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Lot Details

STRAP: Blue alligator strap with alligator lining and titanium buckle with rose gold pin
DIAL: Hand-cut sapphire window
MOVEMENT: Hand-wound
CALIBRE: DB2144V2
LIMITED EDITION: Unique piece
FUNCTIONS: Jump hours, Analogue minutes, Moon-phase indicator
BOX: Fitted presentation box
PAPERS: Warranty card dated 2019

Please note this lot is the property of a private individual.

LOT ESSAY
Denis Flageollet, De Bethune co-founder and Master Watchmaker, has imagined a wrist-sized sculpture in the form of the Dream Watch 5 - engraved as a direct reference to a drawing of the City of Armilia, from the fantasy universe of designer and scenographer François Schuiten, nicknamed the “Watchmaker of Dreams”.

Featuring extreme miniaturization of its mechanism, Armilia is first and foremost dedicated to design, with time only an element. In the face of the watch, polished blued steel and palladium guide the eye towards the digital and minimalist display of the hours and minutes, all this is visible through a hand-cut cabochon-shaped tempered glass providing a chance to get a better view of this mechanism that counts off time. A small two-colored sphere indicates the moon phases.

A fascinating timepiece and work of art, De Bethune's Maestri'Art DW5 Armilia is a landmark on the frontier between art and watchmaking, testifying to a vision of unbridled creativity while remaining based on profound understanding and respect for the great master-watchmakers of the past, whose work it transcends and magnifies.

De Bethune

De Bethune is an independent Swiss watch manufacturer located at L’Auberson, in the Jura mountain pastures of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. Here, some 30 employees, including watchmakers, engineers, developer-designers, micro-mechanical engineers, polishers and decorators focus firmly on the research and development of technical and aesthetic innovations in the spirit of the great 18th century master watchmakers. Tourbillons, perpetual calendars, chronometers, deadbeat seconds, spherical moons, bridges, wheels, pallet-levers, balance wheels, pinions, balance springs and screws as well as cases, dials, floating lugs and hands... Each component is individually designed and crafted with meticulous attention to the slightest detail, including the traditional “Côtes De Bethune” and Microlight engraving.
The brand designs, develops and produces all its timepieces within its own Manufacture. Since its foundation,

De Bethune has developed no fewer than 28 calibres, presented some 30 world premieres and registered a large number of patents as well as producing 150 one-off pieces. De Bethune has received the highest distinctions awarded by the watch industry all over the world, including the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève “Aiguille d’Or” Grand Prix for the best watch of the year.