De Bethune Introduces The DB25 Monopusher Chronograph, The Next Evolution Of Chronograph Design At De Bethune
Some subtle tweaks add up to a surprisingly new experience.
The monopusher chronograph at De Bethune goes all the way back to the founding of the company, with the DB1 – which, while an almost timepiece in its design (the DB1 is a two register, monopusher chronograph with a movement that was originally designed by De Bethune founder Denis Flageollet and his partners at THA (Techniques Horlogères Appliquées). However it also had a number of elements that would be further developed in years to come, and become signature elements of De Bethune watches, including the ogival (pointed arch-shaped) lugs, and echoes of traditional pocket watch design in its Breguet hands, guilloché dial, and overall proportions. The DB1 would be followed in due course by the DB8, which used the same movement as the DB1, but modified to have a single 45 minute subdial; then by the enormously ambitious Maxichrono in 2014, with all of the hands running on the same axis at the center of the dial; and finally, by the DB Eight, in 2023. The DB Eight introduced a new in-house movement, the caliber DB3000, which has a number of unusual features, including a miniaturized column wheel, and an instantaneous jumping 60 minute counter. Caliber DB3000 also uses a tilting pinion clutch system, which Denis Flageollet also used in the movement inside the DB1. De Bethune has now announced a new chronograph powered by the DB3000: the DB25 Monopusher Chronograph.
While the DB Eight is 42.4mm x 9.2mm, the new DB25 Monopusher Chrono is slightly smaller, at 40.6mm x 9.15mm. The lugs are slightly different as well; the DB Eight has solid lugs with ogival tips but the DB25 Monopusher Chronograph has slightly longer lugs, with a graceful curvature that feels as if it molds to the shape of the wrist; the lugs are opened up and the signature ogival tips are still present.
The instantaneous jumping minutes is almost a complication in its own right and requires very fine teeth on the jumping minutes disk. The large subdial for the jumping minutes is decorated with a very fine barley-grain engine turned pattern, contrasting with the radiating waves of guilloché on the rest of the dial; these are separated into 12 sectors which is a subtle but real aid to legibility. The hands, including the very long, fine center chronograph seconds hand, at first glance look like heat-blued steel but they’re actually thermally blued titanium; heat-blued titanium has been a prominent and defining part of De Bethune watch design for many years. The tip of the seconds hand is very gently radiused, to reduce parallax error.
The watch, thanks to the monopusher design and the single oversized subdial for the instantaneous jumping minutes, doesn’t at first look like a chronograph; the purity and simplicity of the design suggest a very elegantly arranged time-only watch.
While the case and dial design share much of the classical and pocket watch design vocabulary established all the way back in 2002 by the DB1, the caliber DB3000 has a modernist feel to go along with its unusual architecture. The balance, in blued titanium with white gold rim weights; the De Bethune balance spring, with its patented, self-centering terminal affix (designed to offer all the advantages of a Breguet overcoil but without the additional height that the latter requires) and silicon escape wheel are all cutting edge engineering features. However, there is also quite a lot of traditional fine finishing in the movement as well, including hand polished bevels and the mirror polished, chromium plated chronograph bridges.
The DB Eight is famous for the light, crisp action of the chronograph pusher, and the same is true of the DB25 Monopusher Chronograph; the pusher passes through the detent with great ease and smoothness but also with a very precise let-off as the column wheel switches – a wonderful tactile reinforcement of the impression of elegance given by the watch overall.
Despite the expansive visual impression created by the minimalist dial design and thin bezel, the titanium case as well as the gently curved open lugs make this an extremely comfortable watch to wear, and while the visual impression may be of a larger watch the tactile experience is definitely that of wearing a 40mm wristwatch. Although on paper the design differences between the DB25 Monopusher and the DB Eight don’t seem terribly significant, they add up, especially once you have the watch on your wrist, to a significantly different wearing experience.
The De Bethune DB2 Monopusher Chronograph: case, grade 5 titanium, 40.6mm 9.915mm, sapphire crystals front and back, both double AR coated; water resistance 30 meters. Integrated openwork lugs with ogival tips. Hour, minute, and chronograph hands in blued titanium. Movement, De Bethune caliber DB3000, 30mm diamter, running at 28,800 vph in 31 jewels; column wheel, tilting pinion controlled monopusher chronograph, with De Bethune balance and balance spring; power reserve, 60 hours. Price, $90,000.
The 1916 Company is proud to partner with De Bethune and Denis Flageollet. Contact us for availability.