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Monochrome
Over the past decade, the De Bethune DB27 collection has served as the independent brand’s most restrained yet highly technical expression of its watchmaking credentials. Introduced in 2012 with the Titan Hawk, later refined in V2 form and multiplied through editions such as the JPS or green dial variants, the DB27 has consistently combined lightweight titanium […]
SJX Watches
Massachusetts-based retailer EsperLuxe represents many leading names in independent watchmaking, and has just collaborated with De Bethune to create the DB27 Night Hawk. Based on the Titan Hawk V2, the Night Hawk is a 10-piece limited edition with matte-finished blued titanium lugs and a secret meaning expressed in its star-studded titanium dial. Initial thoughts De Bethune is quite unlike other contemporary independent watchmakers. Majority owned by The 1916 Company since 2021, De Bethune nonetheless appears to operate much as it did prior to the acquisition, serving as a vehicle for co-founder Denis Flageollet’s prodigious creative output. The Night Hawk exemplifies De Bethune’s unique perspective, which fuses in-house technical watchmaking with a science fiction-inspired aesthetic. It’s a difficult balancing act, but the brand has amassed a devoted following by staying outside industry norms for design and decoration. A creature of the night The Night Hawk is a variant of the DB27 Titan Hawk V2, which debuted in 2018 as the brand’s ‘entry level’ model. Naturally, that term is somewhat out of place in the world of low-volume watchmaking, but it nonetheless brings many of the brand’s signatures within reach of a wider segment of collectors. One of those signatures is heat-blued (or purpled) case elements, including the Night Hawk’s blued titanium lugs, which are part of a hinged exterior case frame that articulates from a spring-loaded hinge on each side o...
Hodinkee
What We Know For me, a De Bethune has to take a cue from Miles Davis. It better be "Kind of Blue." Over at EsperLuxe, the indie retailer outside of Boston, it seems like they agree with me. There are a few firsts in the new DB27 "Night Hawk," at least for the DB27 collection. Normally called the "Titan Hawk," it's previously come in a slightly more straightforward package, with concentric "microlight" circles engraved on the dial, the patented articulating lugs, and the crown at 12 o'clock. But there are many features here that the DB27 hasn't had before. For the first time, a titanium flame-blued "Starry Sky" motif appears on the dial, with stars laid out to mark the date and location where EsperLuxe finalized its partnership with De Bethune in 2021. Not new, but a good look, are the printed silver Roman numerals on the sloping middle dial, the printed railroad track, and the 5-minute intervals. The watch features mirror-polished flame-blued titanium hands with silver tips. The case is polished grade 5 titanium, with a midcase engraved in De Bethune's microlight style. But the kicker is the super-cool (again, first time ever) matte-blue titanium short, articulating lugs. I know that it's weird to go on and on about lugs, but some of you haven't had a chance to try on a De Bethune. Yes, the case is 43mm in diameter, 9mm thick (which is pretty good, considering it has an automatic movement), but with the hinge on the lugs, the lug can vary in range from about 50mm to 47mm...
Monochrome
With its unmistakable avant-garde design, the DB28 is De Bethune’s most recognisable model. Making its debut in 2010, the DB28 is characterised by its futuristic silhouette with floating lugs, a delta-shaped bridge at the centre of the dial reminiscent of the Starfleet Commando logo in Star Trek, and a crown at noon. Ever-evolving, the DB28XS […]
Hodinkee
What We Know While not at Watches and Wonders this year, De Bethune was one of a number of brands jumping on the release bandwagon this week with a few new versions. Today, we're taking a look at two new pieces from the brand. De Bethune's DB25Vxs Silver Moon keeps some of the brand's futuristic design with the skeletonized lugs, while DB28xs Dark Sand picks up where the brand's DB28xs "Steel Wheels" left off. Let's start with the slightly more traditional watch first. The DB25Vxs Silver Moon trims the DB25L case size down to 40mm and changes the dial around a bit. It's been 17 years since the DB25L came out, so it was time for an update. The watch features a mirrored blued-titanium surround with gold stars, drawing the eye to the mirror-polished steel and blued-titanium spherical moonphase at 12 o'clock, which is accurate to 1 day every 122 years. The domed outer track features printed, slightly dressy Breguet numerals and a minute track for the gold hour and minute hands (in Breguet style as well) while the central dial features a barleycorn guilloché. Inside the 40.6mm by 11.2mm mirror-polished grade 5 titanium case is a caliber running at 4Hz with a 6-day power reserve. While a lot of my friends gravitate more toward that traditional aesthetic from De Bethune, my eyes immediately go for the more extreme De Bethunes, like the DB28xs Dark Sand, with the hinged lugs and (yes, somewhat divisive) arch design on the front. The DB28xs Dark Sand also has a 6-day power reserve...
