Ninth Mayan Underworld Luxury Watch with Solid Gold Glyph-Engraved Face by De Bethune.

The ninth Mayan underworld - The symbolic advent of a new world by De Bethune

The ninth step of the Bolon Yokte Ku, the cosmic pyramid of the Mayan civilisation, symbolises the advent of a new world, the ninth underworld, according to which the evolution of consciousness is believed to reach its highest level.



On the occasion of humankind’s symbolic passage into this new underworld predicted by the Mayan calendar, De Bethune presents an exceptional 12-piece edition in tribute to the scholarly traditions of this people.



The Ninth Mayayn Underworld watch has a dial in solid gold with hand-engraved by Michèle Rothen and is composed of three parts:
• The outer ring with numerical glyphs in flame-blued steel,
• The inner ring composed of 20 different glyphs symbolizing divinities, animals or sacred objects,
• And the central part representing a period glyph – the baktun comprising 144,000 days.



Renowned for its technical and artistic innovations, the Manufacture De Bethune is building 21st century horology while remaining true to the history of science and art.

The desire to portray the epic adventure of humankind through all its many cultures represented a fascinating challenge for the De Bethune team, which has sought to recreate the deep atmosphere of the ceramics and stones sculpted by the Mayan scribes.



The solid gold dial of these timepieces has been hand-engraved by Michèle Rothen, and enhanced by 31 flame-blued steel inserts. The hour circle displays the numerals of Mayan numbering system, while the inner ring presents the 20 glyphs of divinities, animals and sacred objects representing the various days of the calendar.



The dial centre features the baktun, a period glyph used in particular for calculating the “Long Count” and comprising 144,000 days.

In order to highlight the subtle visual equilibrium of the dial, the hands are made in sapphire rimmed with blued steel according to an exclusive De Bethune procedure.



The Mayan scholarly tradition, partially re-transcribed in the manifestos or codices dealing mostly with astral sciences, testify to a strong interest and a genuine fascination for long periods, dates, and remote events both past and future. The Mayan scholars devised a sophisticated arithmetical system mainly composed of period glyphs and numerical glyphs, associated with signs and hierarchized for the “Long Count” of lengthy periods of time.

With its feet firmly planted in history and its head turned to the future in building tomorrow’s watchmaking, De Bethune offers its own distinctive celebration of the mystical and scientific Mayan genius, and the symbolic advent of a new world.

The ninth Mayan underworld Technical description
Functions: hours - minutes
Movement: Calibre DB 2005 – mechanical hand-wound
Mainplate hand-decorated and snailed, hand-chamfered and polished steel parts, De Bethune stripes
Self-regulating twin barrel*
Silicon/platinum balance wheel*
Triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system*
Jewelling: 29 jewels
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
Power reserve: 6-day power reserve

Case Drum measuring 44 mm in diameter in white gold with hollowed lugs
Thickness: 12.50 mm
Glass: sapphire crystal, 1800 Vickers with double anti-reflective treatment
Crown at 3 o’clock – adjustment in 2 positions

Exhibition back: sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment
Dial in solid gold hand-engraved by Michèle Rothen and composed of three parts:
outer ring with numerical glyphs in flame-blued steel, inner ring composed of 20 different glyphs symbolising divinities, animals or sacred objects
central part representing a period glyph, the baktun comprising 144,000 days
Hands in sapphire rimmed with flame-blued steel
Strap: extra-supple alligator leather with pin buckle
* Patents registered by the Manufacture De Bethune



Bethune Geneva Office
8, Rue de la Confédération 1204
Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 310 22 71
Fax: +41 22 310 33 40

images and press release courtesy of De Bethune and additional images courtesy of Watchonista

Montblanc Unveil's Two-Faced Watch, The Metamorphosis

above: The Montblanc Metamorphosis in action

One of the most talked about and exciting new watches at this year's SIHH was Montblanc's TimeWriter 1: Metamorphosis. One watch, that through methods from the art of automaton construction, changes into another watch, right before your eyes.



By moving a slide down or up, this timepiece changes from a wristwatch with hour, minute, second display to a chronograph and vice versa.




TimeWriter I: One watch – two faces


The first watch of the TimeWriter series, the Metamorphosis, is based on the Montblanc chronograph calibre MBM 16.29 and derives its name from its unique dual functions and faces: By moving a slide down or up, the Metamorphosis changes from simple time indication to a chronograph and vice versa.

The first face: The Classic Time
In the standard timekeeping mode, the watch displays hours, minutes and date and has a rather conservatively elegant appearance with Roman numerals in classic silver and black colours. The lower half of the dial displays an unusual circular date display.



A sliding mechanism starts the transformation process of the watch: By pressing the slide on the left-hand flank from “10” to “8” the watch starts with its metamorphosis process that lasts approximately 15 seconds and magically transforms it from the time indicating mode into a chronograph.

The second face: The Chronograph
The metamorphosis itself can best be compared to a scene change at the theatre: wings of the dial open up, slide under one another, and disappear to the left and right beneath the middle section of the dial.



After the transformation, this masterpiece of mechanical timekeeping presents a face devoted entirely to the chronograph function. Emphasising the watch’s second function as a sports timer, the face displays Arabic numerals with red markers. The subdial, in the form of a rotating disc, now takes the stage as the minute counter. The existing hands and dials assume new roles as part of the chronograph.

The two inventors, Johnny Girardin and Franck Orny, came up with the idea of a timepiece that could literally and mechanically change its appearance before our very eyes. For over a year, they worked alongside the designers and watchmakers in the Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie to transform their initial idea into a watch.


above: the inventors of the Montblanc Metamorphosis Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin

Although the principle of a watch with different functions is nothing entirely new, the way in which the Montblanc Metamorphosis transforms itself from one watch face to the other, has never been seen before. It is a highly complex process, involving 50 individual components that move technically synchronously. The mechanisms involved in this process are so new and innovative (The complication adds 315 extra parts to the original 252 parts of the Minerva Kaliber 16-29 hand-wound movement) that they’ve been registered for patent.

The Metamorphosis watch will only be available in a limited edition of 28 pieces. Price is still unknown as of yet.


all information and images courtesy of Montblanc.