The Icons – De Bethune's DB28

Read time: 4 min

We’ve seen our fair share of De Bethune timepieces over the years – many different models of the DB25, DB27, DB28 and even more recent releases like the DB Eight. With Denis Flageollet behind the helm of the brand’s watchmaking, De Bethune is simply one of the leaders of independent watchmaking in the 21st century. The brand’s corpus is massive with more than 150 models and 30 in-house calibers, ranging from time-only to monopusher chronographs to tourbillons. On nearly every level of watchmaking, the mechanics, case-making, design, finishing and materials, De Bethune has innovated and maintained its feverish, creative pace for more than two decades.

Here, we’re continuing on our journey through the most iconic timepieces from modern independents. Though it is nearly impossible to pick only one, we’re focusing on the DB28 and diving into the aspects that define this timepiece as an icon in modern independent watchmaking.

The Icon - Unpacking De Bethune’s DB28

Released in 2011, the DB28 made a splash as soon as it arrived on the scene. It won the “Aiguille d’Or” at the GPHG Awards for the best timepiece of the year. At a time when independent watchmaking remained extremely niche relative to today, industry insiders knew what they were looking at from the moment it dropped.

Spherical moon with blued steel, silicon/palladium balance wheel, triple “pare-chute” shock-absorbing system and “floating lugs,” this was an exceptionally avant-garde timepiece, especially for the early 2010’s. At 42.7mm in diameter and 9.3mm in thickness, there was no sacrifice of wearability or legibility with the decision to fully embrace futuristic aesthetics.

Fitting that there was a closed caseback on the original DB28, it is certainly a message that all of the action is to be observed while worn on the wrist. The dial is a window to the movement. One can view the De Bethune’s emblematic, delta-shaped mainplate, front and center, as well as the heart of the movement beating at 6 o’clock. All exquisitely finished, one of the more remarkable aspects of this timepiece is how well the colors, textures, and finishes play along with each other. Simply on the dial alone, there is mirror polishing, the brand’s own version of Côtes de Genève, blueing on the moonphase, the blue of the silicon hairspring. In the light, all of these surfaces reflect, glimmer, and can appear anything from bright and vibrant to matte black.

Though the floating lugs were introduced on the DB21 in 2006, nearly 5 years earlier, they were destined for glory due to the DB28. This is the watch that collectors identify as the “flying lugs” timepiece in the De Bethune catalog. Where typical watch lugs are fixed, the ingenuity of Denis Flageollet and his team brought about a spring-loaded mechanism that allows the lugs to move independently of the case. The end result is supreme comfort across a massive range of wrist sizes. In rough dimensions, the lug-to-lug variability ranges from 46mm to 58mm.

What makes the DB28 iconic

The thing that makes the DB28 iconic is how well it pulled together and introduced all of De Bethune’s core contributions to the canon of modern watchmaking in a single timepiece. There may be more examples of this in recent De Bethune timepieces, but for us, the DB28 was the first. It’s technically innovative on a fundamental, functional level with its balance wheel, shock absorption, and floating lugs patents. It’s visually spectacular with its finishing, colors, and textures. And it does all of that with such clean lines and slender case. 

A difficult balance to strike, the DB28 is an icon for finding solid ground between avant-garde and sleek, futuristic and wearable. Where many thoroughly modern timepieces can be a bit clunky on the wrist (that is part of their appeal for many collectors, we know), the DB28 paves a new path for avant-garde timepieces to fit easily, quite traditionally, on the wrist or under a cuff.

It should be noted that there are many different DB28 models, each appearing to be more spectacular than the last. For the purpose of this article, we stuck to the original since it is the foundation on which all later DB28 “grails” were built. These other, spectacular models include the DB28 “Kind of Blue,” DB28 “Kind of Gold,” DB28GS JPS, DB28 XP Starry Varius, as well as the more recent DB28 XP Tourbillon. With the DB28 as a baseline canvas, Denis Flageollet and his team have found no shortage of ways to introduce novelty through further technical innovation, new materials, and finishing techniques.