel series “The Obscure Cities” created by Belgian designer and scene designer François Schuiten and his friend writer Benoît Peeters.
The background of the novel series is a parallel universe. In this universe, although reality will never be far away from human beings, human beings are often helpless by themselves. This fictional world is made up of mysteries and mysteries. By obscuring the shadows and unusual reflections of the world, following the worrying principle of unfamiliarity, the author of “Obscure City” brings readers into an extremely luxurious environment while maintaining a distinct humane approach.
In this retroist futuristic aesthetics without nostalgia, stunning architecture, fictional drawing techniques, and frequently used heavy and majestic machines constitute the driving factors of the plot blending science and engineering with fantasy.
It is against the background of this rich and extraordinary universe that fake De Bethune became interested in Amelia: Amelia is a submerged, almost completely underground city. In a remote place at the northernmost tip of this fictional continent, time can be controlled, a concept that strangely mixes age and climate destruction.
De Bethune observed the communication between the real world and the “obscure city” world, and realized that time has no equal value in this parallel world. Asking questions about perfect and imperfect time and exploring the “white areas” of such a rich universe in the work, De Bethune imagined a time measurement object. This watch was inspired directly by Amelia and the depiction of the universe.
Denis Flageollet, the co-founder and master watchmaker of De Bethune, is not limited by scale and proportion. He is passionate about “obscure cities” and imagines a wrist-sized sculpture that is carved as a direct reference to the city of Amelia. .
To reflect a similar posture, a dialogue was established between Schuiten’s pen and ink drawings and the famous Swiss engraver Michelle Roten, whose talent was recruited to join this particular project. Therefore, the structure of the fake men watch is lifelike, or it reflects the fictional world of Armilia, as if the watch is a ship intended to explore this world. Considering the idea of achieving a depiction similar to the original drawing, it is no coincidence that De Bethune chose 18K rose gold. The warm colors of precious metals are reminiscent of the same warm colors of urban paintings at sunset.
De Bethune and Armilia created a fascinating work that is placed on the ground like a boundary between art and watchmaking. This watch witnesses a vision of unlimited creativity, while still based on a deep understanding and respect for the great master watchmakers of the past, its work transcends and magnifies.
Armilia is the result of the extreme miniaturization of its institutions, fully dedicated to design, and time is only one element. De Bethune’s explanation comes in the form of a nod or signature, and a small two-color sphere indicates the phases of the moon. It consists of two assembled and polished blue steel and palladium hemispheres, directing the sight to the digital and simple display of hours and minutes. All of this can be seen through the hand-cut cabochon-shaped tempered glass, giving a chance to better understand this time-consuming mechanism.
Technical specifications
Model: Maestri’Art DW5 Armilia
Reference: DW5RMA
Functions
Hours, Minutes, Spherical moon-phase indication
Movement
DB2144V2
Type: Mechanical hand-wound movement
Adjustment: Spherical moon-phase adjustment and setting the time by means of the crown, adorned by 1 carat sapphire (3 positions)
Number of parts: 320
Jewelling: 32 jewels
Diameter: 30 mm
Power reserve: 5 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel – De Bethune Innovation (2004)
Silicon annular balance encircled by a white gold ring – De Bethune Patent (2010)
“De Bethune” balance-spring with flat terminal curve – De Bethune Patent (2006)
Silicon escape wheel
Spherical moon-phase indication with accuracy of one lunar day every 1112 years – De Bethune Patent (2004)
Frequency: 28’800 vibrations per hour
Adornment: Hand-crafted finishing and decoration
Display
Display: Jumping-hour aperture at 3 o’clock
Analogue minutes indicator on a dragging rotating disc
Spherical moon-phase indication in palladium and flamed blued steel with an accuracy of one lunar day every 1112 years at 6 o’clock – De Bethune Patent (2004)
Dial
Frame of the jumping-hour aperture in blued grade 5 titanium
Case
Case material: Delta shaped in polished rose gold 18K
Case diameter: length 58 mm – width 47 mm
Case thickness: 16 mm
Crystal: curved Hard-mineral crystal cut by hand
Case back: Closed and screwed down case back in black titanium with aperture on balance wheel; Hard-mineral crystal (1800 Vickers hardness)with double anti-reflective coating
Water resistance: 3 ATM
Strap
Extra-supple alligator leather, alligator lining
Buckle: Pin in rose gold and buckle in black titanium