De Bethune – DB27 Titan Hawk JPS Black Zirconium Edition

 

De Bethune – CURRENT DB27 TITAN HAWK JPS Black Zirconium Exclusive Edition 2022

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The dramatic contrast between black and gold gives the new DB27 Titan Hawk JPS a clean but subtly elegant technical feel, echoing the influence and heritage of competitive motorsports, as well as the advanced features of the caliber AUTOV2.

The Latest Version of the Iconic De Bethune Titan Hawk

The DB27 Titan Hawk JPS is the newest member of the Titan Hawk family and continues the line’s combination of advanced technical features, practicality and wearability, and clean, distinctive styling in a timepiece that pays homage to the golden age of competitive motorsports of the 1970s.

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The heart of the DB27 Titan Hawk JPS is the caliber AUTOV2. Like the engines found in the most cutting-edge racing cars, the AUTOV2 has been optimized for strength, precision, and performance and takes advantage of the most modern materials and methods to create a movement intended to be the last word in performance watchmaking.

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The caliber AUTOV2 offers a sixty-hour power reserve from a single mainspring barrel, and features De Bethune’s signature titanium balance, with white gold inserts. The balance, as the element which regulates the precision of the entire watch, must possess certain technical features including optimum mass at the periphery as well as low mass elsewhere – a goal which De Bethune has explored and mastered over two decades of refining the design of this most essential element. Combined with the patented De Bethune balance spring, and a balance bridge fixed at two points on the movement plate for maximum strength and stability, the AUTOV2 is a sophisticated expression of both striking aesthetics and precision engineering.

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The case of the De Bethune Titan Hawk JPS is in black zirconium, a high-tech, high-strength, hypoallergenic and lightweight material offering superior technical advantages in comparison to standard sports watch stainless steels. The wearability of the watch is further improved by the signature De Bethune articulated “floating lugs” with their ogival tips, which allow the watch to conform perfectly to the owner’s wrist whether large or small. 

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Finally, the design of the case and dial expresses De Bethune’s long-standing commitment to both technical and aesthetic excellence, with yellow titanium accents contrasting with the black zirconium case body, in an echo of the John Player Special Formula One livery used by the F1 Lotus team.

The Origin of the DB27

It was in March 2018 that De Bethune’s manufacture introduced the latest in-house self-winding caliber; the AUTOV2, the beating heart of a timepiece with a modern twist. Indeed, the DB27 Titan Hawk JPS draws its inspiration from the design and technology of its predecessors while adding an innovative touch. Slim lines, a black microlight dial, sandblasted titanium minute hands with hand-polished tips, a microlight case middle, and brushed lugs and tinted open back are all key elements of the design – making for a watch that stands out not only for its sleek design but also for its entirely in-house movement.

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If the inspiration of the original DB27 Titan Hawk model is very quickly perceived, each detail is rethought and reworked to find the elegance and readability of an object above all designed for maximum functionality. Juxtaposing Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic numerals for the minute track, the reading of the time is given around rings located at the periphery of the dial.

AUTOV2

Focusing on the essentials, the DB27 Titan Hawk JPS is equipped with the AUTOV2 caliber, hour, minute, second, which features a single barrel providing 60 hours of power reserve. The last titanium balance with white gold inserts remains visible on the back of the watch.

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Thanks to the technique still developed in-house, the movement is equipped with an optimized oscillating weight for the automatic winding system, made of titanium and white gold allowing it to power with maximum efficiency, and with the visual elegance so characteristic of De Bethune’s watchmaking – combining a deep celestial blue with the cool gleam of white metal, a signature De Bethune design code for many years.

A Tribute to an Iconic Color Scheme in the World of Motorsports

Constantly refining the structural nuances hovering between dark grey and deep black, while sparingly adding golden accents that are in fact yellow titanium – was a new opportunity to demonstrate De Bethune's expertise in working with the oxidation of titanium and its color palette.

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  De Bethune blue, the brand's historic and pioneering signature, is now succeeded by a golden yellow color, for which the creative process required new assembly techniques and new texturing skills – all of which Denis Flageollet and his team have developed to bring the project to fruition and thus pay tribute to this formidable era of high-tech discoveries.

