DeWitt has been growing by leaps and bounds - the brand started in 2003 with three people and now DeWitt employs more than 100 people. JÉrÔme De Witt, the owner, is committed to being independent and doing the key processes of watch production in-house, which is why DeWitt is on its third, and by far its largest, facility - trying to keep up with demand and space requirements.
“If you want to deliver quality, you must have control over the key parts,” says De Witt. “If you are independent, you are the only one who is deciding the quality you will accept. If you want quality and you depend on a vendor, if it's not the right quality, you face a delay to replace the parts. When you produce yourself, you can react immediately, so it's a completely different way of working.”




ACADEMIA NIGHT CHRONOGRAPH


It's not the cheapest way to do things, however. “Passion costs, always,” De Witt admits. “The machines cost what they cost. I think we are completely wrong to always put money in front of the product. If I was thinking money, I would never have produced something like the Only Watch piece. For sure, it's a large investment.”
The big revelation for BaselWorld was Only Watch timepiece, called the Incognito 208, which was presented for the first time this year. “This watch is a piece of art,” De Witt says. “We sold it by showing an empty plastic box with nothing inside. It's a vertical flying tourbillon, five barrels, 28-day power reserve. The buyer bought it based on this description. All the proceeds of this watch go to charity. It was valued at more than US$500,000, but I don't know how much it really costs. I don't want to know. We have something in the same shape, with a different dial and different functions, called the WX-1, in a limited series of 99, which we will be showing in Basel.”
De Witt is moving away from the traditional, introduce everything at BaselWorld template for watch manufacturers. “We will try to produce five different unique watches throughout the year, to space out the introductions.”
In addition to the WX-1, DeWitt introduced the Academia Night Chronograph this year. A spin off from the Academia Sequential Chronograph, the dial of the Night Chronograph, offered in two versions, is coated with white Superlumi-nova and more surprisingly, dark, nearly-black Superluminova. The Night Chronograph is further embellished with precious metals, whereas the Sequential Chronograph features a blend of rose gold, titanium and rubber.







JÉrÔme De Witt never thought his company would grow so big so quickly, but he is keeping a firm hand on the look of DeWitt watches. “I will always continue to give the direction of the design,” he pledges. “I think with DeWitt, you either like or dislike the watches, it's a completely honest product. I prefer someone coming to me and saying 'I hate your product' - at least they have a reaction. If I have bad taste, maybe some people will have the same bad taste!
”I am always trying to find something new, something that other people think isn't poss-ible,“he continues.”It's always possible to go further, otherwise, you will stop trying. My goal is to create, to dream, to push my team to go further. I have to show them how far we can go together."


Source: Europa Star April-May 2008 Magazine Issue