L/R WRIST: Jorg Hysek of De Bethune wears the DB “Purple Rain”

The esoteric nature of watch collecting brings with it people from all walks of life. The common thread in the watch-collecting community is the passion for these little time-keeping machines on the wrist. In our watch collecting series L/R WRIST, we explore both wrists and what type of jewellery is paired on the other arm… and sometimes it ends up being two watches!

Our next episode of L/R WRIST brings us to Jörg Hysek Jr. (yes, son of Jorg Hysek) of De Bethune. Electing to wear two new watches from De Bethune, the DB28xs and the DB Kind of Grande Complication, Hysek reveals some of the new developments taking place over at its Manufacture in L’Auberson.

Arriving in a 38.7mm case, the new DB28xs Purple Rain features a new bold purple design created from the thermal oxidation of titanium. This new colour breaks from the customary blue hue seen in De Bethun’s watches, a colour that Denis Flageollet, Master Watchmaker and Founder of De Bethune, associates with infinity and harmony. This watch is powered by the DB2005 movement which sees a six-day power reserve, a “De Bethune” balance spring with a flat terminal curve, a silicone escape wheel, a triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system, and the world’s first random guilloché purple titanium dial.

Things get a little more complicated on the other wrist as the DB Kind of Grande Complication packs several impressive functions. Filling this watch with every trick known from De Bethune and its 22 years of existence, the DB Kind of Grande Complication is a compendium of De Bethune techniques and innovations.

Now the third watch to see DB’s reversible double-sided case incorporates eight complications in one calibre like a 30-sec tourbillon, perpetual calendar, spherical moon phase, retrograde age of moon indicator, and power reserve indicator, to name a few.

This double-display watch is priced at a hefty CHF 400,000 and is produced in minimal quantity. According to Denis Flageollet, Master Watchmaker and founder of De Bethune, “My watchmakers are like top-level athletes. To ensure that they don’t fail in the final stretch and run the risk of compromising the integrity of the timepiece, they demonstrate extraordinary, imperturbable mental strength, along with extreme concentration and almost motionless posture.”

For Hysek, who has been involved with horology throughout his life, these two watches are a great example of watchmaking mixed with the avant-garde, something that’s drawn him to De Bethune since day one.