Ergonomics and Comfort

Finally, the DB27 Titan Hawk JPS meets De Bethune's sporting, technical, and aesthetic aspirations. All the aesthetic codes of the Manufacture can be found in this model: the patented floating lug system with its famous cone-shaped tips that are more prominent than ever, comprising polished yellow grade 5 titanium inserts recalling the side of the case, the 12 o'clock position of its crown, a microlight decoration on the case middle, and the black microlight dial (microlight is a form of decoration unique to De Bethune, which improves on traditional guilloche to produce unique visual and optical effects).

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Machined in a 43 mm case in black zirconium with a microlight decoration on the middle, accompanied by a black canvas strap, the DB27 Titan Hawk JPS is also an exception expression of the De Bethune rule of wearer comfort.

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The result is a construction that adapts particularly well to the size of each wrist and the way it moves.

The DB27 Titan Hawk JPS is available as a limited series sold exclusively through De Bethune.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection  CURRENT

Name:  DB27 TITAN HAWK JPS Edition

 Limited edition of 10 numbered pieces

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Reference: DB27V2JPS

• Functions: Hours, Minutes, seconds
• Movement: AUTOV2
• Type: Mechanical self-winding movement
• Adjustment: Winding and setting the time (2 positions)

Technical features of calibre AUTOV2
    Number of parts: 217
    Jewelling: 29 jewels
    Diameter: 30 mm
    Power reserve: 60 hours
    Specificities:
        Titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts – De Bethune Patent (2004) improved settings qualities
        “De Bethune” balance-spring with flat terminal curve De Bethune Patent (2006)
        Optimized oscillating weight in titanium and white gold
    Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
    Adornment: Hand-crafted finishing and decoration

Display
    Display: Two toned titanium sandblasted hands, at this end hand polished
    Dial:
        Black microlight
        Chapter ring with Roman numerals in gold
        Minutes circle with Arabic numerals in gold placed around the rim of the dial
Case and strap
    Material: Polished black zirconium, with middle microlight
    Diameter: 43 mm
    Thickness: 9 mm
    Lugs: Short floating lugs in black brushed zirconium with yellow titanium inserts – De Bethune Patent (2006)
    Crystal: In sapphire crystal (hardness of 1800 Vickers) with double anti-reflective coating
    Case back:
        Open in polished black zirconium
        Tinted sapphire crystal (hardness of 1800 Vickers) with double anti-reflective coating
    Water resistance: 3 ATM
    Strap: textile/leather
    Buckle: Pin in yellow grade 5 titanium and buckle in black polished zirconium

 

🔰 Edition of ✅only 25 pieces
🔴Price: $ 60,000💰

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Press release -- Geneva 2022
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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
-----------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - DeBethune
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www.DeBethune.ch

De Bethune – DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT Dual Dial Edition

 

De Bethune – DB25 Kind of Two Jumping GMT Dual Dial Titanium 40mm Edition - 2022

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DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT
Two watches, two worlds: here and elsewhere.
In 2022, De Bethune celebrates its 20th anniversary. Two decades dedicated to interpreting centuries-old expertise and the tireless quest for innovation.

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On the occasion of SIAR 2022, the Manufacture is unveiling its 30th in-house calibre with the release of the DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT.
Here and elsewhere is now possible, as travel comes to life almost instantaneously in a single turn.

 In March 2021, the Manufacture De Bethune presented the DB Kind of Two Tourbillon. Bold and classic, its double dial was already out of place. 

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Its complexity has even challenged all limits and now it presents the DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT, offering a different time zone on each of its sides.

History

Double-sided watches are not a recent invention. For more than two centuries, these singular mechanisms have been born at the hands of erudite watchmakers, open to the new ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and often inspired by astronomy, the decorative arts as well as mechanical engineering.

With horologists increasingly driven by the temptation to develop ever more complicated models, double-sided cases became increasingly prevalent, a solution enabling their creators to express the full scope of their aesthetic and technical expertise by making it possible to display a greater number of functions. The history of horology has been punctuated by certain major accomplishments in this respect. Already during the Renaissance, tower clocks–the most famous of which is located in Venice – had several faces. A little later, certain table clocks with their vertical, four-faceted dials also displayed several identities within a single object. This was followed by pocket watches also featuring two dials, the best-known being the Leroy 01 by Louis Leroy – presented in 1900 and winner of the Grand Prix at the Paris World Fair – which long remained the most complicated watch ever created.

