Sometimes, a watch comes along and makes total sense, embodying the desire of the people who run the corresponding brand to sum it all up in a single object: everything they stand for, have invented and accomplished. Like a cathartic synthesis of an entire body of work. The DB Kind of Grande Complication is just such a watch.
It incorporates all the inventions for which De Bethune has become famous. All the innovations that have earned it a special place in the horological sun. All the idiosyncrasies that have made it a top contender in the realm of indie watchmaking. The DB Kind of Grande Complication is Denis Flageollet’s ultimate masterpiece. This word may feel overused, worn out by easy storytelling and even depleted of meaning. Its original sense remains strong. It is the greatest achievement. One that puts its author on the map, his everything: an opus magnum.
PATENTS
Over the course of the last 22 years, under Flageollet’s technical and cultural leadership, De Bethune has developed (and generally patented) a range of ‘technologies’, for lack of a more watch-specific term. A 30-second, ultra-light tourbillon with a 5 Hz escapement. A specific hairspring terminal curve. An aerodynamic balance wheel made of titanium with gold inserts. A spherical, astronomic moon phase. A retrograde moon-phase indication indicated by days rather than a crescent shape.
A deadbeat seconds display. A perpetual calendar with a special layout. And a habit of offering anywhere between 4 and 6 days of power reserve with a compact, twin-barrel system. All of these features have either represented the central complication or purpose of a timepiece, or been combined in a variety of exclusive timepieces. DB Kind of Grande Complication, being an all-encompassing timepiece, has all of the above in a single case, a single movement and a single statement – while the reversible nature of said case enables technical and design unity.
METHOD
Some might think that once all of these concepts have been developed, perfected and combined over time, fitting them all into a single entity is a trivial matter. One could be tempted to say: ‘Just put all 12 of them rather than just the eight you did the last time.” It’s important to remember that the previous number was absolutely no trifle to begin with and that any doubling of effort triples the difficulty.
Add to all that the fact that the DB Kind of Grande Complication has two sides, two dials and you end up with the stratospheric level of achievement that obviously goes with the mention of Grande Complication. Moreover, the movement having 751 components is a dead giveaway. So the DB Kind of Grande Complication does a lot of complex and subtle mechanical things, representing the kind of achievement that watchmaking comes up with once every two, maybe three years.
There are however other considerations at play, chiefly including design relevance and wearability that can make or break the career of a timepiece, however spectacular. This is where De Bethune’s signature aesthetics come in.
DESIGN
Even though the brand was founded and has been mostly led by its master watchmaker, the man in question is not just a gear geek. He’s a Renaissance man, dipping his toes into everything from typewriters to vintage cameras, metal forging and the various technological legacies of the Jura mountain area where he’s been headquartered for decades. There is a unique aesthetic to De Bethune and like the DB Kind of Grande Complication movement, it’s got two sides. One is pervaded by the influence of watchmaking classics, with guilloché work, heat-blued parts and a sense of layout balance rooted
in late 18th-century horological principles. The other is modern, edgy, sharp, relying on a dialless type of watch that puts the beauty of materials front and center, notably titanium in its most demanding form: hand polished. It was only logical that the DB Kind of Grande Complication be endowed with these two aesthetic features: one on each side, coupled with a specific set of complications. All of this combines to make the DB Kind of Grande Complication a Janus and Jana kind of timepiece, a thoroughly comprehensive accomplishment.
This article is an excerpt from the upcoming GMT XXL Switzerland Magazine, debuting at Geneva Watch Days August 29th. Pre-order your copy here.
