203 articles · 178 videos found · page 7 of 13
Quill & Pad
As well as its sensational heat-induced colors, the magic of the De Bethune DB28GS Yellow Submarine is the mechanical dynamo system built into the movement to power four LED lights to illuminate the dial underwater or in the dark. Joshua Munchow takes a deep dive into what makes this watch so special, starting with what's on fire.
SJX Watches
De Bethune builds watches that are deliciously futuristic in form and construction, though it has rarely applied its house style to sports watches. Last year’s DB28GS Grand Blue is a bona fide sports watch, with plenty of water resistance and dynamo-powered illumination. Now it’s been given a new look with the DB28GS Yellow Submarine, which has a richly-gilded case that is actually titanium heat treated to create a bronze-gold oxide layer on its surface. Initial thoughts Measuring 44 mm wide and 12.8 mm high, the DB28GS is even chunkier than most De Bethune watches, which are already quite large. The original DB28GS Grand Blue is mostly a monotonous grey, with some blue accents, giving it a technical, rugged style. Even though it is just a change in colour, the yellow case of the Yellow Submarine gives it an entirely new look. The gold finish is luxe but more bronze in tone, and also combined with a brushed surface finish, giving the watch a warm, slightly aged look. And the new case colour gives the watch more contrast – it definitely pops – making it more visually attractive than its predecessor. The original DB28GS was a pricey watch, and so is the new Yellow Submarine. But fortunately it costs almost the same at 95,000 Swiss francs, or about 4% more than its predecessor. Yellow titanium De Bethune’s inventiveness is most prolific in its movements, but also extends to cases. Its signature case material is heat-blued titanium – where the alloy is heated ove...
SJX Watches
Chopard has loosened up its strictly formal, ultra-thin dress watch with recent launches like the collaboration with tailor Kiton. Launched during Mexican watch fair Salón Internacional Alta Relojería México (SIAR), the L.U.C Skull One continues the theme – a slim, black-coated case and the dial decorated with a motif inspired by Día de Muertos, the Mexican festival that celebrates the dearly departed. Initial thoughts The Skull One is not the first Chopard dressed in a calavera, a decorated depiction of the skull used during Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Two years ago, once again for SIAR, Chopard decked out its top-of-the-line L.U.C perpetual calendar with tourbillon in Day of the Dead decor that was hand engraved on the dial and case. But compared to that one-off creation (and also the similarly-themed De Bethune DW5), the Skull One is most pared back in style and also in price. Priced just shy of US$10,000, the Skull One is well priced for a wristwatch powered by a sophisticated, in-house movement that has an elaborately printed dial. And just as importantly, the watch is well designed – the skull motif works well with everything else. The look is coherently put together, with most of the elements done in shades of black and grey – even the case back crystal is tinted grey – but accented with rose gold markers and hands. Simple yet effective While obvious at a glance, the dial is thoughtful in its details. The motif is set apart from the b...
SJX Watches
Already a well-established tradition at De Bethune, the unusual use of metal alloys along with elaborate engraving defines the Maestri’Art DW5 Cempasúchil, a unique watch created for Salón Internacional Alta Relojería México (SIAR), the country’s leading luxury-watch fair that takes place October 20-22. The Cempasúchil is a unique piece that’s the latest instalment in the Dream Watch 5 (DW5) series that started out as a sleek creation resembling a metallic seashell. More recently, the DW5 has more recently been used as a blank canvas for heavily decorative engraving, something the Cempasúchil takes that to the extreme. The titanium case of the Cempasúchil is heat blued and inlaid with gold in various colours, forming an intricate yet cartoonish motif inspired by the Mexican festival of Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead. And that explains the model name, which is also a type of marigold also known as flor de los muertos, or “flower of the dead”. Cempasúchil front And back Initial thoughts Done by De Bethune’s go-to engraver, the quality of the work on the Cempasúchil is unmistakably high quality. And the multi-coloured gold inlay elevates the work to another level entirely. And the exuberant, whimsical of multiple calavera, or decorated skulls, is very much in keeping with the spirit of the Day of the Dead, a celebration of the departed rather than a sad occasion. But the combination of the DW5 and the motif doesn’t gel. Traditionally seamless,...
Quill & Pad
The effect of the blue sapphire crystal bridge on the De Bethune DB28 Steel Wheels Sapphire Tourbillon is astonishing. It is simultaneously light, airy, and (importantly) blue. It reflects the light back in the friendliest of ways. It is De Bethune blue, but it is also translucent to reveal the layers below it. The layering makes it feel sculptural, unique, and complicated without becoming busy. And that is just one component. Find out what makes up the rest of this incredible timepiece here.
