Geneva & Monaco – July 16, 2020 – It is one of the world’s most exclusive settings for Fine Watchmaking: Created under the impetus of Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, the innovative gallery concept of ART IN TIME is where the quintessence of the art of watchmaking comes together around shared values. In a refined décor that speaks to the senses of lovers of beautiful objects, ART IN TIME, located in Monaco’s new ONE MONTE CARLO luxury promenade just opposite the Casino, welcomes collectors and aficionados of watchmaking art with the promise to offer only the best. The gallery chooses DE BETHUNE to inaugurate a new exhibition concept.
Pierre Jacques, CEO of DE BETHUNE said: “The conditions are truly perfect for this start into the summer. It is an honour and a privilege to have been chosen by ART IN TIME to inaugurate their new exhibition concept in this magnificent location in the heart of the Principality. Our deepest appreciation goes to Karl-Friedrich Scheufele and his entire team for their confidence in DE BETHUNE. We are driven by the same values of excellence and authenticity, and we share an entrepreneurial vision of Haute Horlogerie that is passionate, enthusiastic and ultra-creative, yet always respectful of great watchmaking tradition”.
DB25 Starry Varius, DB28 Dark Shadows, DB28 XP Tourbillon, DB 28 XP Starry Sky: Four exceptional DE BETHUNE timepieces will be exhibited in a decor that allows each watch to emerge naturally as a centrepiece. At the heart of the space, the showcases themselves form a stage which then recedes before each watch creation.
By choosing DE BETHUNE, ART in TIME celebrates the innovative in watchmaking, shining the spotlight on a Maison with a strong identity, led by authentic entrepreneurs whose creations, manufactured in very small numbers, are intended for a very special audience of collectors and discerning aficionados.
The exhibit invites a cosmopolitan and demanding clientele to take a closer look at the independent Swiss brand from L’Auberson in the Swiss Jura, the mountainous region that is the cradle of Swiss watchmaking art. Up there, in DE BETHUNE’s Manufacture, a team of about 35 watchmakers, engineers, designers, experts in micro-mechanics, polishers and decorators work transform research and development into technical and aesthetic innovation in the spirit of the great 18th-century master watchmakers.
Tourbillons, perpetual calendars, chronometers, deadbeat seconds, spherical moons, bridges, wheels, anchors, balances, pinions, spirals, screws, but also cases, dials, floating lugs, blued hands… Each component is designed and manufactured one by one, with particular attention given to the smallest detail, including the decorations with the famous “Côtes de Bethune” motif and the exclusive ‘microlight’ engraving, both DE BETHUNE hallmarks.
All DE BETHUNE timepieces are designed, developed and manufactured in-house. Since its foundation, the famed Maison has developed no fewer than 27 calibres, introduced around thirty world firsts and filed numerous patents. And yet total production has not passed the 3,0000 mark – a sign of excellence and exclusivity, and of the desire to set the priority on meeting the expectations of the most discerning clients.
Around the globe, DE BETHUNE watches have been rewarded with the highest distinctions. Today, Denis Flageollet, founder of the brand and Master Watchmaker, and Pierre Jacques, CEO, together preside over the Maison’s destiny. The pure style, the dramatic tension in the lines and the refinement in the juxtaposition of shapes and materials have become signature cues of the contemporary expression of the art of watchmaking as lived by DE BETHUNE.
The four DE BETHUNE timepieces on display:
DB25 Starry Varius is a poetic interpretation of the traditional DB25. “The cosmos, time, the sky…when you want to see time evolve and you have no instruments, you observe the sky”, explains Denis Flageollet, Master Watchmaker and co-founder of DE BETHUNE. With this watch, De Bethune rethinks the sky within an elegant rose gold case. The ability to personalise the constellation depicted based on a geographical location and date chosen by the client makes each piece truly unique. On the dial, the Milky Way is rendered with laser micro strokes and delicate deposits of 24-carat gold. A classic timepiece of great purity and aesthetic refinement that harbours a large part of watchmaking history.
DB28 Dark Shadows: After winning in 2011 the Aiguille d’Or, the highest watchmaking distinction awarded by the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix for the DB28, DE BETHUNE now proposes a limited edition in matt black. Made of zirconium, it is equipped with the DB2115 calibre featuring numerous technological innovations and registered patents. Utmost precision is assured by the self-regulating double barrel and the silicon/palladium balance-spring with a flat terminal curve within the regulating organ – protected by the DE BETHUNE’s ‘triple pare chute’ shock absorption system. In the same way, they present themselves in the sky, one can read the moon phases from an exclusive display in which a polished palladium and black zirconium sphere rotates on its own axis, accurate to within 1 lunar day every 122 years.
DB28XP Tourbillon – the DB28 concept distilled to its essence. In 2020, DE BETHUNE celebrates the 10th anniversary of the famous DB28 with the creation of three exceptional timepieces, one of which is the DB28 XP Tourbillon. Inspired by the famous dial of the DB28 Digitale, the design of the DB28 XP Tourbillon is an ideal of beauty, of elegance that expresses purity at its most absolute. The DB28 XP Tourbillon is not about amplification. On the contrary, it’s about distilling the essence. Offering hour, minute and second indications in 30”, the DB28 XP Tourbillon features an elegant and minimalist white dial with silver reflections rendered in a hand-engraved “barley grain” guilloche pattern, highlighted by a blued hour circle. The tourbillon positioned at 6 o’clock is made from titanium, beating at a frequency of 36,000 alternations per hour in an extraordinarily light cage (0.18 g, the lightest ever created) that rotates on itself every thirty seconds. It comprises a total of 63 components (of which the lightest weighs less than 0.0001 grams). So small, so light, so fast – the De Bethune tourbillon simply fulfils its function in a manner better suited for today’s watches. And finally…
DB28XP Starry Sky: A distinct chapter in the celebration of the DB28’s 10th anniversary, the DB28 XP Starry Sky comes with its own firmament of infinite blue. Classic inspiration is counterbalanced with an ultra-lightweight, mirror-polished titanium case that bears the hallmark floating lugs, giving the watch a modern, even futuristic character. As with an obsession, an eternal quest to represent the most beautiful sky, DE BETHUNE raises the level of complexity even further by creating a blue ‘microlight’ firmament – another first by the Maison of L’Auberson. On the dial’s surface, one can then make out valleys and mountains, sloping lines that seem to meld into each other, offering a unique spectacle that never ceases to fascinate. Free and unconstrained, thanks to DE BETHUNE’s mastery of titanium blueing, the multitude of microgrooves create an optical effect that magically plays with light. In the heart of the deep and endless blue, a multitude of small white gold pins, driven in one by one with great delicacy, recreate the magic of a starry night. No two skies are the same: the firmament depicted is that visible from a specific place at a specific date and time as chosen by the client.
For more information, please visit www.debethune.com