A contemporary take on the double-sided watch

Double-sided watches hold a special place in the realm of highly complicated watches. Beneath the apparent simplicity of this timepiece, De Bethune has clearly not taken the easiest path with this model involving two dials that embody a real watchmaking challenge. Views from back and front reveal an authentic transformation.

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This was an idea that had been taking shape for many years in the mind of Denis Flageollet, who was convinced that it would offer him an unprecedented field of research and the opportunity to provide a different, contemporary interpretation. 

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Just as with the invention of his silicon balance and balance-spring, as well as the famous floating lugs, it would enable him to make another contribution to the advancement of horology.

Two very different faces, both aesthetically and technically

The DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT is perfectly reversible and can be worn on either side according to the mood of the moment and the time zone chosen. 

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This model houses a highly sophisticated mechanism based on a complex system of gears and pinions arranged on the front or back of the watch, and which enables the hands to turn in the right direction, regardless of the dial chosen.

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On one side the jumping hour hand of the GMT function, on the other the central jumping second hand Opt for a modern or more traditional design? The initial inspiration was to create a watch with two very different identities, of which the aesthetic aspect guided the technical design of the new calibre entirely developed by Manufacture De Bethune at L’Auberson in the Swiss Jura

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The front side of the DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT displays a dial featuring a sleek and contemporary design that highlights the mechanics. Indeed, it is a new reading of the hour centred on the balance wheel at 6 o'clock, accompanied by the minute index on the periphery. 

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Extensive work has been done on integrating polished, curved shapes, matt or glossy components, different thicknesses and levels, thereby creating a sensation of ample space and optimal volume, given the minimum height available for a watch integrating the complications of the jumping deadbeat second and the GMT. A deltoid-shaped bridge – perfectly symmetrical – is positioned in the centre, like an isosceles triangle that contributes to the overall sense of harmony.

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The GMT side reveals a dial based on more traditional aesthetic inspiration, with a finely hand-guilloché central part surrounded by the numerals already featured on the dials of De Bethune models such as the DB8 and DB10.

The GMT function

Function is complex in its conception, but very simple in its use. The layout of the functions is based on a double display of hours and minutes on both sides. 

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Firstly, the owner sets his reference time, known as home time and indicated by the hour and minute hands on the 12 o'clock dial, by means of the crown in position 3 on the contemporary side. Secondly, he will set his second time zone on the GMT side, called classic, by the hour and minute hand which is controlled by the crown pulled out to position 2.

Floating lugs playing their role to the full

Every detail has been taken into consideration. Easy to use, yet highly complex, the system of floating lugs lends itself particularly well to the "pivoting" of the case. Redesigned especially for the DB Kind of Two, these elements have been equipped on each side with an ingenious little rotating mechanism made up of 28 components. 

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For reliability purposes, they are manufactured in stainless materials such as surgical steel or titanium, thus enabling them to withstand the external aggressions of water, humidity, temperature variations and continuous contact with the skin.

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Thanks to a cam, a small "notch" allows the watch case to be instinctively and perfectly positioned in line with the floating lugs. The round case rotates on its central axis and can be positioned, front or back, in a delightfully easy, smooth and entirely natural way.

The DB29, a case middle inherently suited to a swivel watch

Finally, the DB29's case middle quickly became a key element in the pivoting case project developed by De Bethune. Its perfectly symmetrical shape offers a beautiful balance with the floating lugs and its elegant crown totally integrated at 12 o'clock (or 6 o'clock depending on the side chosen). It thus swivels naturally and the circumference principle is patently obvious, offering a true understanding of the object.

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All in all, with its elegant design, the combination of contemporary mechanics with a more traditional face, as well as the meticulous care devoted to details, legibility and comfort, the DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT perfectly illustrates one of the great principles of the Manufacture De Bethune: reinterpreting grand traditions with a contemporary vision of the horological object, there by opening up a new field of expression that is refined and sophisticated while preserving user-friendliness and simple read-off. 