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Bargain Luxury Watches and Watch Brands - High-End Watchmakers That Lose a Ton of Value
Deployant
De Bethune presents the DB28 Steel Wheels now equipped with a tourbillon. The movement’s delta bridge and two barrel covers are made of sapphire crystal.
Revolution
De Bethune introduces the DB28 Steel Wheels Sapphire Tourbillon, a new take on the DB28 Steel Wheels with its delta bridge and two barrel covers made of blue sapphire crystal.
SJX Watches
Despite being only 18 years old, De Bethune has managed to create a surprisingly large number of unique and emblematic case designs, along with a slew of complications and movement innovations. But its signature case design is probably the DB28, a large, thin watch with a pair of sprung, pivoted lugs. For the 10th anniversary of the DB28, De Bethune has slimmed it down to create the DB28XP. Significantly thinner and slightly more wearable, the DB28XP is still instantly recognisable for what it is. Dial detail of the DB28XP Starry Sky Initial thoughts The DB28XP is a smartly conceived watch because it manages to capture everything that made the DB28 special, except in a thinner case that feels more refined and is clearly more elegant. The original DB28 wasn’t excessively thick, but the DB28XP is substantially thinner, thin enough it feels a little like a sci-fi dress watch. The DB28XP wears sleek and light, with the “floating” lugs hugging the wrist comfortably, while the aesthetic is clearly quintessential De Bethune, which means polished or heat-blued titanium. And though it’s slimmer than the original, the DB28XP is still executed to the same level of quality, down to the smallest of details. The teeth of the barrel ratchet wheel of the movement are polished, for instance, while the hands are either polished titanium or pink gold, depending in the version. The original DB28 (top) and the DB28XP But the DB28XP is a little fancier than the original in design, with...
Time+Tide
If you haven’t heard of James Thompson, aka Black Badger, you’ve probably seen his brightly lit work online. He’s done collaborations with independent watchmakers such as MB&F;, De Bethune, and Sarpaneva, and has more recently been working with the King of Customisation himself, George Bamford. While much of what Black Badger is known for is … ContinuedThe post LONG READ: 12 life lessons with Black Badger, and a clapback to the “juvenile” response to his TAG Heuer coffee watch appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Phillips’ first-ever online watch auction, Refresh:Reload is a cross-category affair, encompassing watches, jewellery, and contemporary art. The week-long sale includes over 50 watches, ranging from the usual suspects like Royal Oak, Nautilus, and Submariner, but also a selection of more interesting, unconventional watches, like a De Bethune DB12 chronograph with oversized date and month, and an extra-thin, skeletonised Seiko Credor. Here are a couple of highlights from the sale, which is online from now till 6 pm (GMT+8) on May 28. The entire catalogue is available here. Lot 5 – Bronze Hourglass by Daniel Arsham One of the earliest lots in the auction is a sculpture with a horological element. The Bronze Hourglass was an edition of 100 examples commissioned by watch retailer The Hour Glass to mark its 40th anniversary in 2019. It’s the work of Daniel Arsham, one of today’s hottest contemporary artists. Mr Arsham is best known for his “eroded” works, objects made to appear heavily aged. Some of his work sits the crossroads between art and luxury goods – he’s applied his unique aesthetic to Rimowa luggage, Dior bags, and also a Porsche 911. The Bronze Hourglass has an estimate of HK$35,000-45,000, or about US$4,500-6,000. Lot 92 – Seiko Credor 40th Anniversary Signo Cherry Blossoms A limited edition made to mark the 40th anniversary of Seiko’s Credor collection, the Signo Cherry Blossoms encapsulates the key specialties of mechanical watchmaking at S...
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Hodinkee
Prepare to go to warp.
Quill & Pad
In 2020, De Bethune celebrates the tenth anniversary of its groundbreaking DB28 with three limited edition DB28XP versions taking the model from thin to ultra-thin and upping the power reserve from five to six days. And wait until you see what they look like!
Revolution
De Bethune celebrates the tenth anniversary of the DB28, the watch that largely defined the firm’s wealth and elevated it to the highest levels of independent horology.
