De Bethune – DB28 Maxichrono Titanium Limited Edition
NEW
DB28MCTN
Annual production limited to 20 units in 2015
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The contemporary expression of a time-measuring instrument
In every new creation by
De Bethune, the company’s founders,
David Zanetta and
Denis Flageollet perform a balancing act. It involves recombining age-old expertise and the styles of the Age of Enlightenment in a contemporary creation of new materials and technical innovations. By imagining what the great watchmakers of the 18 th century would have made today, they lay the foundations of tomorrow’s watchmaking. They dismantle preconceptions to extend the frontiers of knowledge. They discover and explore the new horizons of science and technology, yet return to the mechanical and artistic essentials. The construction and the aesthetic of the
DB28 Maxichrono proudly illustrate the simplicity of the initial approach adopted by the brand founders.
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Creating an accurate and readable chronograph within the confined space of a wristwatch: such was the leitmotif that drove seven years of research and development. Showcasing extreme dial clarity and ultra legible chronograph indications by means of its five central hands, this innovative chronograph is also equipped with a high-frequency calibre featuring optimised chronometric precision applied to the measurement of long periods of time. The single pusher at 12 o’clock preserves the comfortable design of the
DB28 collection’s characteristic case.
Stemming from an unusual combination between the round shapes of the case and the fine, flexible lines of the lugs*, together with the association of materials such as hand-polished titanium on the case and lugs, along with polished and blued steel**, this compendium of innovations and patents subtly mingles classicism and modernity in terms of its design as well as its technical construction.
A mono-pusher chronograph with 5 central hands
This chronograph owes its dial architecture, built around give central hands, to a deliberate desire to improve on the aesthetic and functional readability of traditional chronographs, which is often impaired by the presence of small counters. The curves of the distinctively profiled hands closely follow the rounded contours of the silver-toned dial. The present time is read off by means of openworked indicators in polished and blued steel** featuring a contemporary design. Each hand points to blue numerals in a modern font, of which the distinctive character is accentuated by their volumes and colours. Meanwhile, elapsed time is measured in a more traditional manner by means of blued steel** hands for the hours and seconds, and pink gold for the minutes. Numbering inspired by marine chronometers facilitates the classic reading of the chronograph indications. The
DB28 Maxichrono is above all a contemporary chronograph featuring a mono-pusher/12 o’clock crown tandem that controls the central hands remarkably mounted on the same axis according to vertical sequence of nested gear trains and pillars representing an impressive technical feat
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Measuring long periods of time: 23 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds
This instrument designed for measuring long periods of time is equipped with 60-unit seconds and
minutes chronograph indications, and a 24-hour display based on a concentric system.
Chronometric precision: Calibre DB2039
- Silicon/white gold annular balance
The frequency of this in-house balance wheel is well suited to wristwatches, which are subject to abrupt
wrist movements.
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The back of the watch, providing a window on the movement, features a pared-down, architectural
arrangement of the hand-polished bridges of Calibre 2030, in which the complex mechanism of an
innovative chronometric system is notably distinguished by its three column wheels.
- The De Bethune absolute clutch
De Bethune total clutch system: a patented chronograph invention.
De Bethune’s research and development department has announced the filing of a patent
application n°
CH00076/14 for the chronograph mechanism.
De Bethune’s absolute clutch aims to
improve the performance of chronographs by correcting the faults identified in current mechanisms.
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This mechanism makes the most of the advantages of the horizontal and vertical clutch systems while
eliminating their faults. It thus benefits from a marked reduction in the friction that affects the movement both when the chronograph is running and when it is functioning without the chronograph
engaged.
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The absolute clutch operates in a system engaging the two traditional clutch methods to allow the different chronograph counters to function semi-autonomously:
- The chronograph seconds are governed by the new absolute clutch system;
- The minutes counter is controlled by a shifting pinion;
- The hours counter is engaged by a horizontal clutch.
Three different types of clutch behind three semi-independent systems controlled by three column-
wheels thus govern the different chronograph elapsed-time counters.
In this way De Bethune marks a significant technological breakthrough in the history of chronographs,
the result of continuous research heralded by the DB21 Maxichrono in 2006. Constant innovation
relying on an extensive knowledge of age-old expertise has enabled the brand to simplify and
enhance the reliability of the absolute clutch system so that it can be implemented in a movement
manufactured by the production workshops in the Swiss village of L’Auberson.
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Technical Specifications
Ref: DB28MCTN
DB28MCTN Maxichrono Titanium
20-piece limited edition
Functions
Hours – minutes – mono-pusher chronograph with 24-hour,
60-minute and 60-second counters
Movement
DB 2030 calibre – mechanical hand-wound movement
Power reserve: 5 days
Jewelling: 47 jewels
Frequency: 36,000 vibrations per hour
Diameter 30 mm – 384 parts – hand-crafted finishing and decoration – hand-polished steel –
3 column wheels
De Bethune absolute clutch *
Self-regulating twin barrel *
Silicon/white gold balance wheel – balance-spring with flat terminal curve*
Silicon escape wheel
Case
Mirror-polished grade 5 titanium – round-shaped – diameter 45 mm – thickness 11 mm
Attachments: short or long floating lugs* in mirror-polished titanium
Crystal: sapphire crystal, 1800 Vickers hardness with double anti-reflective treatment
Crown at 12 o’clock – mono-pusher button – setting in 2 positions
Back: open – sapphire crystal, 1800 Vickers hardness with double anti-reflective treatment –
chronograph calibre with hand-polished steel bridges
Display
Dial: silver-toned – the architecture of the dial is constructed on different levels to maximise visibility.
From the centre to the periphery: central hours counter – hours inner ring – minutes ring and minutes
counter – outer ring with chronograph seconds indication
Hands: 5 curved central hands – hand-polished and flame-blued steel for the hours and minutes
hands and flame-blued steel for hours and seconds chronograph indicators – chronograph minutes
indicator in rose gold
Strap
Extra-supple alligator leather strap with pin buckle
Limited annual production: only twenty will be issued in
2015
*
Manufacture De Bethune innovations and registered patents
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Press release Geneva 2015
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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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