De Bethune Watches: DB28 & Modern Horology

49Watch houses

Profile details

2002 company distinct from its historical namesake. The 2021 signed investment announcement is not a confirmed current share register. DB28 measurements and theoretical lunar deviation are named-reference manufacturer claims. Read dated sources for the precise reference and claim.

Company founded: 2002 — Modern enterprise in L'Auberson; eighteenth-century namesake does not establish corporate continuity
Reference: DB28TIS8C6PNS — Official DB28 reference reported checked 2026-10-05
Case diameter: 42.6 mm — DB28TIS8C6PNS polished grade-5 titanium case only
Case thickness: 9.3 mm — DB28TIS8C6PNS case only; published as 9.30 mm
Movement: DB2115V4 — Manual-winding movement of the named reference only
Moon display deviation: One day in 122 years — Manufacturer's theoretical lunar-display gearing deviation; not daily timekeeping accuracy

A deliberately new enterprise

De Bethune was founded in 2002 by Denis Flageollet and David Zanetta in L’Auberson, near Sainte-Croix. Its name refers to the Chevalier de Bethune, an eighteenth-century figure associated with precision horology and navigation. That tribute does not make the current company an eighteenth-century survivor. The maison’s own account presents a deliberately new enterprise drawing on historical knowledge while experimenting with materials, regulating organs and form. This distinction gives its history more substance than an artificially extended founding date would.

Evidence: De Bethune’s vision and history

The announced 2021 majority investment

Its ownership story also needs a date. On 31 August 2021, WatchBox announced a signed majority investment, with closing expected in the following days. The announcement said Flageollet and chief executive Pierre Jacques would remain on the board and continue leading the business. This is firm evidence of the announced transaction and planned management continuity, not a complete, independently verified 2026 share register. The word “independent,” frequently applied to the maison, should consequently describe its creative position with care rather than imply that no outside majority investor has existed.

Evidence: WatchBox’s original announcement

The DB28 design language

The DB28 makes the house’s design thinking unusually accessible. De Bethune dates the first DB28 to 2010. A crown at twelve recalls pocket watches, while articulated floating lugs address the relationship between the case and the wrist. The large central bridge, sculptural openings and conspicuous blue surfaces make the watch look futuristic, yet the problem it addresses is familiar: how should a finely finished mechanical instrument sit, move and communicate its function? The collection demonstrates that historical reference need not dictate an antique appearance.

Evidence: De Bethune’s DB28 retrospective, 25 August 2020

The DB28TIS8C6PNS reference

For a tightly defined specification, consider DB28 reference DB28TIS8C6PNS as listed on 5 October 2026. Its polished grade-5 titanium case measures 42.6 mm across and 9.30 mm thick. The manual-winding DB2115V4 supplies a stated six-day reserve, runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and contains 297 parts. De Bethune lists a titanium balance with white-gold inserts, a silicon escape wheel and its triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system. The spherical moon at six o’clock combines palladium and blued steel; the manufacturer specifies a theoretical lunar-display deviation of one day in 122 years. That figure describes the moon-phase gearing, not the watch’s daily timekeeping accuracy.

Evidence: Official DB28 specification

An integrated visual system

The broader point is that a movement can be designed as an integrated visual system. Here the moon is a tiny volume, the bridge a broad structural surface, and the peripheral indications a frame around them. Reading the watch therefore involves depth and reflection as well as printed scales. This is an interpretation of the documented design, rather than a report of handling the watch or testing its ergonomics.

Evidence: De Bethune’s DB28 retrospective, 25 August 2020, Official DB28 specification

The Steel Wheels material challenge

The Steel Wheels chapter supplies a particularly tangible story. In 2018 De Bethune opened up the DB28’s architecture; in the 2020 Sapphire Tourbillon variant, sapphire was used for the delta bridge and barrel covers. Its release explains the labor of polishing titanium until it behaves like a mirror. Instead of inventing a tale of accidental discovery, the useful anecdote is this material challenge: a watch that appears almost immaterial relies on slow, exacting surface work. The 2020 release’s claim to the lightest tourbillon should not be promoted into an undated world record.

Evidence: De Bethune’s DB28 retrospective, 25 August 2020

Separate motion, reflection and the lunar calculation

Describe the case and articulated lugs before describing the central bridge and spherical moon. These features solve different visual or mechanical questions, even when they form one composition. Then write the lunar-display deviation and the movement's timekeeping frequency on separate lines. A precise lunar ratio does not certify the rate of the entire watch. Use the Steel Wheels account to ask how polishing and transparent structural surfaces change what is visible, while keeping a design interpretation separate from an unperformed handling or accuracy test.