De Bethune – DB28 ‘Kind Of Blue’ Tourbillon Meteorite Blue Titanium - Unique Timepiece
Five thousand years ago, a small piece of the universe fell to earth in Santiago del Estero, Argentina. Made from an alloy of iron and nickel, this rare ferrous meteorite’s only adornments were pocks marking the passage of celestial time.
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But its long voyage didn't end in the meteor graveyards of Argentina; One day it landed in the hands of an ingenious master watchmaker, who decided to revive its hidden beauty. Calling on diamond powder, steel blades and scorching flames, the alchemist used all his tools to breathe life into this sleeping beauty and afford a glimpse of the distant land it once called home. After a great deal of effort, the artisan succeeded in revealing its fantastic dimensions.
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Before his eyes, whirlwinds of colourful gases torn apart by the night engulfed the creator of a galaxy, in an age when time began and the stars’ hearts first started to beat. Crafted from drops of gold, he returned these stars one by one to the sky that once belonged to them, wishing to set them in one of his watches like a jewel in a crown. But which piece should he choose?
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His atelier companion – a steely-eyed aesthete with whom he had worked for over fifteen years to create the world’s finest timepieces – whispered the answer in his ear: a unique piece fashioned from titanium and sporting a shade of blue made as vibrant as his starry jewel through a secret technique.
A blue so deep and so full of life, he said, that it would take more than a lifetime of study to fully perceive all its many shades. And so, piece by piece, in the fire of his kiln, the watch colour artist covered his timepiece in azure tones.
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However, they were still missing the movement that would power this miniature universe. To the energy knowingly captured by the leaf springs and transmitted to the minuscule gears, he added the most delicate heart. Lighter than stardust, the twirling tourbillon sets the beat of a stunning two-step waltz.
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Thirty six thousand times per hour, the toing and froing balance wheel steers two gold hands – the only components allowed to fly so close to the scintillating meteor. Its unerringly regular revolutions seem to mimic the life of the one that once orbited another body, before fate caused it to fall into the hands of the two magicians.
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Many months have now passed and the red-hot breath of the forge has caused the watchmaker to forget the vagaries of the seasons and the dark of the night. He tenderly seals the fine case sheltering his masterpiece with gold and glass. He delicately encloses it within two cradles as blue as the showcase they hold and as flexible as the wings of a butterfly.
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Finally, he lovingly caresses it with his fingertips, admiring the curves that he has fashioned and which will soon leave him for the arms of another. Gazing up at the sky, he looks deep into the twilight's nascent stars and rejoices. Although he has lost his star, he knows that its sisters are smiling down on him – just like the man whose wrist his star will one day embrace.
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Technical Specifications
Collection: DB28
Name: DB28 Kind of Blue Tourbillon Meteorite
Reference: DB28TBM
Vintage: Unique Timepiece
Movement
Mechanical hand-wound movement – Calibre DB 2019V3
Technical features of calibre:
Type: Mechanical calibre with manual winding
Number of parts: 276
Jewelling: 39 jewels
Diameter: 30 mm
Power reserve: 5 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel De Bethune Innovation (2004)
Adjustment: Using the crown (2 positions) for winding, and setting the time
Functions:
Hours, minutes, 30’’ indicator via the ultra-light De Bethune tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock,
Power reserve on case back
Technical features:
Silicon escape wheel encircled with a white gold ring De Bethune Patent (2010)
“De Bethune” balance-spring with flat terminal curve De Bethune Patent (2006)
Silicon escape wheel Ultra-light 30 second De Bethune Tourbillon in silicon and titanium De Bethune Innovation (2008)
Frequency: 36,000 vibrations per hour
Adornment: Decoration on power reserve indicator in grade 5 titanium “De Bethune” concentric graining and blued by hand Steel parts beveled and flame-blued by hand
Case
Blued and hand-polished grade 5 titanium – round-shaped
Size: 42.60 mm
Thickness: 9.70 mm
Attachments: Long floating lugs in grade 5 polished and blued titanium De Bethune Patent (2006)
Crystal: sapphire crystal, 1800 Vickers hardness with double anti-reflective treatment
Crown: at 12 o’clock – mono-pusher button – setting in 2 positions
Back: Screwed case back in polished pink 5N gold and open on, a linear power reserve indicator in pink 5N gold
Sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness), with double anti-reflective coating
Water resistance: 3 ATM
Display
Hands in hand-polished rose gold 5N
De Bethune 30″ ultra-light tourbillon in silicone and titanium at 6 o’clock – De Bethune Innovation (2008)
Star studded sky in blued hand-polished iron meteorite with white gold stars
Hours ring in grade 5 polished and blued titanium with pointers in pink 5N gold
Minutes ring in grade 5 satin-polished and blued titanium
Hands: in hand-polished rose gold 5N
Strap
Extra-supple alligator skin with alligator padding
Buckle in grade 5 mirror-polished and blued titanium and ardillon in pink 5N gold
Year: 2017
* Manufacture De Bethune innovations and registered patents
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Press release -- Geneva 2017
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De Bethune Geneva Office
25 Grand-Rue 1204 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 310 22 71
Fax: +41 22 310 33 40
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