De Bethune: Why Settle For One Watch When You Can Have Two?
De Bethune presents a surprising new timepiece called the DB Kind of Two Tourbillon, featuring not one but two dials.
The beauty of De Bethune’s new DB Kind of Two Tourbillon is you have two watch faces in one timepiece, and you can rotate between them on a whim, all thanks to a new mechanism that is as simple to use as it was complicated to imagine.
In fact, Co-Founder and COO of De Bethune Denis Flageollet had been playing with the idea for many years before coming up with this unique contemporary interpretation of the reversible timepiece.
Reversible Timepieces
Timepieces with rotating dials are not new. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso, Cartier’s Basculante, and Bovet’s Virtuosos all come to mind. These reversible timepieces bring a whole new level of complication as the hands on both sides of the watch need to turn in the same, clockwise direction.
The main difference here is concerning the aesthetics of the two faces. The DB Kind of Two Tourbillon includes two very different dials. One side features a central seconds hand, while the other has a small seconds sub-dial. And, where a tourbillon is showcased on one the small seconds side, it is hidden out of sight on the central seconds side, offering two unique identities.
Two Sides of the Same Timepiece
Needless to say, but the more traditional dial is the central seconds side. It indicates the hours, minutes, and seconds from the center with a fine hand-guilloché dial surrounded by elegant Arabic numerals that watch lovers will recognize from the dials of De Bethune’s DB8 and DB10.
Turn the timepiece over, and a whole other aesthetic is on display. With a tourbillon and a small seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock, the contemporary dial construction showcases a new type of deltoid-shaped bridge. Matte and highly polished finishes come into play with different thicknesses and levels to bring space and volume to the case, which needs to be slightly thicker to house the tourbillon mechanism.
A Swiveling Case
Flageollet decided to use the DB29 case middle to hold the rotating dials. With a 42.80mm total diameter, the case's symmetrical shape, floating lugs, and elegant crown integrated at 12 o’clock (or 6 o’clock, depending on which dial you are looking at) provide the perfect frame for the watch.
The timepiece smoothly pivots on a central axis thanks to a complex mechanism of gears and pinions arranged on the front and back of the watch. A cam and a small notch also allow the wearer to perfectly position the watch case in alignment with the floating lugs.
There are 28 components in total that have been manufactured in surgical steel or titanium to withstand the external aggressions of water, humidity, temperature variations, and continuous contact with the skin.
The New Caliber DB2579
In addition to the two dials, the elegant face designs, and the ingenious swiveling mechanism, an entirely new hand-wound caliber has been developed by the Manufacture De Bethune for the DB Kind of Two Tourbillon. The Caliber DB2579 includes several of De Bethune’s patented innovations, including a self-regulating twin barrel, a titanium balance with white gold inserts optimized for temperature differences and air penetration, a “De Bethune” balance-spring with a flat terminal curve, a silicon escape wheel, and an ultra-light De Bethune 30-second titanium tourbillon.
Retailing for $250,000, the DB Kind of Two Tourbillon illustrates the brand’s love for reinterpreting traditional watchmaking through the creation of new contemporary timepieces that preserve the beauty of our horological past but also offer user-friendliness, legibility, and distinctive design.
(Photography by Pierre Vogel)