One of the new trends in the charitable watch auction Only Watch (the Only Watch 2021 event will take place in November) is the collaboration of independent watch companies in creating unique watches, allowing them to share efforts and fame. Only Watch is an interesting auction because, unlike most watch auctions, the watches sold at this particular event must be either completely unique or the first in a limited series. The proceeds go to a charitable medical organization, not to the brands themselves. Thus, the value of participating in the auction for brands lies in attracting attention (mostly), and it has been interesting to see how small (albeit very elite) names in the watch industry have adapted to this over the years.
One of the special collaborative products at Only Watch 2021 is the "Kind Of Magic" watch, created jointly by De Bethune and Kari Voutilainen. Both are very important names in the field of modern boutique ultra-luxury watches, and the "Kind Of Magic" watch represents a mix of their respective visual styles and attributes in a watch with a "convertible" dial. In short, the Kind Of Magic watch has a middle case that flips: one side features a dial and hands devised (and manufactured) by Kari Voutilainen, while the other has a dial from De Bethune, along with the case and movement developed by Denis Flageollet. Naturally, the hope is that this one-of-a-kind watch represents the best of both worlds - or, as Only Watch expresses, helps promote the visual "codes" of these respective masters of watchmaking.
Those familiar with these two brands will immediately understand the basis of the Kind Of Magic watch. The blue guilloché engraved dial and corresponding two-tone hands are extremely reminiscent of many Voutilainen watches. There are also small differences that seem to suggest De Bethune's production - for example, the chapter ring with minute markers on it. The dial uses only Voutilainen's name. In the specially designed case, the dial and movement compartment rotate, revealing the back of the watch, which also has another set of hands for timekeeping. Here we see not only the De Bethune mechanical movement but also an additional hour and minute indicator. The minutes are indicated on the main dial with a partially hidden hand, and the hours on a smaller dial located above the "6 o'clock" position on the dial.
The case and manual-winding mechanism, for the most part, completely belong to De Bethune in style and origin. We see a skeletonized version of their popular "dead-beat" seconds mechanism, as well as a polished Grade 5 titanium case with a width of 43.3 mm and articulated skeletonized lugs (for comfort). The movement is the De Bethune caliber OW21 with manual winding, designed to operate synchronized hands on both sides of the case. On the "movement side," we can see a silicon-based regulation system, which also uses a number of special parts exclusive to De Bethune. The movement operates at a frequency of 3 Hz (I assume) with a full four-day power reserve between two winding barrels. The movement is skeletonized and decorated with a large amount of hand finishing and polishing.
The OW21 movement also features a ticking (dead-beat) seconds hand, best visible on the Voutilainen dial side. It will be interesting to see which of the two dials the future owner of this one-of-a-kind Kind Of Magic watch will prefer. There are many De Bethune collectors and many Voutilainen collectors. Can these unique Kind Of Magic watches appeal to both simultaneously? We'll have to wait and see after this lot is sold at the Only Watch 2021 auction in November.
The estimated price of the De Bethune X Voutilainen Kind Of Magic watch is between 200,000 and 250,000 Swiss francs (215,000-270,000 USD).