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Monochrome
Watches manufactured by independent brand De Bethune are in a class of their own. When you look at one of the brand’s new creations, it often feels like the watch has always been part of the collection. And yet, there is an ever-renewed creativity, with countless new details waiting to be discovered, with a unique mix […]
Monochrome
As you might remember, Louis Vuitton and De Bethune recently introduced the third chapter in LV’s ongoing journey through independent watchmaking, the LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project, following the LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie made with Rexhep Rexhepi, founder of Atelier Akrivia, and the LVKV-02 GMR 6 made with Finnish-born watchmaker Kari Voutilainen. While we were expecting to […]
SJX Watches
SJX has just returned from the Tokyo launch of Louis Vuitton’s third independent watchmaking collaboration, this time with De Bethune. Episode 29 of the SJX Podcast covers what it means for both brands, and unpacks the details of both the GMT Louis Varius wristwatch and the monumental sympathique clock that it can be paired with. Brandon and SJX also provide hands-on analysis of the Escale Worldtime and Daniel Roth Extra Plat Skeleton that debuted during LVMH Watch Week in January. Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
Deployant
Louis Vuitton's project with independent watchmakers is now in Chapter 3. Here is our review of the Louis Vuitton x De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project.
Fratello
Collaborations in high watchmaking are nothing new, but most stop at the wrist. The LA VDB-03 Louis Varius Project goes a step further by pairing a modern GMT wristwatch with a large mechanical clock designed to wind and reset it automatically. Developed jointly by Louis Vuitton and De Bethune, the project brings together a contemporary […] Visit Introducing: The Louis Vuitton × De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius to read the full article.
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Time+Tide
The Louis Vuitton × De Bethune LVDB-03 Louis Varius Project is an extremely contemporary take on a classical idea: the sympathique clock.The post Louis Vuitton & De Bethune have created a sympathique clock that finally lets the watch leave home appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
Following collaborations with Rexhep Rexhepi and Kari Voutilainen, Louis Vuittion turns to De Bethune’s Denis Flageollet for its biggest independent collaboration to date, both literally and figuratively. The release spans two timekeepers - the first is the LVDB-03 GMT Louis Varius, a heat-blued titanium wristwatch that can be wound and set by the LVDB-03 Sympathique Louis Varius, an ambitious métiers d’art Sympathique clock. Initial thoughts Having worked on Sympathique clocks for Breguet during his spell at Techniques Horlogères Appliquées (THA) in the 1990s, Mr Flageollet revisits the concept on his own terms. De Bethune is one of the few independent brands with its own clockmaking workshop, which is a testament to Mr Flageollet’s experience gained at THA. The Sympathique clock is finely wrought, with several charming artistic flourishes embodying De Bethune’s house style with a generous use of blued titanium. While this Sympathique arguably is a historical tribute rather than state-of-the art, it is nonetheless easier to use than its antecedents, with a simplified docking process that doesn’t require the watch’s strap to be removed. In terms of usability, this Sympathique is arguably the most advanced to date; moreover, both clocks can be paired with any of the watches in the series, an interchangeability underlining the precision of make that was absent in historical Sympathique clocks. Denis Flageollet at the launch event in Tokyo. The massive ornam...
SJX Watches
De Bethune plans to bring hairspring production in house, aiming to become one of the very few firms able to process alloy wire into a finished balance hairspring. This requires De Bethune’s new hairspring workshop to master wire drawing, rolling, cutting, heat treatment, and assembly. The rationale? “Externally produced hairsprings meet standards based on averages that do not enable fine adjustment of the dimensions to suit a particular balance wheel or its specific positioning in a calibre,” according to De Bethune. De Bethune’s “flat end curve” mated to a hairspring sourced from a supplier. Initial thoughts As De Bethune explains it, making its own hairsprings will allow the brand to tailor its hairspring to a specific balance or movement. Since its founding in 2002, De Bethune has presented itself as being on the cutting edge of chronometry, debuting a new balance design every year from 2004 to 2010. The brand was also quick to embrace silicon, and even briefly attempted a kilohertz magnetic oscillator system, Résonique. A new year, a new balance. Sometimes two new balances. Given De Bethune’s focus on chronometry, making its own hairsprings seems like a natural next step. However, there is a reason so few brands make their own hairsprings: the process is a difficult and demanding one that benefits greatly from economies of scale. For example, H. Moser & Cie. makes less than 4,000 watches per year, however, its sister company Precision Engineering claims...
Deployant
At Dubai Watch Week 2025, De Bethune unveiled the DB25 Perpetual Sky and the DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT, a striking showcase of the brand’s dual identity.
