Independents

moc
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De Bethune at London Masterpiece Fair(lots of pics!)

I had the pleasure to be invited by Alessandro Zanetta to attend the Masterpiece exhibition in London.
Masterpiece is a luxury fair featuring many incredible objects from antique furniture to paintings, from jewellery to antique and vintage clocks and watches.
De Bethune was present with a serious line up,from past pieces known to many fans to the latest novelties.
I fell in love with De Bethune a couple of years ago; the piece that made me a huge fan of the brand was the first version of the DB 25 with blue dial and automatic movement.
Since then I silently followed the growing success of the brand and their philosophy in the modern independent watch making world.
What impresses me the most about De Bethune is its approach to quality and marketing.
NO COMPROMISE seems to be the motto of this incredible brand, an “in your face” attitude towards watch making that leaves you speechless and makes you walk away with a new sense of confidence in this Industry we love so much.
I was introduced by Alessandro to his dad and driving force of De Bethune David Zanetta.
I must say that his overwhelming approach to every creation and its marketing must be quite unique.
David Zanetta comes up with the idea and concept behind every watch, every watch comes from a unique vision .All his vision are put into reality by the  genius of Denis Flagollet as you well all know.
After a quick exchange of opinions, David s confidence in the quality of his products comes across quite easily.
“This is what we do, I know the quality of my brand, no corners are cut here to achieve the maximum in design,innovation,finish of our product, If you like our watches good, it means that you captured the essence of De Bethune, if you don’t well, to each his own ,I wont bother you with nonsense marketing.”
A quick glance at the watches and even a blind person realizes why Mr Zanetta is so confident. We are in the presence of the highest achievable quality in haute horologerie: great concept, amazing innovation, stunning realization and breathtaking finish.
De Bethune approach is quite innovative and modern but it’s well rooted in watch making tradition, its interpretation of which is quite unique.
Every watch from the entry level to the Dream watches feature de Bethune groundbreaking innovations like flat terminal curve, triple parachute, silicon balance wheel. No corners cut in every watch!
I took the following pictures and I hope I did the watches justice as you can’t really tell their full quality without seeing the collection in metal.
The lighting conditions were t excellent but I tried my best.
Here we go:
Tourbillon:




Dream Watch 1
This version is just mesmerizing!DB managed to "stain"stainless steel and obtain this sleek,glossy black!You cannot get a darker more intense black than this.Also the trademark moon phase ball is of the same steel and instead of the usual flamed blue,it recieved a black treatment to match the stunning dial.The result is stunning.A difficult watch to capture but here you go:





The New DB 28
As many mentioned before,it looks like a mix of previous models especially DBS with DB 26 lugs.Well in reality this watch has an identity of its own.Despite its size is the most comfortable watch I ve tried in a while thanks to its lightness and especially its movable lugs that work like a dream.Even though too big for my wrist I was positively impressed.




A picture of one of the display cases

DBS Rose Gold
A DB classic.Even though I was seduced by the WG version with black dial.I must say that the DBS is appealing in every declination.Have a look.


DB 15 Rose Gold
One of the nicest Perpetual calendars in the industry.So elegant and simple to read,exquisite guillochet,pure class.A grail to many,definitely to me.



DB 25
Both versions of my first love.They share the same heart but what a different face.One more traditional with its extremely fine guillochet and sublime color scheme,one more modern,cool,sleek with the trademark De Bethune blue titanium dial.Both stunning,have a look how the reflection of the light sets up their perfeclty executed dials.Perfection!


DB Digitale
A watch with uber-strong personality.You hate it or love it and if you do love it,you are in front of a very potent watch.
It also shows how DB was ahead of time of the new digital era.The Digitale has been in productin for a few years now showing that the brand has its finger on the pulse all the time.
Even though the digits might seem a bit small,they are actually readable,both the time and the annual calendar.Fantastic is the contrast of the 2 sidea of this watch:the austerity of the front with a big slab of cotes de Geneve and the poetic,dreamy back where the DB 3D moon phase is set in a "Arabian Nights"deep blue night sky and golden stars....start dreaming.......



The New DB 25 Moon Phase
Stunning new edition of the 25:new hand wound caliber,superbly finished with Cotes de Geneve,extremely fine guillochet and a new moon phase.It s like a DB 15 little brothere but to tell you the truth I would almost pick this one over the 15.Look how stunning it is.

I saved the most stunning revelation for last.At first when I saw this watch in pics and press releases,I was very intrigued as I could see the poetry of it,the vision,the translation of a dream into a watch,but for some reasons the tone of the blue and its size,well ...I didn t know what to think ,not 100%convinced...Again,once more,pics mean little or almost nothing compared to the live experience.As soon as I arrived at the De Bethune booth,my eyes were caught by only one jewel...like when you spot your fav girl at a school party,everything else becomes fuzzy and you lock eyes across the crowded dancefloor.The new DB 25 starry sky is a dream.My hand wad shaking as I handled it and tried it on,it ticks all the boxes:manual winding new DB 2105s movement(a plus in my book),superb finish of the dial,a deep blue that require 5 different stages to obtain,a blue you could dive into or look at for hours before someone wakes you up,only the live experience can give you such emotions,the blue is everchanging like the universe,it goes from almost oil black to intense light blue and every shade in between.
The moon is surrounded by stars,droplets of gold that give the dial little reflections,like little shiny celestial bodies.The absence of seconds hand is genius,as it would have given the dial a too nervous feeling,and the use of minaret hands gives even more the feeling of exotic "Arabian Nights".
This watch is a celestial pool to dive in when you want to unwind and relax ..definitely a ooooohhhhhhhh watch.
Then when you think it s all over you turn it around and..........shocking just shocking the level of finish of the caliber.
A mirror finish that require endless hours of polishing to achive,a sense of order and simmetry,the annular balance exhibiting the faintest glimmer of movement,a sense of tranquility that matches perfecly the dial side.
As David Zanetta told me, this kind of finished was reserved for Chinese Emperors,He thought to bring it back.And what a result!
There is also a descreet power reserve(6 days!)indicator ,but it doesnt disturb the armony of the watch.
Everything is perfect in this watch...A Dream.





The Silicon annular balance.

What do you think?

The 2 25s together


Note the 2 different finishes on the same caliber.Cotes de Geneve and mirror finish.Drool!

I hope you enjoyed it.I certainly did.I didn t need any reassurance but even more so De Bethune is my favourite independent.
No compromise indeed.
Yours Mo.