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DB28 Digitale
A 21st-century take on the Art of Horology

The technical and aesthetic research pursued by De Bethune through its watchmaking creations seeks to define tomorrow’s watchmaking, even when that entails entirely rethinking its mechanical architecture and defining new aesthetic codes geared toward achieving a universal ideal. This approach is conceived a continuum with the accomplishments of the great historical mastery.

Such a tireless quest for beauty, naturally rooted in a philosophy shared by David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet, while also nurtured by observation and research in the artistic field, gives rise to contemporary creations housing innovative Manufacture-made movements based on sophisticated microtechnical engineering and featuring a number of original touches in terms of their materials, shapes and diverse colours.

Ever since the creation of De Bethune, 18th century fine watchmaking has been an inexhaustible source of inspiration for its founders, both of whom deeply admire and respect the mechanical ingenuity, the particularly refined aesthetic and the subtle elegance of French clocks from the Directory period.

The DB28 Digitale, equipped with a mechanism powering multiple display modes – digital for the jumping hours and analogue for the minutes and spherical for the moon phases – embodies a highly contemporary vision of the aesthetic of that era.

The dial adorned with a hand-guilloché barleycorn motif, together with the spherical moon and the star-studded sky, represent classical references that are arranged and executed in a manner that accentuates the modernity of the design.

The silver-toned guilloché motif reveals all the beauty and finesse of its motifs. The visual equilibrium of the dial stems from the central spherical moon of which the two polished hemispheres – one in palladium and the other in flame-blued steel – indicate the moon phases with a degree of precision corresponding to a difference of just one lunar day every 1,112 years. The peripheral depiction of the sky is spread from 9 and 3 o’clock above the minutes disc driven by a sophisticated micro-ball bearing mechanism that also powers the digital hours display.

Like its dial, the polished titanium ultra-light case of the DB28 defines the modern and indeed futuristic nature of the DB28 Digitale. It is fitted with a 12 o’clock crown and equipped with a patented spring-based floating lugs system enabling millimetre-degree adjustment to the wrist and its movements.

The back of the watch reveals the finishing and technology of a Manufacture De Bethune movement, featuring flame-blued steel parts and bridges adorned with a Côtes de Genève style motif, reworked to accentuate the way light is reflected on the material and to draw the eye towards the heart of the movement. Several patents and innovations are displayed through this window onto the DB2144 calibre, notably equipped with the exclusive De Bethune self-regulating twin barrel, circular silicon/white gold balance wheel, balance-spring with flat end curve, as well as the triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system.

The aesthetic balance and the readability of the DB28 Digitale, as well as the luminous shimmering effects created by the light playing across the material and its finishes, combine to create an atmosphere of gentle harmony imbued with refined elegance.

Dream Watch 5

Transcending horology through artistry in order to leave room for the emotional force and the beauty of the work: such is the message delivered by David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet.

The quest undertaken by De Bethune and expressed through its timepiece is intended to embody 21st century watchmaking.

Understanding historical principles and the works of the Great Masters serves to build contemporary creations and to establish aesthetic codes aimed at perpetuating the timeless nature of watchmaking.

Tomorrow’s watchmaking is the object of daily study and thought for David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet, who interpret it through all the entire range of horological creations of De Bethune. The Dream Watch collection is at once the most extreme and the most accomplished embodiment of this creative folly.

Whether it stems from the past, is expressed in the present or foreshadows the future, the beauty in art is truly eternal.

The Dream Watch 5 aims to nurture this aesthetic ambition thanks to its design codes and the means borrowed from the field of horology favoured by the brand founders. This model positioned on the frontiers of an eclectic watchmaking scene is indeed not necessarily defined as a watch, since its horological attributes – however innovative and high-tech – do not constitute the primary interest of this creation.

An authentic wrist sculpture, Dream Watch 5 derives its unusual shape from its predecessors, from the bridge of Dream Watch 1 through to the case of Dream Watch 4: it encapsulates an ongoing work of research on shapes, materials and colours. In step with successive creations, the design has been pared down to a cambered delta-shaped motif representing the major element of the collection’s aesthetic and more generally that of De Bethune watches.

Taut lines and distinctive depth effects: Dream Watch 5 owes its avant-garde character to aesthetic codes relating to space, movement and speed. Its soft curves, together with the silky cambered shape of the titanium case adorned with a perfectly executed polish, endow it with timeless elegance, while a cabochon-cut ruby gently adorning the crown sets the perfect finishing touch.

The miniaturisation of the mechanism demonstrates a clear-cut determination to give pride of place to design – as admirably demonstrated by the diminutive space allotted to the display of the hours, minutes and moon-phase functions. This aesthetically-oriented approach deliberately and effectively diverts the meaning of conventional horological terms as well as the rational comprehension of the object.

Original text in English