De Bethune DB28XP Kind of Blue Tourbillon Sapphire

Hong Kong, December 1st, 2023 – Currently on a tour across Asia to engage with passionate collectors of the brand and explore its rich history and culture, Denis Flageollet, the founder and master watchmaker of De Bethune, has chosen to unveil the new DB28XP Kind of Blue Tourbillon Sapphire in Hong Kong. This special timepiece, he believes, will resonate with a market attuned to the vibrations of such artifacts and the energy they exude.

A Natural Evolution of Excellence

The DB28XP Kind of Blue Tourbillon Sapphire represents the seamless evolution of two iconic models from De Bethune: the DB28XP and the DB28 Kind of Blue Tourbillon. It encapsulates the best of both worlds by merging the sleek design and refinement of the DB28XP with a distinctly blue aesthetic inspired by the DB28 Kind of Blue Tourbillon, a hallmark of the Manufacture’s signature style.

A Captivating Dial

This is a realm where layers of interpretation, textures, and the interplay of light with shadows and reflections take centre stage. Crafted from blued titanium, the watch unveils an architectural fusion of space, time, and light at first glance. Its deep and luminous blue hue is achieved through the natural oxidation of the material, transforming each timepiece into a unique work of art.

The dial, entirely crafted in Microlight, breathes new life into and modernizes the traditional guilloché technique. Across its expansive flat surface, this method gains newfound significance, reinforcing its structure. By playing with shadow and light, it introduces depth, resulting in a more structured and dynamic architectural outcome. The overall effect becomes distinctly contemporary.

Ultra-Thin Mastery by De Bethune

De Bethune embarked on a groundbreaking journey into the realm of ultra-thin timepieces in 2020 with the launch of the DB28XP, celebrating two decades of mechanical and aesthetic exploration. In his pursuit of an ultra-thin watch, Denis Flageollet conceived it as both a technical and aesthetic challenge—an intricate dance between delicacy and complexity, an adventure demanding precision and a harmonious interplay between design and constraints.

As if destined, the DB28XP has evolved into an embodiment of beauty, an elegance that epitomizes simplicity even in its most absolute form. Today, it stands as an ideal representation of refined aesthetics and technical finesse.

The Chronometric Expertise of De Bethune

The manually winding DB2009v4 movement features the distinctive De Bethune balance wheel, visible through the dial via a 6 o’clock opening. It is the outcome of De Bethune’s ongoing physical and mathematical approach to enhancing its functionality. This balance wheel incorporates the latest advancements—modest in diameter, crafted from titanium, and fitted with small white gold weights positioned externally, providing it with exceptional inertia, reliability, and remarkable regulating quality.

Equipped with the renowned De Bethune hairspring, a delicate spring considered the soul of the mechanical watch, it has been meticulously designed to maintain its center of gravity precisely at the midpoint. This is achieved through a flat curve fixed externally to the hairspring. Variations in the thickness of the blade contribute to nearly perfect concentric development, offering numerous advantages, including reduced height, improved concentricity quality, finer adjustment of the pallet, eliminating the need for pins, and the curve’s shape acting as a shock absorber.

Furthermore, the internal structure of the material remains intact, having been neither stressed nor bent. Through these proven and continually evolving enhancements, De Bethune has increased the power reserve efficiency by +20%, extending it to a total of 5 days. This achievement is visible through the sapphire glass case back, allowing connoisseurs to marvel at the complexity and beauty of each component.

The De Bethune Tourbillon: Why So Small, So Light, So Fast?

In the expansive array of complications and functions that De Bethune has mastered, the tourbillon has often taken a leading role. A tourbillon equippd with an extraordinarily lightweight cage (0.18 gr., the lightest ever created) rotating every thirty seconds, comprising a total of 63 components (the lightest of which weighs less than 0.0001 gram!).

Today, a wrist-worn watch experiences significantly more “torture” than a pocket watch. Rapid and erratic wrist movements impose kinetic brutality on watch mechanics, warranting careful consideration. Just as Breguet invented the tourbillon to counteract the effects of Earth’s gravity and enhance the precision of marine watches, De Bethune sought ways to optimize it for today’s wristwatches.

