BOUTIQUE
DE BETHUNE
DB28GS Grand Bleu
With this updated example of the DB28GS, De
Bethune’s only sports watch, the innovative
watchmaker places its technical stamp on the
light-up dial.
To illuminate the watch and the movement
from the inside, De Bethune has created an
unusual mechanically powered blue-white light.
Requiring no battery, the light briefly illuminates
the watch in a manner similar to the dynamo-
based method found on many bicycles. A pusher
at 6 o’clock activates a small gear train driven
by the twin barrel. This gear train, by means of
a miniature dynamo, provides the necessary
energy for the light. Should the watch’s five-
day power reserve drop below one day the light
function will be blocked to save energy.
That’s not all De Bethune does to expand
the idea of a traditional sport watch. In place of
a standard rotating unidirectional bezel found
on traditional dive watches, De Bethune moves
the dive-time markers from the bezel to the
sapphire crystal itself, creating a less busy bezel
and a thinner-than-usual diver.
The new caliber inside, which is De Bethune’s
twenty-seventh, is hand-wound with central
seconds and a five-day power reserve indicated
on the dial. It’s equipped with an in-house-made
balance wheel made of titanium and white gold.
The true De Bethune fashion, the movement
is fully thermo-compensating, anti-magnetic
and is shock resistant thanks to a triple pare
chute system with two shock absorbers astride,
and one directly on, the balance wheel.
De Bethune has also redesigned the lugs
for the 44mm titanium watch and added black
zirconium inserts to the lug’s cones to match the
sides of the case. The watch is delivered with
two straps: a canvas version and a striated natu-
ral rubber iteration with titanium folding clasp.
Only thirty pieces will be made annually.
Price: $93,500
IW RATING
Design: 9 (out of 10)
Technical and aesthetically unique.
Innovation: 9
The new lighting system is just one of so many
advances here.
Finissage: 9
Always top-notch.
Legibility: 8
The new bezel assists in this regard.
Rarity: 7
Thirty per year.
Value: 8
A lot of cutting edginess for your dollar.
Overall iW rating: 50 (out of 60)
42 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2019