Sunday, November 23, 2014

De Bethune wins the GPHG Award for DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon

If I had not said this before, I say it again. De Bethune is about one of my favourite brands and deservedly, they won at the GPHG 2014 for their DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon.

This past week, the folks from De Bethune brought an impressive selection of their timepieces and showcased it at The Hour Glass L'Atelier at Ion. Amongst them was the award winning DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon. Pierre and Alessandro were at hand to meet the collectors on this occasion. In the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) 2014, the international and highly qualified jury of this 14th edition chose the DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon to receive the prestigious award of the best chronograph of the year.
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Not only is this timepiece a monopusher chronograph, it also comes with a tourbillon and encased with a hunter case. This is one of my Dream Watches... if only I can afford it. On display were also come very technically sophisticated pieces like the DB28ST. The manual winding dead-beat seconds tourbillon timepiece is a sight to behold. Finished to the highest quality, my picture does no justice to the timepiece.
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Equally sophisticated is the DB28 Maxichrono. Beautifully crafted and finished as one would expect from the folks in De Bethune.
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The movement on the reverse tells you how much work goes into the design and manufacture of the pieces at DB.
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De Bethune is also famous for their perpetual calendar pieces - the three dimensional moon being the attraction to me. And the highly guilloche dials are also a beauty. Here is the DB16QP.
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And the manual winding movement of the DB16QP.
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And speaking of the three dimensional moon phase, the DB25L white grey dial is also on my list of dream watch - but perhaps a little more reachable.
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And the open case at the back displaying the beautifully crafted movement.
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The folks at De Bethune have this salmon colored dial that I absolutely love. This is Alessandro's piece he was wearing and he told me it is his favourite piece (at least for now) and he has been wearing it for months. You can see why right?
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Also showcased at the event was two very elegantly designed enamel inspired dial DB25s. The first piece has blued mirror-polished titanium at the centre and an outer white enamel like ring.
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The second version has blued mirror-polished titanium outer ring with a white core. Classic right down to the hands and I believe De Bethune has outdone the folks at Breguet in this respect. The timepiece comes with an automatic movement.
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For a classic De Bethune, this is a winner for me.
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There were a lot more timepieces there but I was so busy chatting away I did not have enough time to capture them all. We had a good chat and one of the questions stumped Alessandro, seen here trying to look for answers.
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Thanks to The Hour Glass, Pierre Jacques and Alessandro Zanetta for hosting us. One day... one day, I shall have my very own DB. Congrats again to De Bethune on the win. Thoroughly deserved!

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