The Dream Watch 1 is offered in several dial variations, including this sandblasted titanium finish. The fine and even finish of the dial is amazing. This version is actually fairly subtle, the other version pictured here with the polished dial is a riot of shiny surfaces.
The Dream Watch 1 is a time-only watch with a spherical moon phase. It contains De Bethune’s latest escapement in which the balance wheel is a silicon disc, so when it oscillates the motion is almost imperceptible, except for slight movements in the reflections in the silicon disc (which means it isn’t perfectly flat). I am not sure if the balance wheel is identical to the one in the DB25, De Bethune has so many different balance wheels I am confused.
Even more intriguing are the pair of pushers in the case back which allow the wearer to regulate the watch. This is likely the only (I can’t think of any other) watch in the world that allows the user to tweak the rate of the watch.
Uniquely, the massive and detailed crown is platinum, machined by a three-axis CNC machine. This is unusual, most platinum watches have white gold crown and pushers, even Lange’s piece de resistance Datograph. When I asked David Zanetta if the crown was white gold, he look almost offended, “Of course it is – everything [we use] is the best.