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Awork of art with two faces, whose timeless beauty reflects mechanical and aesthetic perfection.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection   Kind of Two

Model: De Bethune DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT  

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Reference: DBK2V1

Functions
Dual front and back display of hours and minutes, jumping seconds, Second time zone (GMT)

Movement
Calibre DB2517
Type: Mechanical hand-wound movement
Adjustment: Winding, setting the time and the GMT, by means of the crown (3 positions)
Technical features of calibre DB2517
Number of parts: 394
Jewelling: 58 rubies
Diameter: 30 mm
Power reserve: 4 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel – De Bethune Innovation (2004)
Specificities: Titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts, optimised for temperature differences and air penetration – De Bethune Patent (2016)
“De Bethune” balance-spring with flat terminal curve – De Bethune Patent (2006)
Silicon escape wheel
De Bethune Dead Beat Second – De Bethune Innovation (2011)
GMT allowing to adjust 2 time zones, different on each side
Frequency: 36,000 vibrations per hour
Adornment: Motion works bridge and concave cover plate in grade 5 titanium, mirror-polished
Polished and chamfered barrel bridge, with shot-blasted stages
Hand snailed barrels
Steel parts polished and chamfered by hand

Displays

Contemporary single-sided display
– Display: Polished titanium hours and minutes indication; Minute indication on the periphery; Hour indication centered around the balance wheel at 6 o’clock
– Dial: Silver hour ring with polished blued index; Silver colour minute ring with blue transfer

Classic reverse side display
– Display: hand-polished and blued titanium hands for hours, minutes and dead beat seconds
– Dial: Silvered and relief, with convex levels and guilloché central part

Case
Material: Polished grade 5 titanium
Diameter: 43,3 mm
Thickness: 11,4 mm
Crown: at noon on the front side, at 6 o’clock on the reverse side, and integrated into the case
Lugs: Polished grade 5 titanium floating lugs – De Bethune Patent (2006)
With case turning mechanism that can be clearly positioned on the front or back side
Crystal doubles-sides: In sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective coating
Water resistance: 3 ATM

Strap
Extra-supple alligator leather, alligator lining
Buckle: Pin buckle in polished grade 5 titanium

 

 Limitation  Only 15 pieces per year

Price from   195.000 CHF

 --------------------------------------
Press release -- Geneva 2022
--------------------------------------
De Bethune Geneva Office 
25 Grand-Rue 1204 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 310 22 71
Fax: +41 22 310 33 40
-----------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - DeBethune
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www.DeBethune.ch

De Bethune – DB25 Perpetual Calendar Blue, Gray Dial Titanium

De Bethune – CURRENT DB25 Perpetual Calendar Blue, Gray Dial Titanium 40mm Automatic Edition - 2022

New self-winding perpetual calendar makes its debut in the De Bethune collection.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTOAt Geneva Watch Days 2022, Manufacture De Bethune unveils a new 40mm titanium case in its perpetual calendar collection.

A DB25sQP with a two-tone silver and blue dial. A classic interpretation of the DB25 with a radiating guilloché pattern adorning 12 sectors, integrated lugs and a new 40mm titanium case.

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Originally launched in 2011, the perpetual calendar by De Bethune is tinged with poetry and combines the finesse of watchmaking with the precision mechanics of the Manufacture by associating the most romantic complication - the moon phase and its starry sky - with the most technical complication - the perpetual calendar - within an exceptional timepiece.

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Inspired by the shape of drums, the 40 mm-diameter round case with its slender and resolutely classic lines, is subtly enhanced by the openworked lugs characteristic of the DB25 collection.

An intriguing combination of romance and practicality

The finesse of the decorations, along with the purity of the two-tone hand-guilloché dial featuring a pattern radiating across 12 sectors, accentuate the legibility notably achieved by the assembly of annular blue appliques, with silver-toned raised transfers and Roman numerals, marking off the subdials and the chapter ring. 

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At 12 o'clock, a palladium and blued steel sphere is set against a sky dotted with pink gold stars, also incorporating a leap-year indicator in a gold disc. The date can be read on a dial at 6 o'clock, while the apertures displaying the day of the week and the month are respectively located at 9 and 3 o'clock.

Peerless comfort

The round case of the new DB25sQP retains the harmonious lines that contributed to the success of the original DB25QP but comes in titanium, a material that the Manufacture has increasingly favoured in recent years. Its integrated, openworked and curved lugs further accentuate the practical and pleasant wearing of this classically inspired watch.

Calibre DB2324V2

As an improved version of the latest calibre DB2324, it has been technically adapted to fit inside a 40 mm case, representing a new feat for the Manufacture.