SJX Watches
Like the bizarre-looking, ultra-deep sea creatures that produce bioluminescent light, De Bethune’s DB28GS Grand Bleu boasts its very own, self-contained light source – hardly surprising given what De Bethune is all about. Since its inception in 2002, De Bethune has expanded its aesthetic and technical language, going from relatively classical, Breguet-inspired watches to timepieces that are at the cutting edge of modern horology. Most of its contemporary watches feature far-flung, otherworldly designs, a house style that no doubt made it challenging to ensure the Grand Bleu conforms to the ISO 6425 dive-watch specification. The resulting Grand Bleu is perhaps one of the most extravagant and extraordinary dive watches ever – this video shows the illumination in action. Though De Bethune dabbled in oversized sports watches well over a decade ago, starting with the DB24 Super Sport of 2007, the Grand Bleu is evolved from the more recent DB28GS launched in 2015. While the DB28GS was already a hardcore sports watch with a high-tech movement, the Grand Bleu takes it further -or mor eacccurately, deeper. It combines a brand-new case with a new movement equipped with a mechanical dynamo that powers a set of tiny LED lamps. The more sedate DB28 Grand Sport A new case The Grand Bleu is a large 44 mm, and rated to 100 m. At 12.8 mm high, it is thicker than most De Bethune watches but still slim for a dive watch. But the highlight of the case are the spring-loaded, open-wor...
Revolution
Independent watchmaker De Bethune known for its avant garde aesthetic and exquisite finishing upped the ante in 2010 with the DB25 Quantième Perpétuel.
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Deployant
Any De Bethune is rare. They make many piece uniques, but here is a 5 piece limited edition in collaboration with a private jet company: the DB27 Fort Aero.
SJX Watches
De Bethune’s brand of watchmaking has spawned many avant-garde watches, ranging from the Urwerk collaboration for Only Watch to the East Asian-inspired Maestri Art. But its most outstanding sculptural creation is unquestionably the Dream Watch 5, an extraterrestrial seashell that tells the time. Originally launched in 2014 in mirror-polished titanium, the original Dream Watch 5 was extremely expensive, but also tiny, having the proportions of a lady’s watch. Fortunately, it was later enlarged to its current size of just under 60 mm at its widest, from crown to pointed tip, though it remains just as expensive. The Dream Watch was then iterated into several one-off examples, with the most incredible being the Dream Watch 5 in heat-blued meteorite; its extraordinary nature matched by the US$450,000 price tag. The Dream Watch 5 in meteorite More recently, a custom version of the Dream Watch 5 in 18k rose gold was delivered last year. Even though the design is exactly the same as the other variants, the rose gold specimen has a distinctly more classical look that dials back on the sci-fi feel. Like the other versions of the watch, the Dream Watch 5 in rose gold is entirely mirror polished, but also accented by an insert of polished, heat-blued titanium on the case back that extends to the crown, which is also made of the same material and then topped with a 1 carat ruby. Despite its aesthetics, the Dream Watch 5 is actually functionally simple: it indicates the hours and m...
Quill & Pad
De Bethune is one of the most avant-garde watch brands on the planet. Knowing that, did you ever wonder what its factory looks like? Is it much different from other watch factories? What do this brand’s technicians do differently than others? How do they get the watches to look like that? And the most burning question: does the factory look like a spaceship? These questions and more get answered here.
Quill & Pad
The De Bethune DW5 is supposed to be, as its name suggests, a fantasy object, a dream of sci-fi splendor. Out of all the Dream Watch editions, though, the DW5 is by far the most fantasy inspired and has a good claim on being simply perfect.
SJX Watches
Shaped like an extraterrestrial seashell, the De Bethune Dream Watch 5 (DW5) is the brand’s most striking timepiece. It’s simple in function – showing just the time and moon phase – but more of a time-telling object than a mere watch. The new Maestri’Art DW5 Armilia is the opposite of the sleek, smooth finish of the original Dream Watch. The rose gold case is fully engraved with a motif from Les Cités obscures, or The Obscure Cities, a series of graphic novels by Belgian duo François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters. Specifically, the engraving depicts Armilia, an underground city of the novels that’s shaped like an armillary sphere. François Schuiten’s original drawing of Armilia Responsible for the engraving is Michele Rothen Rebetez, a freelance engraver based in Le Locle who has worked with De Bethune for several years, most recently on the Maestri Art I and II. Instead of the deeper, relief engraving that Ms Rothen Rebetez typically uses for watches, the DW5 Armilia is finished with banknote style engraving, made up of numerous fine, shallow lines to create depth and shadow. The DW5 is produced in two sizes, and the DW5 Armilia is in the larger, 58mm size. Mechanically, it is identical to the standard DW5, with the time indicated in a narrow window, along with the spherical moon phase display, both framed in blued titanium. The cal is 18k rose gold, while the crown is topped with a 1-carat blue sapphire. Key facts and price Maestri’Art DW5 Armilia R...
