THE ESSENTIALS
MAKE: DE BETHUNE
MODEL: DB25VRS3
YEAR: 2020
BOX/PAPERS: YES/YES
CASE DIAMETER: 42MM
CASE MATERIAL: ROSE GOLD 5N
BRACELET MATERIAL: LEATHER
MOVEMENT: MANUAL WIND
The year was 2010. I was a student in Singapore, walking down Orchard Road with a few friends one weekend. Not far from the Abercrombie & Fitch store (and the many models in swimsuits outside), we spotted a watch shop called The Hour Glass. Despite having a collective net worth equivalent to five or ten plates of chicken rice, we decided to go in anyway for a browse.
Among the likes of Patek Philippe, Breguet, Chopard, and Harry Winston, I spotted a few watches that seemed to have come from outer space: De Bethune and Urwerk, apparently two of the young independent watchmakers that The Hour Glass was championing.
Fast forward more than a decade. I was back in Singapore for a dear friend's wedding with my then girlfriend (now wife). I, of course, insisted on another stop at The Hour Glass, and sitting proudly in the window was a DB28, crafted entirely in blued titanium. By then, the brand was around twenty years old and continued to produce watches that ignored almost every classical proportion, yet remained breathtakingly beautiful and unmistakably De Bethune.
The story began in L'Auberson, Switzerland, where fourth-generation French master watchmaker Denis Flageollet and Italian art and vintage watch dealer David Zanetta founded De Bethune, determined to pursue innovation on their own terms. And innovate they did. The manufacture has developed dozens of in-house calibres, over 150 unique creations, and numerous patents, all while demonstrating the highest level of watchmaking in the already exclusive world of Swiss haute horlogerie.
Despite this extraordinary catalogue of innovation, production has remained remarkably small. Fewer than 5,000 De Bethune watches have ever left the manufacture, with annual production today sitting at around 350 pieces. You can therefore imagine my excitement when I learnt that we would be presenting this wonderful DB25 Starry Varius to the world.
Compared to most De Bethune models, one could argue that the DB25 is unusually restrained—almost simple. Looking more closely, however, it is anything but ordinary. Inside the 42 mm 5N rose gold case (with its higher copper and lower silver content, giving it a particularly rich hue), measuring just 10 mm thick, beats the in-house manual-wind calibre DB2005. It features a titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts, optimised for thermal stability and reduced air resistance, a self-regulating twin-barrel system offering six days of power reserve, and triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system (all of which patented by De Bethune.) The movement is, of course, finished to the highest standard with the manufacture's distinctive Côtes De Bethune decoration.
The star of the show—quite literally—is the blued titanium dial, decorated with hand-applied polished gold cabochons and laser micro-milled, gold-gilded stars depicting the night sky above L'Auberson in the Jura Mountains. Framed by an outer hour and minute ring with applied gold markers, it is one of those dials that simply has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.
This example was among the earliest to leave the manufacture and has remained untouched ever since. It comes complete with its original boxes, accessories, and paperwork.
It is simply a work of art—and one that will undoubtedly stand out in its next owner's (inevitably very impressive) collection.