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Entirely designed and developed by Denis Flageollet's team in the Manufacture's Haute Horlogerie workshops in Sainte Croix (Swiss Jura), self-winding Calibre DB2324V2 with its 5-day power reserve benefits from De Bethune's research and latest technology, including a perpetual calendar, a spherical moon indicating the moon phases with a precision corresponding to 1 day/122 years, a self-regulating double barrel, a triple pare-chute system and a titanium/white gold balance.

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The state-of-the-art balance visible on the back of the watch results from De Bethune’s consistently physics and mathematically-driven approach to improving its operation. It is made of titanium and features the latest advances including an adjusted diameter and small white gold weights placed around the rims endowing it with a remarkable quality of inertia, reliability and regulation.

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This model is equipped with the famous De Bethune balance spring – the small, extremely fine hairspring considered to be the soul of the mechanical watch – for which Manufacture De Bethune has opted to maintain its centre of gravity exactly in the centre by using a flat curve affixed to the outside of the balance spring. Differences in the thickness of the blade add to the almost perfect precision of its concentric development. 

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Its many advantages notably include reduced thickness, improved concentricity quality, finer adjustment of the index-assembly system as well as no need for its pins, as the shape of the curve even acts as a shock absorber in case of impacts. The escape-wheel is made of silicon for the lightness of the material and also to increase the power of the calibre.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO A sapphire caseback enables one to admire the full complexity of the movement, which is powered by a titanium and platinum oscillating weight stemming from research by the R&D team, as well as the refinement of its finishes: a three-quarter platinum bridge with sandblasted and hand -coloured starry sky decoration; a blued titanium balance bridge and oscillating weight arm; a hand-coloured white gold oscillating weight; as well as hand-bevelled and hand-polished steel parts.

New reference in limited production

This new perpetual calendar is fitted with a leather strap secured by a polished titanium buckle and accompanied by a second grey fabric strap.

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Vividly illustrating the technical and aesthetic expertise of the Manufacture, this new Reference DB25sQP marks its entry into the perpetual calendar collection and will be limited to a single production run of 15 units per year.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection   CURRENT

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Name: DB25 Perpetual Calendar

Reference: DB25sQPATIS13

Movement: DB2324/V2
Functions:
Hours, Minutes,

• Spherical moon phase indication and leap-year indication at 12 o'c lock,
• Perpetual calendar indicating the month at 3 o'clock,
• Date at 6 o'clock and the day of the week at 9 o'clock DB2324/V2

Type: Mechanical self-winding movement
Adjustment: Winding, setting the date and the time by means of the crown (3 positions)
Month, day of the week and sphericaI moon phase adjustment via correctors

Technical features of calibre DB2324V2
Number of parts: 423
jewelling: 48 jewels
Diameter: 30 mm
Power reserve: 5 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel De Bethune innovation (2004)
Specificities: Titanium and white gold balance wheel De Bethune Innovation (2016)
"De Bethune" balance-spring with flat terminal curve De Bethune Patent (2006)
Silicon escape wheel
Spherical moon phase indication accurate to a degree of one lunar day every 122 years — De Bethune Patent ('2004)
Triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system De Bethune Innovation (2005)
Optimized oscillating weight in titanium and white gold
Oscillating weight shock-absorbing system De Bethune Innovatior› (2006)
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
Adornment:
3/4 plae witht sarry decor, sandblasted and mailed by hand
Balance bridge and oscillating weight arms in blued titanium
White gold oscillating weight hand snailed 
Hand-polished, chambered steel parts

Display

Display:
Hands curved, in hand mirror-polished steel  
Perpetual calendar apertures indicating the day of the week at 9 o’clock and the month at 3 o’clock on anthracite discs with silver decal – sub dial at 6 o’clock indicating the day of the month – leap year
indicated by a gold pastille appearing in the starry sky at 12 o’clock
Spherical moon phase indication in palladium and blued steel with an accuracy of one lunar day every 122 years at 12 o'clock — De Bethune Patent (2004) day every
Dial:
Bicolor silver and blue hand-guilloché, with 12 radiating sectors De Bethune star-studded sky in blued titanium, inlaid with rose gold stars
Curved hour, date and moon phase rings with silver relief 
Roman numerals
Case
Material: Titane grade 5
Diameter: 40 mm
Thickness: 11,3 mm
Lugs: Integrated, hollowed lugs
Crystal: In sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective coating
Case back: Open back in polished titanium and sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective coating
Water-resistance: 3 ATM
Strap
Extra-supple alligator leather, alligator lining
Buckle: Pin buckle in polished titanium

