De Bethune has given a split personality to its first timepiece of 2021 with a double-sided watch that can be flipped to show two very different dials.
The company says it has been working on the concept of its DB Kind of Two Tourbillon for several years, with co-founder and master watchmaker Denis Flageollet convinced he could bring a contemporary interpretation to the historic double-faced pocket watches of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The DB Kind of Two Tourbillon houses a highly sophisticated mechanism based on a complex system of gears and pinions arranged on the front or back of the watch that enable the hands to turn in the right direction, regardless of the dial chosen.
The dial on one side is sleek and modern with central hours and minutes hands as well as a tourbillon at 6 o’clock and the watch’s crown at the top of the case.
The crown is on the bottom once the watch is flipped along its horizontal axis. The other side has a more traditional aesthetic with a hand-guilloché central part surrounded by the numerals in a similar design to other De Bethune models such as the DB8 and DB10.
The tourbillon with its seconds has vanished, and on this face the hours, minutes and seconds hands are all centrally positioned.
A 42.8mm titanium case is just 9.8mm thick, despite the two faces, and houses De Bethune’s self-winding DB2579 movement with a 5 day power reserve.
Orders are being taken now for the watch, priced at $250,000.
Great design and wonderful engineering.. I was surprised to see at least two imperfections on the finish though. A scratch at the base of the classic hour hand and a nick in the bezel at the 32 second marker .are clearly visible