Why Skeletonzied DONE Watches Are The Perfect Choice For Mechanic Enthusiasts

For Thierry Clottu, the brain behind the Swiss newcomer DONE Watches, everything has revolved around watches since the time he was around 18 years old. After completing his studies, the trained microtechnology engineer was therefore quickly drawn to the watch industry, before making a life-changing commitment in 2016: his very own watch brand.

Today, the brand’s offering consists of three broadly expanded collections, one of which caught our eye right away: the Mechanica Skeleton. Not only are the watches in the collection completely skeletonized, but also surprisingly affordable given their level of complication and in-house refinement. Let us show you why.

Like an open book: From the mainspring to the escapement

The appeal of a skeletonized watch undoubtedly lies in the fact that you have, quite literally, clear sight. Thanks to the open-worked structure, the caliber does not only have a unique visual effect, but is also perfectly showcases the inner workings of a mechanical watch. This is particularly interesting to all those, who are interested in watchmaking and want to understand how the power transmission works in detail.

If you turn the crown of a Mechanica Skeleton watch, you can immediately see how the mainspring in the barrel is wound with the help of a crown wheel mounted in between. But that’s not the end of the story, because the stored energy must somehow reach the hands of course.

This is where the gear train comes into play, which assists with transporting the energy from the storage unit (in our case the mainspring barrel) to the escapement. Once it reaches the escapement, the energy is released towards the balance wheel in small, but very well-dosed amounts, resulting in a controlled running of the gear train and thereby a precise rate. Fascinating!

Mechanica B02: Titanium watches with DLC coating

The watch cases are crafted out of Grade 5 titanium and are a breeze to wear. Although they have diameters of 44mm, which tends to be on the larger side, the material really makes up for it. Titanium watches are considered to be particularly light and robust at the same time, which is why they are super light on the wrist and still offer sufficient protection for the intricate mechanics inside.

In addition, DONE offers the titanium watch with a black DLC coating. This not only makes the cases extra scratch-resistant, but also provides the watches a stealthier look that goes well with the skeletonized movement in our opinion.

ETA 6497-1

Inside, DONE Watches went for the ETA 6497-1. This caliber was originally developed by Unitas in the 1950s and is, due to its dimensions, mainly used in larger wrist watches today. However, due to the omission of a rotor, the hand-wound caliber builds fairly flat in contrast to automatic movements, so that the watch only reaches a height of 10.9mm. Would this watch slide under any shirt cuff? Most certainly.

It goes without saying that DONE Watches still does quite a bit of work before the movement can finally be housed inside the case. The entire act of skeletonization, which is both time-consuming and costly, is for instance fully performed in-house by skilled watchmakers in Neuchâtel.

Meet the Manufacturer

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, we recommend checking out our Meet the Manufacture episode. Founder & CEO Thierry Clottu gives us a look behind the scenes and walks us through the brand’s three watch collections.

DONE Watches at Montredo

We are pleased to also offer you all the brand’s models in our shop. Under the following link you can find our large selection of DONE Watches.

This is a sponsored article by Montredo for DONE Watches.