The equation? To be more effective on a wrist subjected to quick and erratic movements, the tourbillon must have a higher frequency and a faster rotation speed.

By creating a tourbillon in titanium and silicon with a frequency of 36,000 vibrations/hour and an extraordinarily lightweight cage rotating every thirty seconds, describing the feat is easier  than achieving it. Much like an airborne insect, a true exoskeleton maintains the entire structure.

Thus, the De Bethune tourbillon, so small, so light, so fast, simply fulfills its function better for contemporary watches. The futuristic shape of the tourbillon bridge symmetrically and perfectly supports the tourbillon on both sides, keeping it in its position.

Comfort and Innovation

True to the essence of all models in its collection, the DB28XP Kind of Blue Tourbillon Sapphire consistently surprises with the lightweight construction of its case. Crafted entirely from polished blued grade 5 titanium with a microlight case, embellished with sapphire rods and mounted on floating lugs that adapt to the size and various movements of the wrist—a patented De Bethune system. The case features a more contoured profile, following the natural lines of the wrist. The Microlight finish of the baseplate extends onto the sides, reaching the outer edge of the case—a meticulous undertaking that proves challenging in the absence of simple geometric elements.

Completing the ensemble is an alligator leather strap with a titanium buckle, contributing to the practical and enjoyable wear of this timepiece.

De Bethune DB28XP Kind of Blue Tourbillon Sapphire Technical Specifications

Name: DB28XP Kind of Blue Tourbillon Sapphire
Reference: DB28XPTJB
Function: Hours, Minutes, 30’’ indicator via the ultra-light De Bethune
tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock, power reserve on the back
Movement: DB2009v5
Type: Mechanical hand-wound movement
Adjustment: Winding and setting the time by means means of the crown (2 positions)

Technical features of calibre DB2009v5

• Number of parts: 380
• Jewelling: 40 jewels
• Diameter: 30 mm
• Power reserve: 5 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel, De Bethune Innovation (2004)
• Specificities: Titanium balance with white gold inserts, optimised for temperature differences and air penetration – De Bethune Patent (2016)
• “De Bethune” balance-spring with flat terminal curve De Bethune Patent (2006)
• Silicon escape wheel
• Ultra-light De Bethune 30’’ tourbillon in titanium – De Bethune Innovation (2008)
• Frequency: 36,000 vibrations per hour
• Adornment: Hand-crafted finishing and decoration

Display

• Display: Polished titanium hands
• Dial: Titanium hour ring with blued microlight decoration and polished hour markers.
• Blued grade 5 circular satin titanium minutes and seconds ring Bridge cover on the barrel and triangular central bridge in grade 5 blued polished titanium with blued drawn chamfered contour.
• Milky Way patterns produced by laser beam micro milling, gilded with 24-carat gold leaf

Case and strap

• Case material: Blued polished grade 5 titanium with “microlight” case middle set with baguette sapphire
• Case diameter: 43 mm
• Case thickness: 9.1 mm
• Lugs: Blued polished grade 5 titanium floating lugs – De Bethune Patent (2006)
• Crystal: Sapphire (1,800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective coating
• Caseback: Screwed case back in blued polished titanium and open on a linear power reserve indicator
• Water resistance: 3 ATM
• Strap: Extra-supple alligator leather with alligator lining
• Buckle: Blued grade 5 titanium buckle and pin

About De Bethune
Located in L’Auberson, in the Canton of Vaud, the De Bethune watch Manufacture is above all a research and development facility, an atelier working with cutting-edge technologies, albeit in the spirit of the great 18^th century master-watchmakers. This naturally involves designing and crafting all components individually, while paying meticulous attention to even the slightest details. Not doing more, but instead doing better; drawing inspiration from the past and perpetually reinventing it; building bridges with all fields of knowledge: such are the principles driving the elaboration of De Bethune’s mechanisms and artistic criteria. The quest for perfection and beauty guides the work of the master-watchmakers as they patiently craft exceptional timepieces. The pure style, taut lines and slenderness of the cases represent the inimitable hallmark of De Bethune creations.