As Victor Hugo has once stated, “Art has two principles, the Idea, which produces European art, and the Chimera, which produces oriental art. The Summer Palace was to chimerical art what the Parthenon is to ideal art.” The DB25 Imperial Fountain series precisely manifests this philosophy with its fascinating mixture of Chinese and Western aesthetics. Based on the DB25 IXème inframonde Maya special series, the Imperial Fountain was a limited-edition series launched in 2013, in sets of 12 pieces, each with one of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs engraved at the center of the dial.
The design of the timepiece was drawn from the famous Chinese zodiac clepsydra at the Old Summer Palace, also known as Yuan Ming Yuan, in Beijing. It features a solid gold dial adorned by a magnificent dragon engraving, meticulously hand-engraved by the master engraver and artist Michèle Rothen. The dragon is set against a backdrop with delicate chased reliefs, surrounded by an hour ring that features blue Chinese calligraphy numerals, an art form that Denis Flageollet practiced privately. An outer ring sculpted with exquisite depictions of the Zodiac signs is a reference to the bronze animal heads surrounding the fountain at the Old Summer Palace. The hours and minutes are displayed by the flame-blued steel hands, in signature De Bethune style, sweeping poetically around the dial periphery, without any obstruction to the sculptural décor. This is achieved by the development of a special micro ball bearings mechanism with a specific toothing profile for the discs required in the transmission.
Offered in attractive condition, and accompanied by its complete set of accessories, the present timepiece is a beautiful union of traditional artistic craftmanship of the highest level and De Bethune’s exceptional horological finesse. We are very pleased to present this extraordinary timepiece to our tasteful collectors in the Year of the Dragon.