Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
DB28xs Starry Seas
The very fragile beauty of a watch
De Bethune invents random guilloché: a world’s first.
Placing innovation at the heart of the process. Integrating creativity. Pushing innovation. Thinking outside the box. Not repeating but inventing; thinking ingeniously while improving precision, reliability, readability and comfort: the DB28xs Starry Seas is not just an aesthetically smaller watch. It is one that starts a new chapter for De Bethune. A model that will go down in the history of the brand, as it represents a further step in the initiation story that Denis Flageollet – Master Watchmaker and Founder of the Manufacture De Bethune – has been telling for the past 20 years.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
There is no question of identically reproducing the past, but rather of engaging in a quest to stir new emotions when faced with exceptional objects. The intentions of Denis Flageollet, Master Watchmaker and Founder of de Bethune are pure: he looks at tradition from an innovative standpoint and works to make the contemporary mechanical watch a wristworn cultural embodiment of time measurement.
For a beautiful object to be born somewhere, mastery must have reached a certain degree of maturity
While the DB28xs Starry Seas was born of an extraordinary acrobatic feat that involved bringing the majestic sense of grandeur conveyed by the great Age of Enlightenment clocks with their scientific instruments to the wrist, its fascinating micro-mechanics along with refined aesthetics of a small watch also offer a glimpse into the deepest recesses of the creative mind behind it.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
"It is the culture and understanding of techniques and objects that enable the birth of such a project. For the creation of the DB28xs Starry Seas, the creative process that impelled me evokes the Japanese spirit of Wabi-Sabi, a Japanese concept that is virtually an art form and aims to bring individuals, objects and the environment into harmony."
An intuitive appearance of pure, harmonious beauty
A veritable life philosophy in Japan, Wabi-Sabi blends two aesthetic and spiritual principles historically very present in the national culture. Referring to the fullness experienced when contemplating nature, the expression wabi means solitude and simplicity, with a touch of melancholy.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
Inspired by the Wabi-Sabi concept, Denis Flageollet nurtures an appreciation for a quiet life away from urban hustle and bustle along with a sense of tranquillity, contemplation of something that becomes beautiful as it ages. "While design is constantly experimenting, it appears that, despite the development of industrial technology, this subtle link between humankind and Nature traditionally expressed in art, literature and craftsmanship remains alive and well."
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
The very fragile beauty of the world
All in all, Denis Flageollet clearly knows how to stand still for a while… as a means of going further.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
The absolutism of his work, the quest for perfection in imperfection have guided him over the last 20 years – without him even realising it – from a culture turned towards science and the rigorous aesthetics of the Age of Enlightenment to a philosophy dedicated to discovering the very fragile beauty of the world. Calm and serenity, the search for purity, tranquillity, an ode to traditional art while embracing new technologies, the DB28xs Starry Seas is the aesthetic conjugation of the beauty of simple and modest things.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
⦁ With its random guilloché pattern (which is a world’s first) creating a dial featuring a blued titanium wave reflecting a starry sky, the DB28xs Starry Seas offers us one of the three principles of Wabi-Sabi: the beauty of imperfect things that are impermanent and incomplete.
⦁ Through its small size and the sobriety of its silver-toned chapter-ring and movement, the second principle of Wabi-Sabi pervading it is the beauty of modest and simple things. Or at least apparently simple, for in the ultra-technical world of miniaturisation, this watch is a technical feat notably involving the extreme miniaturisation of the DB28's patented ‘floating lugs’ system.
⦁ Finally, the result is a different, singular watch embodying the third definition of Wabi-Sabi: the beauty of atypical things.
Between art and science
For the geniuses of the Age of Enlightenment, their aim was to create scientific instruments whose beauty emanated from their function, their mechanical sobriety and their simplicity. Powerful figures than transformed them into veritable objets d'art, calling on the best artisans of their time, including cabinetmakers, bronze-makers and enamellists such as Boulle, Caffieri and Coteau.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
"There is no point in working unless you wish to progress, and the only way to do that is to continually challenge your assumptions. To constantly go back to the drawing board and rethink the work in hand, helping it evolve by modifying an element, a process, a technique and sometimes making tiny, often imperceptible improvements”, comments Denis Flageollet.
A lighter DB28 more resistant to impacts and acceleration
For centuries, watchmakers isolated mechanisms from external influences by placing them in towers, on tables and on gimbals. Improved accuracy was soon accompanied by a desire to wear these timepieces. While it was necessary to adapt this chronometric precision to a wide range of extreme wearing conditions, resistance to shocks, accelerations and magnetic fields are very contemporary issues that require specialised research that also relates to the smaller size of this watch.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
Calibre DB2005 has been adapted to this miniaturisation without losing its chronometric quality. Better still, the increased lightness of the watch endows it with better efficiency in case of impacts and acceleration.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
Since then, the inherently natural blue colour has become one of the brand's signatures, as its shimmering reflections on different materials and their finishes enables an infinite and refined play on nuances.
The overarching purpose is to continue the work of the great 18th century master horologists in their quest for perfect timekeeping coupled with an absolute sense of aesthetics. Using the most modern scientific and technological discoveries, the endeavours of the De Bethune teams converge to invent unique, innovative and high-performance solutions.
Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO
The principle has remained the same for more than 20 years: creating timepieces respecting watchmaking traditions while incorporating the mechanical, technical and aesthetic innovations of our time.
----------------------------------------------
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Collection CURRENT
Name: DB28xs Starry Seas
Functions: Hours, Minutes
Movement: DB2005
Type: Mechanical manual-winding movement
Adjustment: Winding and setting the time by means of the crown (2 positions)
Movement
Calibre DB2005
Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour/ 4 Hertz
Number of parts: 160
Jewelling: 27 jewels
Diameter: 30 mm
Power reserve: 6 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel De Bethune Innovation (2004)
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
Triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system De Bethune Innovation (2005)
Adornment: Hand-crafted finishing and decoration
Display
Display: Polished titanium hands
Dial
Silver-plated hours and minutes ring with transferred Arabic numerals
Random guilloché blued titanium dial (world’s first)
Starry sky with white gold stars
Case
Case material : Polished grade 5 titanium
Diameter : 38.7 mm
Thickness : 7,4 mm
Lugs : Polished grade 5 titanium floating lugs – De Bethune Patent (2006)
Crystal : Saphir crystal (1 800 Vickers hardness), with double anti-reflective coating
Case back :Sapphire (1,800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective coating
Engraved ring in blued circular satin-finish titanium
Titanium plate with “microlight” decoration
Water-resistance : 3 ATM
Strap
Extra-supple alligator leather with alligator lining
Buckle : Grade 5 titanium buckle and pin
🔴Price: 79,250 EUR / US $ 90,000 💰
--------------------------------------
Press release -- Geneva 2023
--------------------------------------
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
