In 2002, David Zanetta, a collector with a passion for art, history, and timepieces, decided to join forces in founding De Bethune with Denis Flageollet —a fourth-generation descendant of watchmakers. Today, after stepping down and ceding all his shares, David Zanetta is long gone from De Bethune and Pierre Jacques along with Giovanni Perin —a private equity investor— are now leading the brand better than ever. Each year for a few hundred fortunate connoisseurs around the world, De Bethune offers timepieces with captivating designs like the one we have here. This time, we take a closer hands-on look at the De Bethune DB28 GS Grand Bleu. Fitted with a new calibre and water resistance to more than 100 meters, this watch offers excellent readability thanks to its ingenious lighting inside the movement and its new photoluminescent blue color. Equipped with a redesigned bezel that rotates to indicate dive times and a titanium case for a light and comfortable wear, the watch is endowed with a five-day power reserve.

Things to Know About the Watch

The open-worked dial shows the visible movement finishes in satin-brushed grade 5 titanium with cut-out Arabic numerals with metalized minutes ring. Featuring now a power-reserve indicator between 9 and 10 o’clock instead of 2 and 3 o’clock as in the preceding calibre on the GS, additionally, the minute and hour hands are hand-polished flamed-blue titanium with a polished steel insert on the hour hand and luminescent tips on both. The seconds hand is a polished steel hand. Right at 6 o'clock, one can admire the splendor the elegantly finished De Bethune signature balance spring with a flat terminal curve and its highly polished bridge.

Gears, bridges and remarkably finished screws round out the design in a timeless and endless equation. In low light, the dial comes to life-transforming into a symphony of captivating reflections. The power-reserve indicator features red and blue accents for optimal readability.

The De Bethune DB28 GS Grand Bleu clearly embraces the principles and values of this young and very small manufacture. Fitted with a black zirconium case middle with “Microlight” decoration, brushed and polished grade 5 titanium case back and bezel, the case diameter remains at 44 mm. The floating lugs, one of the key signature features of a De Bethune timepiece, make the watch extremely comfortable on the wrist. The De Bethune DB28 GS Grand Sport features the traditional short and long floating lugs also in smoothed-down grade 5 titanium. The winding crown, capriciously placed at 12 o'clock adds even more intricacy to the revolutionary design.

The De Bethune DB28 GS Grand Bleu is delivered with an eye-catching natural rubber strap with titanium folding clasp and with a canvas leather-lined strap like the one pictured here. The strap is very comfortable, malleable and soft to the touch. Different textures adorn the front and back of the strap to make it even more special.

The Movement

Now visible via the display case back, a totally new calibre powers the De Bethune DB28 GS Grand Bleu. This new manual-wound 35-jewel calibre DB2080 is composed of 400 parts with a self-regulating twin barrel, a power-reserve indicator on the dial side, titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts, De Bethune balance-spring with flat terminal curve, triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system, silicon escape wheel and dial lighting produced by an entirely mechanical means system working on the dynamo principle powered by a twin-barrel and manually controlled via a pusher located on the case at 6 o’clock. The movement beats at a frequency of 28,800 vph while providing a long lasting power reserve of 5 days.

On the Wrist & Price

On the wrist, the watch wears slightly larger than its actual size due to its floating lugs but very comfortable and lightweight. The De Bethune DB28 GS Grand Bleu is a true example of 'haute horlogerie' that doesn't come with an astronomical price tag. Exceptional, refined and very sporty are some of the words that come to mind when wearing this amazing piece. A very exclusive watch of which only 30 pieces a year will be produced.

Sticker Price $85,000 USD. For more info on De Bethune click here.