De Bethune’s Newest Watch Has the World’s First Random Guilloche Pattern
De Bethune’s work in the way of astronomical timepieces has been epitomized in recent years though its various Starry models, allowing you to see a personalized section of the night sky or wear a portion of a one million year old meteorite on your wrist. Today, the brand builds on this lineage with the invention of random guilloche, a world first.
For this latest addition, the DB28xs Starry Seas, De Bethune uses the Japanese philosophy of Wabi-Sabi as inspiration. At the most basic level, Wabi-Sabi centers on beauty found in imperfection, simplicity and unconventionality. These three principles are found in core aspects of the new Starry Seas.
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First, we take the random guilloche dial, which represents the beauty in imperfect things. Here, we see a pattern reminiscent of the reflection of a starry sky upon the sea, a pattern that will always be impermanent and ever changing based on the tides. Rendered in blued titanium with white gold stars and a silver-plated hours and minutes ring with transferred Arabic numerals, the dial fully embodies the spirit of Wabi-Sabi.
Moving on to the proportions, the new DB28xs Starry Seas has sweet spot sizing of 39mm, which is significantly smaller than previous Starry models, each of which measured 42mm. This modest build beautifully suits any wrist and displays De Bethune’s technical prowess in reformulating exceptional craftsmanship on a smaller scale. In this way, the size of the Starry Seas lends itself to the principle of beauty in modest and simple things. While complex beneath the surface, the sober design and moderate size of the DB28xs exudes a sense of purity and restraint in its aesthetic.
Under the hood and visible through the sapphire caseback, the Starry Seas is powered by the caliber DB2005, which has been adapted to this miniaturization without losing its chronometric quality. In fact, the combination of the model’s small proportions and lightweight materials helps to give the movement better efficiency in case of impacts and acceleration.
The combination of each of these aspects, from the design to the technical achievements, allows the DB28xs Starry Seas to represent the third principle of Wabi-Sabi in its fullness: beauty in atypical things. “It is the culture and understanding of techniques and objects that enable the birth of such a project,” comments Denis Flageollet, Master Watchmaker and Founder of the Manufacture De Bethune. “For the creation of the DB28xs Starry Seas, the creative process that impelled me evokes the Japanese spirit of WabiSabi, a Japanese concept that is virtually an art form and aims to bring individuals, objects and the environment into harmony.”
The new New DB28xs Starry Seas is available today for $90,000. For more information and to purchase, please visit the De Bethune website.
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