De Bethune DB28GS “Yellow Submarine” – Warm, vibrant, mystical… nothing rivals the brilliance and hypnotic magnificence of the colours of fire. With complete mastery of the art of thermal oxidation of metals, De Bethune explores all the colour shades resulting from the heat released by the chemical reactions of heat-treated steel and titanium. In De Bethune’s workshops in L’Auberson, the particles become luminous and the metals – titanium in particular – emit a visible light… the material oxidizes, the properties are modified, the surfaces are transformed, new natural colours come to the fore.
Grade 5 titanium, naturally and delicately oxidized.
True as ever to the natural colours of the four elements – air, water, earth and fire – De Bethune has developed in 2019 a warm colored titanium (as opposed to the cool colour of blue) with natural shades of amber and flame blonde, reflecting the colours of fire, sun, warmth and luxuriance, along with the incomparable clarity that emerges from it, synonymous with energy, joy and vigour.
To create its own fiery, radical, magnetic yellow, De Bethune applies its famous technique of gently oxidising grade 5 titanium to tint its surface naturally. This ritual conjures an extraordinary, rare and uniform fire brown. This know-how is applied to the case components and to most of the movement’s components. Each element is thus individually examined to ensure the process is properly calibrated to suit shape and mass. This preliminary step is essential to obtain in the end a range of uniform tones. However, the human touch and the typologies of the materials mean that tiny variations persist. These nuances are in fact essential as they create a visual resonance that impacts the perception of the result.
A light source at the heart of the watch.
Produced mechanically. Available on demand.
Precision, reliability, readability and comfort: the DB28GS “Yellow Submarine” was designed and developed to be a resolutely sporty watch. Based on the observation that a sports watch must be perfectly readable in any kind of weather and every possible situation, a very special and ingenious lighting system has been developed.
Therefore, to illuminate the watch and the movement from the inside, a light source is produced by a fully mechanical means that works on the dynamo principle. Visually as simple as the lighting of a bicycle, fully mechanical with no electronics and no battery…but in truth just as complicated as the timbre of a minute repeater… A pusher located 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 lighting the watch. A few seconds of light is more than enough to read the time, even in the middle of the night or in the abyssal depths of the ocean.
A bezel that rotates the crystal
The rotating bezel made its first appearance in watchmaking in 1952. It serves to enable accurate calculation of immersion time, as well as the transition through various decompression stops. of the different levels. Generally, all the numerals relating to the minutes counter are indicated on the bezel, which tends to create a more crowded visual effect. For the DB28GS “Yellow Submarine”, these indications appear on the sapphire crystal driven by the bezel. This developed in the workshops of the Manufacture in L’Auberson enables the model to remain elegantly slender and instils a pleasing casual chic aesthetic.
A calibre replete with De Bethune’s latest technical advances
Hand-wound, with central seconds and a five-day power reserve indicated on the dial, the movement is equipped with a state-of-the-art in-house-made balance wheel.
The presence of the titanium / white gold balance wheel and balance-spring with flat terminal curve ensures an ideal mass / inertia ratio for an optimal frequency of 28,800 vph suitable for wristwatches.
It is endowed with numerous properties – such as optimised efficiency, reliability, regulating quality, thermo-compensation, anti-magnetism – leading to concrete results, since De Bethune has already improved the efficiency of its sprung-balance-escapement ensemble by achieving a 20% increase in power reserve.
The calibre is also equipped with the triple pare chute system. De Bethune was not only the first to design a bridge symmetrical held on both sides and thus serving to maintain the balance wheel perfectly in position, but also added two shock absorbers on either end as well as that of the balance wheel itself. Hence the name triple pare-chute.
Watertightness, shock-resistance, wearer comfort
Water-resistant to 105 metres (10 ATM), the DB28GS “Yellow Submarine” is no exception to the strict rule of wearer comfort that De Bethune applies to its models in general and particularly to the DB28 collection. This exceptional comfort stems from a combination of the light feel of the titanium case, the softness of its hand-polished finish, the 12 o’clock crown position and above all the presence of the patented system of floating lugs that adapt to wrist size and movements.
The model is delivered with two straps: a canvas version and a striated natural rubber iteration with titanium folding clasp, which also contributes to the practical and pleasant wearer comfort of this timepiece.
De Bethune DB28GS “Yellow Submarine” Technical Specifications
Name DB28GS “Yellow Submarine” Reference: DB28GSV2Y
Functions
- Hours, Minutes, Seconds,
- Power reserve indication between 9 and 10 o’clock,
- Unidirectional rotating bezel, manual dial lighting
Movement
- DB2080 – Mechanical hand-wound movement
Adjustment
- Winding and setting the time by means of the crown (2 positions),
- Push button at 6 o’clock to activate the lightening
Technical features of calibre DB2080
- Number of parts: 400
- Jewelling: 51 jewels
- Diameter: 30 mm
- Power reserve: 5 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel De Bethune Innovation (2004)
- Specificities:
- Titanium balance wheel 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
- Triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system De Bethune Innovation (2005)
- Dial lighting produced by an entirely mechanical means working on the dynamo principle powered by a twin barrel and manually controlled via a pusher De Bethune Innovation (2019)
- Frequency: 28,800 vibrations per hour
- Adornment:
- Mirror- polished yellow grade 5 titanium motion-work bridge
- Plate and barrel bridge covers in hand-smoothed yellow grade 5 titanium and adorned with “Microlight engraving” De Bethune Innovation (2007)
- Hand-snailed barrels
- Hand-polished and chamfered steel parts
Display
- Display:
- Yellow titanium hours and minutes hand with inserts, luminescent tip
- Yellow titanium sandblasted by hand minute hand, luminescent tip
- Polished steel seconds hand with luminescent tip
- Power-reserve indicator between 9 and 10 o’clock
- Dial:
- Satin-brushed and yellow grade 5 titanium minutes dial with cut-out Arabic numerals
- Rotating bezel crystal with metallised minutes ring
Case and strap
- Case material: Black zirconium case middle with “Microlight” decoration, yellow brushed grade 5 titanium caseback and bezel
- Case diameter: 44 mm
- Case thickness: 12.8 mm
- Lugs: Floating lugs in yellow brushed grade 5 titanium with yellow polished grade 5 titanium inserts – De Bethune Patent (2006)
- Crystal: In sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness) with double anti-reflective coating
- Case back: open in yellow brushed grade 5 titanium
- Water resistance: 10 ATM
- Strap: Natural rubber strap + 1 canvas / leather strap
- Buckle: Folding clasp + pin buckle in yellow brushed grade 5 titanium
