De Bethune revisits one of its most poetic complications with the new DB25 Perpetual Sky. The independent Manufacture brings its perpetual calendar to a 40 mm case. The size feels refined and balanced. It suits slender wrists without losing presence. The proportions stay elegant. Legibility remains clear. Performance remains untouched.
The Maison unveils this new expression at Dubai Watch Week. The launch marks a fresh moment for the DB25 collection. It also reinforces the brand’s unmistakable codes: lightness, purity and a quiet sense of wonder.
Design Rooted in Lightness
The DB25 keeps the graceful lines that define the collection. Its hollowed, slanted lugs wrap the wrist with quiet ease. De Bethune shapes the case from Grade 5 titanium, giving the watch a lightness that feels almost ethereal. The 40 mm size only strengthens its elegance. It wears comfortably, naturally, and with the refined harmony that marks every De Bethune creation.
A Cosmos of Information
The perpetual calendar appears across a dial shaped like a night sky. De Bethune layers the display across multiple levels. Fine ring-shaped appliques define each subdial. A silver-toned minutes track unifies the composition with a soft, circular rhythm.
The date sits at 6 o’clock. The day appears at 9 o’clock. The month reads at 3 o’clock. Every indication stays crisp and easy to follow. Mirror-polished yellow gold hands glide over the dial. Their curved forms catch light with a quiet, refined brilliance.
At 12 o’clock, a spherical moon in palladium and blued steel takes centre stage. The sphere mirrors the moon’s true phases, just as it appears in the sky. De Bethune patented this display in 2004. A gold disc beneath it marks the leap-year cycle and completes the celestial tableau.
The Starry Sky: Artistry in Motion
The starry sky has long defined De Bethune’s identity. In this watch, it becomes the emotional centre of the design. Each dial can be personalised to reflect a chosen date and location. The result feels intimate. It also transforms timekeeping into something deeply personal—a constellation created for its owner.
In L’Auberson, artisans polish and blue the titanium plate using a proprietary thermal process. They then set white gold pins into micro-perforations of different sizes. The technique creates a textured, shimmering field. After precise laser micro-milling, the Milky Way begins to take shape. The artisans apply 24-carat gold leaf by hand to bring its glow to life.
A Calibre of Modern Craft
The DB2005V3 calibre brings the watch to life. It is hand-wound, and it feels personal the moment you interact with it. Despite its traditional nature, the movement remains remarkably modern. It carries the perpetual calendar and De Bethune’s spherical moon with quiet confidence. The moon stays true for generations, drifting by only one day every 122 years.
A self-regulating double barrel keeps the flow of energy calm and steady. The titanium-and-white-gold balance wheel breathes with improved inertia. The proprietary balance spring, shaped with its flat terminal curve, adds a touch of precision you can sense rather than see. The silicon escape wheel lightens the rhythm. The triple pare-chute system steps in to guard the movement from life’s occasional shocks.
Turn the watch over, and the sapphire caseback reveals something deeper. You see the hours of work. You sense the hands that shaped each component. Every surface tells a story of experimentation, refinement, and patience. Every detail reflects the years De Bethune has spent pushing its craft forward—slowly, deliberately, and always with heart.
Exclusivity Shaped by Human Hands
More than 330 components shape the DB25 Perpetual Sky. Each part is touched by human hands. Every surface is crafted, decorated and adjusted with patience. Only a Grand Complication watchmaker assembles the final movement. The pace stays unhurried. Quality guides every decision.
Production remains intentionally limited. Only a few pieces leave the workshop each year. The rhythm follows the people who make them, not the market. Time matters here. Skill matters even more.
The watch rests on an alligator strap with a titanium buckle. It feels light on the wrist. Its presence, however, is unmistakably De Bethune—quiet, considered and deeply personal.