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Time+Tide
Seiko’s fit for purpose range of Prospex LX Line Diver’s watches has beaten some tough competition from the likes of Longines, Ressence and De Bethune to take home the award for best Diver’s watch at GPHG 2019. This is an important win for the Japanese manufacturer for two reasons: firstly, the winning Seiko is a … ContinuedThe post Seiko’s Prospex LX Line Diver emerges from GPHG as a winner appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
The collaboration between Urwerk and De Bethune for the upcoming Only Watch is pretty straightforward: an Urwerk wandering hours time display module mounted on a De Bethune base movement, and housed in a De Bethune case. But it works, and the Moon Satellite is one of the coolest watches of the charity auction. Conceptually the Moon Satellite is similar to the Arpal One made for the last Only Watch. Long and sleek, the Arpal One was a collaboration between Urwerk and Laurent Ferrier that looked good, but with an enormous case – it was 60.8m long – that was much too large. The Moon Satellite, on the other hand, is just right. That’s because the case is derived from De Bethune DB28, which is a large watch but one with a smallish footprint and sprung, pivoted lugs that allow it to hug the wrist. The Moon Satellite is slightly larger than a DB28, but almost the same on the wrist. Entirely in mirror polished titanium, the case looks like a helmet for a warrior robot. Its shape is asymmetric – angular on the lower half and rounded at the top – in order to accommodate the time display. It’s reminiscent of a helmet, but instantly recognisable as coming from Urwerk, having the U-shaped crystal first found on the Urwerk UR-103 and now on the UR-105. Coincidentally, both Urwerk and De Bethune position the crowns on most of their watches at 12 o’clock, and so there it is. Though it has a similar shape to the standard Urwerk crown, the Moon Satellite crown is flat, so tha...
SJX Watches
Even amongst avant-garde watchmakers, De Bethune stands out for its substance – aesthetic and material innovation matched by technical ingenuity. At its core, the brand has reimagined the most fundamental aspects of mechanical timekeeping, from the barrel to the hairspring, while pushing the boundaries of traditional complications, be it the moon phase, tourbillon or chronograph. But arguably its most distinctive innovation is an aesthetic one, which has come to define the brand no less – heat-blued titanium. The brand has used the alloy for more than 15 years across various parts of the watch, even making almost a whole watch out of it. But now De Bethune has a twist on the theme, resulting in the DB28 Yellow Tones in brilliant golden titanium. Fiery yellow Though the colour of the new DB28 is striking, it is by no means loud, as the amber shade of yellow isn’t the same as yellow gold and doesn’t pass off as such. In fact, it looks more like fresh brass than gold. The colour was achieved through thermal oxidisation of the surface, essentially the same process as that used for blued titanium (and also the same for blued steel). The yellow surface, just like the blue, is the result of an oxide that forms on the surface of titanium when it is heated to a certain temperature. But amber yellow tone in this case was created by heating it at a lower temperature than used for blued titanium. Titanium undergoes different stages of oxidation when heated, and yellow is o...
Deployant
De Bethune brings back this revolutionary chronograph designed in 2006. The watch is uses the monopusher concept but pushes it farther by having all counters displayed centrally
SJX Watches
When Urwerk cofounder Felix Baumgartner was in town recently to launch the UR-100 SpaceTime, I quizzed him on the De Bethune and Urwerk collaboration for Only Watch 2019. While the other brands taking part in the charity auction had already unveiled photos or renderings of their respective creations, Urwerk and De Bethune only offered a pen drawing. Felix replied that the movement had been completed and delivered to De Bethune some weeks ago, and Denis Flageollet, De Bethune’s resident technical genius, was working on building the one-off titanium case. And now Mr Flageollet has completed the watch, and this is it. The initial drawing The meeting of minds Named the Moon Satellite, the watch is essentially an Urwerk wandering hours time display module – with the time indicated on satellites – mounted on top of a hand-wound De Bethune movement, resulting in the cal. DBUR2105. Visually the movement is trademark De Bethune. The calibre has a delta-shaped barrel bridge that is entirely mirror polished, as is the base plate, one of the most distinctive movement treatments of De Bethune. And in striking contrast against the polished surfaces, the balance and shock absorber bridges are in blued steel. The base movement cal. DB2105 boasts several of De Bethune’s patented innovations, including a spider-like titanium balance wheel, the triple pare-chute shock absorber for the balance, as well as the De Bethune hairspring and silicon escape wheel. And it also incorporat...
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