“So, according to De Bethune, it is okay to be two-faced?”
Well, maybe not that kind of two face. In any case, I digress. Today, we’re taking a look at De Bethune’s DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT. A new watch from another Swiss heavyweight, De Bethune’s 30th in-house calibre sees its debut just in time for DB’s 20th anniversary.
“Okay. Part 1 of the De Bethune Kind of Two Jumping GMT’s dial…”
This side is known as the ‘contemporary’ side and setting the ‘home’ time is done by pulling the crown out to position three. How do you read the time on this side? The six o’clock display with the balance wheel on display shows the hour. The periphery shows the minutes, marked by a small blue pointer.
“Okay. Part 2 of the dial…”
Once that’s done, set the crown to position two to adjust the second time zone on the other face, known as the GMT or ‘classic’ side. This part is a little bit more straightforward to read, I reckon. On the ‘classic’ side, we get a dial with three distinct sectors. The dial has what DB calls a “silvered and relief” finish with convex levels and a guilloché central part. There’s a deadbeat seconds display and blued titanium hands.
“And what about the rest of De Bethune’s latest?”
As far as the rest of the watch goes, it’s just as exquisite. The polished grade 5 titanium case measures 43.4 mm across and stands at 11.4 mm. But where it truly stands out to me is when you get to the ‘floating lugs’ system and the integrated crown at 12 (or 6) o’clock.
To allow for the flipping of the case, each sides have a rotating mechanism made out of 28 parts in steel or titanium. The case or the inner portion, rotates on a central axis. Both sides of the case feature a sapphire crystal with double layers of AR coating.
As for the strap? It’s an alligator leather unit with a grade 5 titanium pin buckle.
“Next up, De Bethune’s new movement!”
It’s De Bethune’s 30th in-house calibre, the DB2517. The hand-wound, 58-jeweled calibre beats at a rate of 5 Hz and has a power reserve of 4 days and water resistance is 30 meters. As for features and finishing elements, the calibre boasts a titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts, mirror-polished concave cover plate in grade 5 titanium and hand-polished and chamfered barrel bridge and barrels.
Finally, the price. The De Bethune DB Kind of Two Jumping GMT carries a price tag of CHF 195,000 (RM923,466). However, there’s good news. Since this isn’t a limited edition timepiece, if you believe in reincarnation, you can spend your next nine lives saving up for one.
