Baselworld 2007 - De Bethune

Despite the fact that most of the watches the company presented were not entirely new models, yet the range is one of the best I saw at Basel (De Bethune is not actually part of Baselworld as it exhibits on a boat called the River Cloud) in terms of technical innovation and quality.

Firstly, De Bethune presented the DB25, an elegant 10-day watch with power reserve indicator at 12 o’clock which at first glance looks like a moonphase. When the watch is fully wound, the window will be completely dark, and as the mainspring unwinds the indicator progresses until the dark portion is completely out of sight.

The DB25 is an astonishing 45mm in diameter, but De Bethune got the proportions just right, so the watch sits very nicely on the wrist and does not look its size at all. Three dial options are available for the DB25, and as is evident from the photos below, the dial quality is incredible. De Bethune makes its dials in-house, an achievement for such a small company.

The DB25 in rose gold with titanium dial - note the fine concentric guilloche in the central section of the dial

The DB25 in rose gold with guilloche dial

The DB25 in white gold with blue dial

The skeleton lug design of the DB25 was inspired by the DB21 Maxichrono, which was presented last year. Movement and dial remain unchanged, but De Bethune has modified the case of the Maxichrono. It is now fitted with pivoted titanium lugs which will fit the curvature of any wrist and also allow for changes in the circumference of the wrist due to temperature or altitude. Both pairs of lugs are hinged at 3 and 9 o’clock, and are also spring-loaded. For a watch as massive as the Maxichrono, the fit and comfort is amazing due to the ingenious lugs.

The Maxichrono

The Maxichrono movement

De Bethune now offers the Digitale in rose gold with a grey dial decorated in Geneva stripes. For those who found the original silver dial Digitale too bright, this is the perfect alternative. Although it offers nothing new technically, this version of the Digitale is one of the highlights of the De Bethune collection for its aesthetics.

Digitale in rose gold with grey dial

Another model that has enjoyed a face-lift is the DBS, now presented with a black PVD treated dial. Fitted with a three-dimensional revolving moonphase, I very much prefer this new DBS to the previous version. Each of the components of the dial - the rubies, the blue steel moonphase - all contrast beautifully with the deep, black dial. I did not like the original DBS as it was too white in tone. The black dial solves that problem nicely.

The new DBS

De Bethune already has a DB20 GMT in its collection, and for 2007 the company unveiled the DB20 with date, with the date window taking the place of the second timezone indicator at 6 o’clock.

DB20 with date

In 2006, De Bethune presented the DB22 Power, the first of its sports watch series, shown below.

DB22 Power

This year the sports range has been expanded with the DB24 Super Sport, presented in a titanium case and water resistant to 500m. The first thing that struck me was the sheen of the case, it was so well polished; it was difficult to believe it was titanium.

Denis Flageollet, the resident technical genius at De Bethune, took out a freshly finished case to convince me. I was blown away by the finish - that was the best finish on a titanium case I have ever seen.

The DB24

The strap is also worthy of a mention. It is shiny and reflective, almost like reflective safety bands found on bicycles. Denis explained that the strap was entirely leather: top, padding and lining were all leather. De Bethune has developed a unique treatment process that results in the leather being waterproof and plastic-like. Very clever, but rubber would have worked just as well.

Movement of the DB24 with variable inertia rotor -
the lever tipped in bright blue points to the rotor inertia setting, either “Sports”, or “N” for normal.

Most notable was the variable inertia rotor, which can be adjusted for the level of activity the wearer is engaged in. This concept was first seen on the Richard Mille RM005, but the drawback of the Richard Mille design was that the rotor could only be adjusted by a watchmaker after opening up the watch. In contrast, the DB24 rotor can be adjusted by the wear via the crown, meaning the variable inertia rotor is actually practical and useful in day to day use.