Dream watch

An architectural fusion of space, time and light, this creation embodies a sequence of shapes and matt, shiny or polished finishes, carved in platinum enabling a continuous interplay between light and shadow according to the hieroglyphic principles invented by Ancient Egyptians. Looking through the dial provides a fascinating glimpse of an annular silicon balance that conceals the balance-spring and acts as a mirror, a unique phenomenon in watchmaking. The back features an individual adjustment system. By simply pressing one of the two pushers, the owner of this timepiece can adjust it according to his or her pace of life. This model proves even more innovative when one discovers that the cushioned floating lugs are designed to improve the comfort of the watch when worn. 

This is a timepiece incorporating a thermo-compensated silicon/platinum balance with a flat terminal curve and – as ever with the idea of continually pushing experimental boundaries and creating exceptional watches – features a magnificent tourbillon entirely designed in silicon and titanium with no cage or traditional pillars.

This bell-striking minute repeater model is presented with sapphire hands rimmed in blued steel, which appear to be suspended in mid-air above a spherical moon emerging from the dial. The crown is positioned at 6 o'clock to perfect the aesthetics and enable the floating lugs to swivel in order to ensure a natural fit on every wrist. The last complication is a perpetual calendar with aperture-type display. To enhance legibility, two flame-blued steel hour-markers centred on a watch jewel point to the month and day shown in the apertures.  The minute repeater strikes a bell and is activated via the bezel.

All the experience, knowledge and dexterity of De Bethune in less than 0.18 grams: a test bench for new technologies, the tourbillon weighing three times less than one of its standard counterparts is made exclusively of silicon and titanium. The quality of these materials and our machining capacity have enabled us to produce for the first time a cage-free tourbillon dispensing with the excessively heavy and bulky traditional pillars. This composition of hyper-technological microelements requiring reduced lubrication incorporates De Bethune's patents for the thermo-compensated silicon-platinum balance and the flat balance-spring curve. It was specially created to test the capacities of the former patent introduced in 2006. Strongly inspired by the titanium-platinum balance developed since 2002 in the De Bethune workshops, this balance has four arms fitted with invar-brass bimetallic attachments compensating for the balance-spring’s variation effects due to temperature changes. Four inertia-blocks are driven into the tips of the arms to form a single unit with the balance. The balance-spring and the collet are machined in one piece from the silicon wafer. The finished component is so light that it is practically insensitive to impacts.

De Bethune's Research & Development department has been working for many years in the field of emerging technologies and new materials with the continuous aim of innovating and creating timepieces on the cutting edge of modern technology. No wonder the Manufacture naturally turned to silicon, since this material free of any particular flaws serves to improve efficiency and achieve greater precision.

An architectural fusion of space, time and light, this creation embodies a sequence of shapes and matt, shiny or polished finishes, carved in platinum enabling a continuous interplay between light and shadow according to the hieroglyphic principles invented by Ancient Egyptians. Looking through the dial provides a fascinating glimpse of an annular silicon balance that conceals the balance-spring and acts as a mirror, a unique phenomenon in watchmaking. The back features an individual adjustment system. By simply pressing one of the two pushers, the owner of this timepiece can adjust it according to his or her pace of life. This model proves even more innovative when one discovers that the cushioned floating lugs are designed to improve the comfort of the watch when worn. 

Like a sculpted titanium spaceship, this timepiece showcases a wide variety of light effects thanks to the crafting of materials and the complex architecture of the dial. Suffused with the dark gleam of blued and hand-polished titanium, together with the sparkling light of the white gold and diamond stars, the depth of the star-studded sky is revealed through alternating curves that are convex on the outside and concave in the centre – of which the ‘spine’ draws the eye towards the silver hours and minutes disks. With this totally original concept inspired by a cross between a smartphone and a mechanical pocket watch, De Bethune once again breaks from the codes and customs of our time.

A true wrist sculpture, the Dream Watch 5 is a continuation of the Maison’s research into shapes, materials and colours. The mechanics fade into the background so as to ensure an even more beautiful expression design. The display of the hour, minute and moon phase functions almost vanishes. As the creations progress, design is progressively refined in favour of a curved deltoid motif, a major element in the aesthetic of the collection and more generally of De Bethune watches.

The Sky: De Bethune sees it bigger, deeper, wider, more experienceable... transcended. De Bethune presents the Dream Watch 6, a unique table clock designed in close collaboration with the Swiss artist Jörg Hysek who reinterprets De Bethune’s DNA with this creation whilst aspiring to a different vision of the world.

The initial idea was simple: To transpose De Bethune’s hallmark sky into a clock and in doing so utilize to the fullest the larger volumes and surfaces offered by a clock to express the sky’s vastness, even transcend it. More space, more depth: The night sky of De Bethune becomes even more magical. The more generous volumes expand into a more graspable, experienceable cosmos. The moon’s proportions seem more balanced in our subconscious. The two spheres, for hours and minutes, play with the sense of space. It all comes together in a completely new vision of the planets, the sky, the cosmos, and our surroundings – to marvel at in all its harmony and beauty.