Introducing The De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Meteorite

Some watches are made to emulate the greats. Others are made to introduce contemporary ideas. And then there’s the Dream Watch 5.

Developed by De Bethune, this futuristic creation, resembling a miniature spaceship, crashed landed onto the scene back in 2014. It was an absurdly cool timepiece made out of titanium, but the kind you would expect to see just once.

Except De Bethune has made it again. In a rare case of not-so-déjà-vu, the independent brand is introducing an all meteorite version that radically transforms the look of the watch. If the first DW5 had a perfect mirror-like finish, the Meteorite looks like it was drenched in fuel.

De Bethune says it has worked tirelessly on the raw material, subliming imperfections such as the large gash that runs in the middle. And it’s done an amazing job at that. For such an odd contraption, it actually displays the hours and minutes in the cleanest, most straightforward way.

Following the example of the DW5, jumping hours and minutes are displayed on two silver-toned discs at 3 o’clock. And once again, lying next to them is the brand’s spherical moon-phase indication. Where the DW5 has been seriously improved is at the back, which has been completely redesigned around a new tourbillon.

Very little information has been shared about the new caliber, although it’s once again manually wound, and boasts a power reserve estimated between four and five days.

So, the DW5 Meteorite doesn’t look like it belongs on the wrist. But does it feel at home once it’s strapped on? Surprisingly so, we found. Top to bottom, the case only measures 39mm, meaning it’s smaller than most modern timepieces. However, its width is, again, a bit of an issue. It measures 50mm and the large ruby cabochon at the end of the crown digs deep into the top of the hand. The same was already true of the original DW5, so the lack of progress there is somewhat dispointing.

The De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Meteorite is not the watch most of us would dream of, but David Zanetta does not dream the way most of us do. One has to admire how far his imagination has taken the brand. The Meteorite is a pièce unique, priced at CHF 450,000.

Photo Credit: Haute Time. For more information, please visit the official De Bethune website. Follow Haute Time on Instagram to catch all of the new releases as they happen.