Right from their inception, the DeWitt Manufacture has been resolute in their pursuit of watchmaking excellence.  The dynamic spirit of this youthful watch brand is, perhaps, most evident in their collection of ground-breaking Concept timepieces, from which many patents and innovations have emerged.  Their Concept X-Watch Tourbillon watch fully demonstrates the mastery, and ingenuity of DeWitt’s small, highly skilled team.

With just a glance at its striking persona, one can immediately tell that the DeWitt Concept X-Watch is a very special timepiece indeed.

Across its façade, one is confronted by an impressive steel X-shaped bonnet which cradles the timepiece, revealing its functional elements, while at the same time concealing the true character of this piece.  Because uniquely, this DeWitt Concept piece has a split personality which is only be revealed when its “X” enclosure is opened.

The covering is activated via four push-pieces on the upper and lower case sides.  When pressed, the “X” opens up in two sections to reveal the dial beneath.  Although the mechanism reacts immediately on command, it does so with finesse, thanks to a special device created to control the speed of its opening.

Only when fully open can the true mechanical wizardry of this piece can be fully appreciated, because within it, another mechanism enables the case to be rotated completely, offering up a choice of two diverse dial-side panoramas, each of which operates on the same mechanical movement.

Firstly one has the pleasure of a dial decorated with a rhodium-plated, polished appliqué which takes the form of an hour glass.  At its upper, a 120 degree power reserve indication takes up position, while at the lower, the tourbillon whirrs encircled by a small seconds hand attached to its cage.

Exquisite hand-guilloché sunray decoration radiates towards the two retrograde counters on the right and left of the dial, which indicate the hours and the minutes.

Concealed beneath, and only revealed when the case is rotated is a new and wholly different spectacle - a skeletonised chronograph dial, with disc seconds and a 3-arm minutes hand.

Here, having rotated the case by 180 degrees, the chronograph disc seconds indication, which is placed underneath the Tourbillon, is positioned in the upper part of the dial. It is adorned with a polished and rhodium-plated cover decorated with the “DeWitt” logo.  In the lower part of the dial, the chronograph minutes, printed on the sapphire glass, are positioned on 3 different levels. A 3-arm rose gold hand with small disks on each tip covers the three 10-minute levels in a single rotation.  To the left and right, the bi-directional hours and minutes are positioned.

The peripheral oscillating rotor, with rose gold elements, which travels around this dial adds another compelling feature and is a technical accomplishment in its own right.  It guarantees a stable flow of energy thanks to the company’s patented Automatic Sequential Winding device which disengages when 96% winding of the main-spring is achieved thus allowing it to operate in the ideal functioning range of between 92-96%.

In order to appreciate fully the skeleton side of the movement, a blackened nickel silver plate just 1.0mm thick was placed between the two sides to separate them.

Housed within the sculpted 49mm Grade 5 Titanium case, one single movement the in-house DeWitt Calibre DW 8046 powers the functions for both dials.  Comprising of 544 components, it beats at 21.600 vph.

The duality of its character ensures that the DeWitt Concept X-Watch Tourbillon will appeal to those with a penchant for unique and ultimately complex timepieces and its collectability is, naturally, underscored by the technical prowess demonstrated in its creation and construction.