 Limitation  Only 15 pieces per year

Price from   125.000 CHF

 --------------------------------------
Press release -- Geneva 2022
--------------------------------------
De Bethune Geneva Office 
25 Grand-Rue 1204 Geneva
Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 310 22 71
Fax: +41 22 310 33 40
-----------------------------------------------------
www.facebook.com - DeBethune
-------------------------------------------------------------
www.DeBethune.ch

De Bethune – DB25 Starry Varius Aerolite Tourbillon Edition

De Bethune – CURRENT DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite Meteorite Dial Ultra-light Tourbillon Titanium Edition - 2022

And it is in the very heart of stars, where our thermometer would show a few million degrees, that iron meteorites are born. This powerful and poetic energy then gives birth to a new star, or even a galaxy.

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Created from a meteorite, the DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite becomes the witness to this chaotically orchestrated force. De Bethune has enriched its dial with a starry sky emblematic of this timeless material. Thus, a moment is engraved where time has ceased to exist.

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"The cosmos, time, the sky... when you want to see time evolve and you have no instruments, yo
observe the sky. This is one of the recurring themes in watchmaking," explains Denis Flageollet,
Master Watchmaker and creator of De Bethune. Constantly in search of innovation, it is in the
diversity and simplicity of nature that De Bethune carves its most beautiful creations.

The DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite will be limited to a production of five pieces per year.

Beauty from above and beyond 

Ferrous meteorites have already been used at De Bethune, notably to create one of the cases of the famous Dream Watch 5, the dial of the DB28 Kind of Blue Meteorite and lately with the dial of the DB28XP Météorite.

Denis Flageollet, founder and Master Watchmaker of De Bethune, is passionate about meteorites. A passion that he nurtures by regularly trialling iron ore reduction processes with a view to one day making his own metal. His deep-felt interest in the material and his numerous attempts with russian and Egyptian meteorites have led the Maison to work with a new kind of meteorite: Muonionalusta Meteorite.

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Believed to have struck planet Earth more than one million years BCE, somewhere between Finland and Sweden on the banks of the Muniono river, this is probably the world’s oldest known meteorite to date. The first fragment was discovered in Sweden, in 1906. Composed mainly of iron and nickel, it is distinguished by the perfectly geometrical lines of its 60° angle cross-hatched “Widmanstätten” pattern.

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The DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite’s Muonionalusta Meteorite dial has a distinctive texture, along with geometrical patterns aligned in a precise way that makes each timepiece special and unique.

Recreating the magic of the stars amid the vast expanse of the heavens

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Master of the thermal oxidation of metals, De Bethune has created a starry sky accompanied by its Milky Way on a previously blued meteorite dial. This azure shade results from the heat released by the chemical reactions of the heated meteorite.

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Dotted across this blue dial surface is a multitude of small white gold pins, delicately driven in between the different shapes and thicknesses of the octahedral geometrical structures. Like tiny, suspended marbles, these glittering flashes of light endow the celestial vault with its aura of timeless depth. In addition to bringing a unique fragment of space to the wrist, each sky is different: the customer can choose a given constellation, according to a precise sky map, at a specific date, time and place.

The watchmaking art according to De Bethune

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MInspired by the classic round shape, the ultra-light polished titanium case of the DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite with its perfectly integrated openworked lugs nevertheless asserts De Bethune's contemporary expression of the art of watchmaking.

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Taking up the graphic codes of the Manufacture, the new reference features a Roman numeral hour circle and an Arabic numeral minute track on a silvered disc, complemented by hand-polished steel hands identical to those already featured on the dial of the DB25 Starry Varius.

Chronometry expertise

Thanks to the double anti-reflective treatment of the sapphire crystal, the underside of the watch reveals an outstanding workmanship that benefits from the latest De Bethune technologies.

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Gravity is one of the greatest enemies of mechanical watches. Based on the tourbillon that Abraham-Louis Breguet invented for his 18th century pocket watches, De Bethune has sought to optimize it on today’s wristwatches. 