Monochrome
The De Bethune Kind of Two concept, a pivoting, double-faced case that literally gives you two watches in one, has proven to be one of the brand´s most successful design experiments. The 2021 DB Kind of Two Tourbillon and the 2022 DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT established the format as both an engineering exercise […]
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Monochrome
The De Bethune DB25 line has long served as the brand’s classical counterpoint, a collection where its most traditional complications are expressed through a very distinctive design. Since the first DB25QP appeared in 2011, the perpetual calendar complication has evolved through multiple iterations. Among the recent releases were the richly coloured green model with guilloché […]
Time+Tide
Fair warning: this is a pretty massive edition of Last Week in Watches, as there were so many new products released last week...The post New releases from Frederique Constant, De Bethune, Zenith and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
De Bethune narrows the diameter of the bestselling DB25 Starry Varius but broadens its horizons with an entrancing red-leaning-purple dial achieved by heating titanium. And it’s more than just a pretty face, the DB25xs Starry Varius packs one of the most advanced two-hand manual wound calibres on the market. Initial Thoughts A personal favourite of mine, the Starry Varius line is gorgeous, technically adept, and meaningfully customisable. De Bethune justifies this variant as representing the night sky after a volcanic eruption, and colour perfectly matches viral, and hauntingly beautiful, images taken after the Tonga volcano eruption in 2022. As a chronometry-focused movement that paradoxically lacks a seconds hand, I find the cal. DB2005 very interesting. I’d even argue it makes sense as the six-day power reserve paints it as an endurance timekeeper. It’s also more technically interesting than most of the – very finely decorated – three handers from younger independents, even if Be Bethune’s R&D; efforts have dwindled recently. Under A Sea of Stars The dials are mirror polished titanium, which De Bethune heat oxidises for colour. While the brand’s specific method is proprietary, the thickness of this oxide layer determines which wavelengths of light transmit back to the observer, and this Burgundy dial must have a thinner oxide layer than the brand’s typical blue. Next, artisans set dozens of tiny gold pins into the dial to marks starts, before a micro-mill...
Monochrome
Following the recent release of the DB25xs Starry Varius, De Bethune continues to refine its icons with the launch of the DB28xs Kind of Blue Tourbillon, another watch that distils the brand´s design language and technical savoir-faire into a more compact format. Drawing on the thin profile of last year’s DB28XP Kind of Blue (43mm […]
Monochrome
When De Bethune first unveiled the DB25 Starry Varius, it quickly became one of the brand’s most poetic and recognisable creations. A starry sky rendered in shimmering blued or polished titanium, dotted with hand-fitted white gold pins and illuminated by the Milky Way in delicate 24-carat gold leaf, it was, quite literally, a firmament on […]
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SJX Watches
De Bethune once again has a single-button chronograph to its line-up with the compact DB25 Monopusher Chronograph. Styled after the DB8 from the brand’s early years, the DB25 chronograph has a smaller case but a larger, more refined movement. Importantly, it is most accessible chronographs from the brand in recent memory, both in size and price. Initial Thoughts I hold De Bethune in high regard for its technical ambition and an idiosyncratic design language that blends aesthetic codes from the 18th and 23rd centuries. The distinctive aesthetics were largely the brainchild of cofounder Davide Zanetta, who unfortunately departed the brand several years ago. Fortunately, however, both traits are alive and well in the DB25 Monopusher Chronograph. For several years the brand lacked a conventional chronograph, and I see the new DB25 as the brand’s long-term solution to that problem. Likely shaped by feedback on the recent DB Eight, the DB25 Monopusher has everything it needs to be a staple of the brand’s line-up – moderate sizing, good looks, and complementary calibre. Though based on the brand’s prior chronograph movements, the DB3000 inside the DB25 is interesting in several respects. For one, it retains the oscillating pinion found in the long-ago DB1. The oscillating pinion isn’t well regarded by collectors, seen as less advanced than a vertical clutch and without the theatre of a horizontal coupling. It is possible to make a handsome chronograph with an oscillat...
Monochrome
The “Mystery Box: Forget Time” results from the collaboration between Fiona Krüger and master watchmaker Denis Flageollet, founder of De Bethune. Known for her original approach to watch design, Fiona Krüger has built a reputation within the independent watchmaking world for her artistic yet technically demanding creations. Her past work, like the Skull and Chaos […]
Quill & Pad
In this video Tim Mosso explains the full history of De Bethune, from its first watches to their latest models. Over its first 23 years of history, the brand co-founded by watchmaker Denis Flageollet has created a vast array of innovative watches that belies its relative corporate youth.
Deployant
De Bethune unveiled the new DB25 Monopusher Chronograph a couple of weeks ago on the same week as Watches & Wonders. Press release with our commentary.
SJX Watches
The third iteration of De Bethune’s swivelling, double-faced watch is the Kind of Two GMT “Season 3” conceived in collaboration with American rapper and watch enthusiast Swizz Beatz. Powered by the hand-wound DB2517 movement, the watch indicates one time zone on the front and another on the reverse, with both sides able to be worn face up thanks to patented, pivoting “floating” lugs. Initial thoughts The Kind of Two series employs a useful reversible case, cleverly using the “floating” lug construction of the DB28 to create a double-faced watch. Here one dial is traditional with blued steel hands, and the other an open-worked face revealing the movement that also has a regulator-style display for the second time zone. The clever approach with a unique movement is typical De Bethune, although this loses some novelty as the third double-faced watch in the De Bethune line-up. The Kind of Two GMT is definitely one of the most elaborate two time zone watches on the market, but at over US$200,000, it is pricey for a GMT, even by the standards of independent watchmaking (Voutilainen’s GMT, for instance, costs less). Two-faced The “Season 3” edition adopts a restrained palette of black and gold with blue accents. The 43.3 mm by 11.4 mm case is titanium and zirconium, with blued steel hands and a blue-and-black guilloche dial centre on the front showing local time. Notably, this dial includes a jumping seconds that is driven by a secondary escapement visible on ...
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