In 1989 the Rolling Stones released Steel Wheels, their nineteenth studio album. It came at the end of a decade soured by tense relations between Glimmer Twins Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. The subsequent Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tour marked the return to form of "the greatest rock band of all time" – one that is still flying high following the release, last October, of the explosive Hackney Diamonds. What does any of this have to do with watches, you might ask? The answer in two words: De Bethune.
The brand isn't authorised to use the Rolling Stones name (a licence held partially by Jaquet Droz) but that hasn't prevented it from making a cheeky allusion to the granddaddies of rock by dubbing its DB28xs "Steel Wheels" – a reference that won't be lost on De Bethune's customers, now in their forties. The name is well chosen, as "steel wheels" are precisely what you see on the dial of this latest iteration of the DB28.
Third way
The DB28xs Steel Wheels forges a middle way between solid dials (the rule at De Bethune) and skeleton dials (a rarity) by revealing just some of the movement's gears. Circling the delta shape that holds the hour and minute hands, and the tourbillon, part of the gear train skims the surface of the dial, its modern finish exactly aligned with the DB28's contemporary ethos. It makes a perfect fit with the tourbillon and its futuristic timing weights, the floating lugs that ensure the case sits comfortably on the wrist, and the overall modern vibe of the aesthetic and finish.
The DB28xs Steel Wheels serves a different aesthetic purpose – less to showcase a construction, a mechanism, with a custom-built calibre and more to reveal the behind-the-scenes workings of an existing movement.
Same calibre, different decoration
This movement is, effectively, more or less the one that powers the DB28 Tourbillon in the regular collection, and also equips certain limited editions, including the Kind of Blue (another musical reference, this time to Miles Davis's seminal album).
Steel Wheels' technical specifications are therefore familiar ground. It continues to deliver a solid six days of power reserve (shown on the back of this manual-winding movement) and is engineered to withstand temperature variations (courtesy of a silicon escape wheel) and accidental knocks (courtesy of the triple pare-chute shock absorber that De Bethune invented in 2005). Holding it all together is a polished titanium case in a Goldilocks 38.7mm diameter – an increasingly popular size among collectors who will also appreciate the neo-vintage styling.
