An independent brand like DeWitt has to do things differently to survive. And with the new Twenty-8-Eight Full Moon, the brand has done just that. This year, I am seeing a resurgence in unique moon phases and open-work, and DeWitt's newest timepiece doesn't disappoint.
The new watch plays with a partial skeleton on one side of the dial that reveals engraving and part of the movement, while glittering Goldfluss (goldstone, a glittering man-made glass) is on part of the other side, representing the starry sky, with the moon phase display at the six o'clock position. The moon phase indication itself is reminiscent of an old-time telescope, with the moon passing through the "eye" of the telescope. The moon disk features two mother-of-pearl moons on top of more Goldfluss, showing the cycle of life as they turn.
"Faire de plus en plus par soi-même et sous-traiter de moins en moins à l’extérieur."
The moon phase module is designed and manufactured entirely in-house, at the brand's Meyrin (outside of Geneva) Manufacture. This module symbolizes a direction that DeWitt has been moving towards for quite some time -- doing more and more themselves and relying less and less on external suppliers.
In fact, DeWitt now has its own base movement which will allow the brand to offer in house manufactured movements in all of their collections.
"From the first day we opened the company, I wanted to be free," Jérôme de Witt, owner, says. "I want everything in hand. As an independent brand, if my suppliers don't deliver, the brand will die. We have to be independent, and to be independent is to be creative -- you have to do things differently. It is also about how fast you can move. When we make the components ourselves, we can turn things around quickly and we don't have to wait for suppliers that have different priorities than we do. We have this year produced our 10th in-house tourbillon movement, and our first in-house base movement.”
"When you create something yourself, you discover many other possibilities," he continues. "And that is the case with us, we have many new ideas as a result of developing this base movement. When you are free, you never know where you are going to end up. It's like sailing, you go where the wind takes you."
The Twenty-8-Eight Full Moon comes in a round 43mm titanium case that features the brand's iconic imperial columns, and is powered by an automatic movement with a 42 hour power reserve.
