Do you like De Bethune? Do you like purple? Do you like Prince? Well there isn’t a Prince tie-in here (at least not officially), but I think those could still all be great reasons to like this new release from De Bethune. Although the brand isn’t exhibiting at Watches & Wonders this year, the DB28xs “Purple Rain” got announced yesterday while the trade show is still going on, and it’s getting my nod as one of the best releases out of all the watches that have been announced by brands so far.
So we have to first talk about the most notable part of this watch: the case. De Bethune has long been known for these really cool, unusual DB28 cases. It’s a very irregular and futuristic shape for a case, although not so much that it’s unwearable with dressier outfits. One of the most unique features of the DB28 cases are the lugs, what De Bethune calls “floating lugs”, which move a bit to hug your wrist so that the watch gives the wearer a better overall fit. In the past, we’ve been used to seeing colorful case versions of the DB28, such as the DB28XP “Kind of Blue”, a model with a heat-treated titanium case that created a really vibrant blue color. For this “Purple Rain” version, we have purple polished grade 5 titanium. The purple of this watch also comes from heat treating titanium, just stopping the process short of a blue, resulting in this purple color instead. To keep the watch symmetrical, the crown is located at twelve o’clock instead of the usual three. Besides the coloring, another fact that separates this new release from the Kind of Blue is that this watch comes in at 39mm (technically 38.7) instead of the 42mm size of the larger DB28XP. It also comes in at a thickness of 7.4mm instead of the XP’s 8.5mm. The watch has a water resistance of 3atm (30 meters), so while I definitely would never go swimming with it, it should be at least splash resistant.
Turning to the dial, we have what De Bethune is claiming to be the world’s first “random” guilloché purple titanium dial. The hours ring is also made of purple titanium. I’m sure with how many heat-treated cases and dials De Bethune has made over the years now, they’ve gotten the process down pretty well, but I’d still imagine the failure rate in trying to get a case or dial that’s just the right color purple would be extremely high, making this likely a very difficult watch to manufacture. That likely factored into why this watch is a limited edition available only in 25 examples. Back to the dial, it also features a starry sky pattern with white gold stars interspersed throughout the dial. Against the dial are polished titanium hands, one of the few titanium elements on this watch not done in purple.
The movement De Bethune is using is their in-house DB2005, a manual-wind movement that beats at 28,800 VPH. The movement features a self-regulating twin barrel, allowing for a whole six days of power reserve. The movement features lots of De Bethune’s technical advancements in the form of a titanium balanced with white gold inserts that’s been optimized for temperature changes, a “De Bethune” balance spring with a flat terminal curve, and a triple “pare-chute” shock-absorbing system.The movement also has a silicon escape wheel, which helps to reduce the negative effects of low lubrication on the movement.
The movement is visible through a sapphire case back, where both that crystal and that of the frontside are coated with double anti-reflective coating. The watch comes on an alligator strap with an alligator lining attached to a purple grade 5 titanium buckle and pin. It looks like it also comes with a black canvas strap, with purple contrast stitching if you wanted to dress the watch down a bit.
Overall, all I can say is this might be the coolest purple watch that’s ever been made. I’m not saying that for certain, but it’s at least up there. I might have preferred it if they made this watch in the 42mm size, but 39 is perfectly fine too. Seeing a watch made out of purpled titanium is very neat, especially in a world where seeing something more commonplace, like blued steel used in a watch, is relatively uncommon. De Bethune didn’t exhibit at W&W this year, but I’m sure this release will lead to the brand still getting plenty of talk, regardless of whether they had the larger platform of the trade show to show off their new release or not.
The De Bethune DB28xs Purple Rain is limited to 25 pieces and is priced at 99,000 USD.