De Bethune Dream Watch Two
Dream watch Two is an unique timepiece. It has a silicon /platinum temperature -compensated balance with flat terminal curve and as a further step forward in the experimental development and creation of exceptional watches, a magnificent tourbillon made entirely of silicon/titanium with neither a cage nor traditional pillars.
This minute repeater striking on a bell with perpetual calendar is presented in a platinum case with a white silvered dial and sapphire hands enclosed by blued steel. All the experience, knowledge and skill of De Bethune has been distilled into a tourbillon weighing less that 0.18grams. A test bed for new technologies, this tourbillon with a mass three times less than that of a standard tourbillon is made entirely of silicon and titanium.
The quality of these materials and the manufacturing skill of the manufacturer has for the first time made possible the construction of a tourbillon with out a cage.The traditional heavy ,cumbersome pillars have been dispensed with and replaced by a U and S structure which forms the frame of this tourbillon.
Completely unprecedented, it is constructed more on the model of an insect’s exo-skeleton than of a mechanical watch. Supple and smooth, the assembly is more reminiscent of the golden gate bridge or the Milau Viaduct than it is of a traditional escapement. This architectural tourbillon is made of 53 pieces.
The lightest weight is less that 0.0001 grams and the heaviest is 0.0276 grams, all of them shaped by nano-technology and high speed 5-axis machining by comparison, in a tourbillon of standard construction with identical balance inertia, the heaviest part weights 0.1150 grams and the lightest 0.0170 grams.
This composition of hyper technological micro-elements with reduced lubrication incorporates the De Bethune patent of the silicon/platinum temperature compensated balance fitted with a balance spring with flat terminal curve. It has been created specially to test the performance of this patent introduced in 2006.
The silicon/platinum balance was strongly inspired by the titanium/platinum balance developed in the De Bethune workshops since 2002. This balance has four arms fitted with bimettalic links made of invar and brass, this bimettallic combination ensuring that any variations of the spring due to temperature are compensated.
Four inertia blocks have been forced onto the extremities of the arms so as to be integral with the balance. The balance spring and the collet are machined as a single piece. The lightness of the finished part is such that it is practically insensitive to the effects of shock.
The De Bethune research and development has been working for many years emergent technologies and new materials, with the continuing aim of innovating and creating time pieces using the state of the art technologies of today. So it is not surprising that the manufacture has naturally tuned towards silicon. This material has no particular vices and it makes improved efficiency possible, thus leading towards increased accuracy.
