DeWitt is unveiling its latest technical innovation, the Academia Grand Tourbillon watch, a limited edition of 99 pieces, entirely conceived and assembled at the DeWitt Manufacture by its own master watchmakers.

This new Academia creation houses the calibre DW 8030, developed from the DW 8028 movement, the Manufacture’s first 100% in-house manually-wound tourbillon movement, first presented in 2010.

Built out of 327 component parts, this calibre is structured along traditional lines and incorporates numerous tried and tested technical features: 18,000 vph, a 65-hour power reserve, a Swiss lever escapement and a Straumann balance-spring with Phillips curve sequenced at 2.5 Hz.

For its part, the time display in the form of a jumping hour and minute indication reflects DeWitt’s unique creativity and ground-breaking approach, far removed from the codes of conventional watchmaking. For the setting of the hours, a rack mechanism is activated to give added mobility to the watch’s dial. As each minute passes, a slip-spring moves into place, drawing the observer’s eyes once again to the depths of this sophisticated mechanism.

The dial is made up of a silvered grid linked to the watch’s movement that recalls the inner workings of industrial machinery at the beginning of the 20th century. The date is displayed in a rose gold colour tone in a window at 3 o’clock and is adjustable by a corrector situated on the side of the case.

On the reverse side of the watch the sapphire case back reveals a day and night indicator, which takes on a blue colour tone to indicate night-time and a white colour tone to indicate day-time hours.

Like every DeWitt tourbillon, the Academia Grand Tourbillon watch bears the signature of the watchmaker who assembled the timepiece, inscribed on the decorative silvered grid located on the back of the movement.
In order to ensure perfect quality, DeWitt makes it a point of honour that each grand complication movement should be assembled, set and tested by the same master watchmaker.

Source: DeWitt