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The equation? To be more efficient on a wrist engaged in rapid and disordered movements, the tourbillon must have the highest possible frequency and fastest rotation speed.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTOIn creating a titanium and silicon tourbillon with a frequency of 36,000 vibrations/hour, an extraordinarily light carriage (0.18 grams, the lightest ever created in the industry) spinning on its axis every 30 seconds, comprising a total of 63 components (the lightest of which weighs less than0.0001 grams!), this feat is easier to describe than to achieve. The 42mm-diameter watch is equipped with the mechanical manual-winding DB2109V4 calibre, entirely designed, developed and produced within the De Bethune workshops in L’Auberson, Switzerland. A jumping seconds display ensures precise read-off. 

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 * The balance wheel, also visible on the back of the watch, is of the latest generation. It is the result of a constant physical and mathematical approach by De Bethune to improve its functioning. It benefits from the latest advances, with an adapted diameter, made of titanium, equipped with small white gold weights placed on the outside, which gives it a remarkable quality of inertia, reliability and regulation.

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De Bethune has equipped this model with its very own balance spring, the extremely thin component regarded as the soul of the mechanical watch. Its centre of gravity is maintained in the very centre by means of a flat curve affixed to the outside of the balance spring. Differences in the thickness of the blade further enhance the almost perfect precision of its concentric development. The numerous advantages include reduced thickness, improved adjustment of the concentricity quality, finer adjustment of the index (regulator) and no more need for its pins, while the shape of the curve even acts as a shock absorber in case of impacts.

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*The test report on the watch, measured in six positions, indicates the excellent results achieved by the model, with 0.00 sec. /day in all positions. This confirms that combining the jumping seconds complication with the tourbillon has in no way been detrimental to the precision of this chronometer.

Tribute to nature

A crystallized moment, a testimony to the very birth of a galaxy! De Bethune once again pays tribute to the power of nature, that pure and unreserved power. "No other metal is as charged with pure energy and emotion as the iron meteorites that have taken shape in the furnace of the stars," Denis Flageollet tells us.

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The De Bethune DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite will be limited to a production of five pieces per year.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection   CURRENT

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Name: DB25 Starry Varius Aérolite

Reference: DB25VTM

Functions:

•     Hours, Minutes,
•     jumping seconds,
•     30’’ indicator via the ultra-light,
•     De Bethune tourbillon cage on case back

Movement:
  Calibre DB2109V4
    Type: Mechanical manual-winding caliber
Adjustment:
    Winding and setting the time by means of the crown (2 positions)

Technical features of calibre DB2109V4
    Number of parts: 260
    Jewelling: 43 jewels
    Diameter: 30 mm
    Power reserve: 4days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel De Bethune Innovation (2004)
    Specificities:
        Titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts, optimized for
temperature differences and air penetration De Bethune Patent (2016 )
        “De Bethune”balance-spring with flat terminal curve De Bethune Patent (2006)
Silicon escape wheel
Ultra-light De Bethune 30’’ tourbillon in titanium De Bethune Innovation (2008)
De Bethune Dead Beat Second De Bethune Innovation (2011)
    Frequency: 36,000 vibrations per hour
    Adornment:
        Silver plate and barrel bridge cover polished
Hand-snailed barrels
Hand-polished, chamfered steel parts

Display

    Display:
        Hands in hand-polished steel
    Dial:
De Bethune star-studded sky in blued and polished meteorite with
hand-fitted white gold pins depicting the stars
Milky Way patterns gilded with 24-carat gold leaf
Silver-toned hours and minutes ring

Case and strap

    Case material: Titanium
    Case diameter: 42 mm
    Case thickness: 10,3 mm
    Lugs: Integrated, hollowed lugs
    Crystal: In sapphire crystal ( 1800 Vickers hardness ) with double anti-reflective coating
    Case back: Open back, De Bethune 30 " silicon/titanium Tourbillon, 36,000 vph
– central jumping seconds
Sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective
coating
    Water – resistance: 3 ATM
    Strap: Extra – supple alligator leather, alligator lining
    Buckle: Pin  buckle in grade 5 titanium

Limitation  Only 5 pieces per year
Price  upon request

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Press release -- Geneva 2022
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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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