Only Watch is the biennial charity auction which brings awareness and donates all proceeds to research on Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Only Watch 2019 takes place at 2 pm on November 9th in Geneva.
We recently covered four highlights, and today De Bethune and Urwerk announce a collaborative one-off timepiece they developed for the auction.
Presented in a 43 mm x 13.3 mm case that’s made of mirror-polished grade 5 titanium, the skeletonized lugs and case shape clearly come from De Bethune, while the top view through the sapphire crystal is unmistakably Urwerk.
When you peer in through the U-shaped opening of the sapphire crystal on the front of the watch you can see the recognizable satellites of the Urwerk wandering hours satellites and the minute display below. Also, you see the spherical moon-phase indication which De Bethune is known for.
The jointly developed 4Hz hand-wound caliber DBUR2105 consists of 336 components, 37 jewels, and has 4-days of power reserve thanks to self-regulating twin barrels. There’s an indicator which shows the remaining amount of the 96-hour power reserve, visible on the caseback.
Some of the innovations by De Bethune, that made this timepiece a reality, including a titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts by De Bethune, along with a balance-spring with flat terminal curve, and silicon escape wheel with spherical moon-phase indication accurate to one lunar day every 122 years, and a triple parachute shock-absorbing system.
The hour satellite indication was designed by Urwerk with triple base plate in ARCAAP and the satellite in aluminum mounted on Geneva crosses in beryllium bronze.
Additional notable features include concave plate covers and mirror-polished barrels bridge, open-worked and hand sailed barrels, and steel parts beveled and polished by hand
Learn more at Only Watch.
