One of this spring's most unusual novelties is a collaboration De Bethune is taking part in.
Denis Flageollet already has joint projects to his name, all of which are unconventional. Take the Kind of Magic watch with a swiveling middle case created for Only Watch 2021 as an example: One side is a recognizable De Bethune dial while the other is a classic by Kari Voutilainen combinating different types of engraving.
It was given a lower estimate of CHF 200,000 and sold for CHF 1.3 million. Another watch with a "two-faced" character had been presented before then at Only Watch 2019: De Bethune x Urwerk “Moon Satellite”. That was when a case with De Bethune's floating lugs framed a dial with Urwerk's satellite indication.
The result of another form of partnership seen last year was the De Bethune DW5 Empreinte, created with a graduate of the University of Art and Design in Lausanne (ECAL). Drawing inspiration from "outrenoir" (beyond black) paintings by Pierre Soulages, Clara Martin recreated the transition from pitch black to bright blue on the futuristic DW5 case. The result is a watch which could be exhibited in a museum of modern art alongside the paintings by Soulages.
The new De Bethune X Marc Newson Hourglass X HG Timepiece can't be exhibited on the wrist either. It's an hourglass which replaces the traditional sand with metal nanoballs, which might look familiar. The designer created his first Hourglass back in 2012. The Hourglass case is made of glass blown by hand in Switzerland and filled with gold- or silver-coated spheres.
The designer did a remake for Hodinkee in 2015, which retailed for USD 12,000. This time, the 1,249,996 stainless-steel nanoballs measuring 0.6 mm in diameter were coated with copper. Now the spheres have been given a blue tone typically seen on watch details by De Bethune. Newson has extensive experience working with timepieces, both traditional mechanical pieces and the world's most famous smartwatch: the Apple Watch.
Some media sources even call him the author of Apple Watch's design — the most fearsome competition for traditional analogue watches. However, Newson himself has denied being involved in the gadget's design at the development stage in an interview with Dezeen magazine. What we do know for sure is that his portfolio contains a customized Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox for the (RED) charity auction initiated by the U2 frontman Bono.
The JLC Memovox Tribute To Deep Sea with a red dial center by Newson was estimated to go for USD 10,000-15,000 and sold for USD 365,000. He also has a few projects connected to Jaeger-LeCoultre's Atmos under his belt. The Atmos 566 was encased in a cabinet made of Baccarat crystal designed by Newson in 2010.
In 2016, he worked on the Atmos 568 with its timekeeping mechanism "floating" in thin air. And let's not forget that Newson developed his own watch brand: he co-founded the company Ikepod in the 1990s. To sum it up, he has his own designer watches, hourglass timers, mechanical clocks and smartwatches.
And as if that wasn't enough, Newson's collection also features a timepiece reminiscent of an ancient water clock called the Klepsydra for HG Timepiece (this company also took part in Newton's project with De Bethune). The new project with De Bethune continues the long line of Hourglasses in two sizes: 12 pieces that time one hour and 24 pieces for measuring ten minutes.