After several ultra-thin novelties such as the DB28XP, another aspect of design becomes the focus of master watchmaker and soul of the brand Denis Flageollet. Like most recent DB28 references, the DB28xs Starry Seas is slim. It also comes in a diminutive case of 38,7 mm in diameter. And since it's crafted out of mirror-polished titanium, De Bethune's signature material, it's very light. This would suffice to make it an ergonomic-enough timepiece. But if one thing is true about De Bethune, it is that whatever they do, they always go the extra mile. In this instance, it comes in the shape of the brand's signature mobile lugs. The openworked appendices shift a few degrees in order to sit on any wrist's exact curve.
Smaller timepieces often come as part of a vintage design package, or a clear-cut feminine angle. But neither of these facts apply to De Bethune. Although deeply versed in what watchmaking has been for over 200 years, there is no nostalgia or gender-specificity at work with this brand. It's been an abundantly inventing, innovating and contemporary one for twenty years now. The idea is to take on a new challenge. Fitting all the horological technologies that De Bethune has built over the years in a 7.2 mm thick case is one. The most practical would be the 6-day power reserve, a top-three achievement at that level of thickness.
Technical prowess has never been a stand-alone concern for De Bethune. Design is paramount and their vocabulary, unique. So let's focus on the most obvious feature of this DB28xs Starry Seas. Its dial is made of titanium, which is hard. It's guilloché, a geometric engraving process that's usually demanding, but most likely nightmarish with titanium. Especially since this is what the brand calls a random-guilloché, with a wavy pattern. It's also been blued, which means it's been heated until titanium has reached a very specific hue. And in the spirit of the seminal DB28 Starry Sky, the dial is sprinkled with stars. These gray gold studs put the Starry in DB28xs Starry Seas.
DB28xs Starry Seas
CASE: polished titanium, sapphire crystal and caseback, water-resistant to 30 m
DIMENSIONS: 38,7 mm in diameter, 7.4 mm in thickness
MOVEMENT: mechanical, hand-winding, calibre DB2005, 4 Hz, 6-day power reserve, 160 components
FUNCTIONS: hours and minutes
DIAL: random-guilloché titanium dial with gray gold studs, openworked and polished titanium hands
STRAP: black alligator lather with blue stitching, black alligator lining, titanium pin buckle
