diving watch that guarantees, as always with De Bethune, optimal legibility of the time and immersion duration. It is designed to perform under challenging conditions, with reduced visibility, both day and night.

2019 marked a turning point for De Bethune when Denis Flageollet, founder and master watchmaker, introduced a 100% sport model. The DB28GS Grand Bleu represents the beginning of an exciting new chapter in his horological journey. Both technical and elegant, it is the first diving watch from the independent manufacturer, which, true to its approach, reinterprets and refines the aesthetics and technical features of its models over time.

Today, the DB28GS Swordfish adopts the elegant design and bold character of its predecessors, while offering a new bi-chromatic interpretation, both mysterious and dazzling, that explores the nuances of black surrounding the iconic De Bethune blue.

The craftsmanship at the Auberson workshops is evident in the quality of the finishes and the materials, including the oxidation of zirconium and Grade 5 titanium, as well as the DLC treatment on the hardened stainless steel. The combination of these materials for the 44mm case, the mobile cradles, and the bridges, brushed, hand-polished, or decorated with the “microlight” technique, offers a depth of black with multiple tonalities, ranging from matte to glossy, subtly highlighted with touches of blue.

The Grade 5 titanium components, polished, mirror-finished, and blued, such as the hands, inserts, crown, bridges, and the micro-spherical indices of the bezel, have been meticulously designed, selected, and assembled to ensure immediate legibility of the time.

The immersion time is elegantly read on the De Bethune watch, thanks to a bezel that rotates the watch’s sapphire crystal in its unidirectional movement. Unlike traditional dive watches, the DB28 GS Swordfish displays the minute track on the sapphire glass itself, refining the design and enhancing legibility while maintaining a precise display system.

In addition to the luminescent-tipped hands, the DB28GS Swordfish is equipped with De Bethune’s manual lighting system, which diffuses white light from the four corners of the dial (3, 6, 9, 12 o’clock) to illuminate the movement from the inside. This entirely mechanical system functions as simply as a bicycle light, without electronics or batteries. It is activated by a push-button at 6 o’clock, which triggers a small gear driven by the dual barrel. This gear, through a miniature dynamo, provides the energy necessary to light the watch without affecting the movement’s operation. Once again, the manufacture showcases its ability to blend functionality and technical excellence, as the simplicity of this lighting function masks the intricate engineering that only the De Bethune technical team can fully appreciate.

The DB28 GS Swordfish continues the tradition of exceptional comfort De Bethune applies to its pieces, especially within the DB28 collection. This remarkable comfort is due to the combination of black zirconium and hardened stainless steel, its hand-brushed and polished finish, and the positioning of the crown at 12 o’clock. Additionally, it features the patented mobile cradle system, which adapts to the size and movement of the wrist. It has been enhanced by a DLC coating (Diamond- Like Carbon) that adheres perfectly to the ultra-hardened stainless steel of the cradles, ensuring resistance to shocks (unlike DLC coatings applied to softer materials such as titanium or 316L stainless steel commonly used in watchmaking). The DB28 GS Swordfish cradles stand out with blued Grade 5 titanium inserts, polished to recall the blue components of the case and dial. The natural rubber strap also contributes to the watch’s comfortable wear.

The DB28GS Swordfish meets the reliability standards set by De Bethune’s technical department and proudly boasts flawless water resistance to a depth of 100 meters. Its DB2080 movement is equipped with a double barrel self-regulating system that provides a 5-day power reserve, with performance indicated between 9 and 10 o’clock. The presence of a titanium/grey gold balance wheel, designed to adapt to temperature variations, along with a flat terminal curve hairspring, ensures an optimal mass/inertia ratio for an ideal frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour, suited for wristwatches. The watch undergoes extensive reliability and shock resistance testing, which it passes thanks to a triple shock absorber system that protects the heart of the movement. A titanium bridge, equipped with shock absorbers at both ends (ruby + blade spring) and a central damper, ensures precise position stability of the balance wheel, even during violent impacts.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Reference: DB28GSV2BB

Functions

• Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Power reserve indication between 9 and 10 o’clock, unidirectional rotating bezel, manual dial lighting

Movement

• DB2080
• Type: Mechanical hand-wound movement
• Adjustment: Winding and setting the time by means of the crown (2 positions), push button at 6 o’clock to activate the lightening
• Number of parts: 400
• Jewelling: 51 jewels
• Diameter: 30 mm
• Power reserve: 5 days, ensured by a self-regulating twin barrel - De Bethune Innovation (2004)
• Specificities: Titanium balance wheel with white gold inserts, optimised for temperature differences and air penetration - De Bethune Patent (2016)
• “De Bethune” balance-spring with flat terminal curve - De Bethune Patent (2006)
• Silicon escape wheel
• Triple pare-chute shock-absorbing system - De Bethune Innovation (2005)
• Dial lighting produced by an entirely mechanical means working on the dynamo principle powered by a twin barrel and manually controlled via a pusher - De Bethune Innovation (2019)
• Frequency 28,800 vibrations per hour
• Adornment: Mirror polished and blued grade 5 titanium motion-work bridge Plate and barrel bridge covers in black hand-smoothed grade 5 titanium and adorned with “Microlight engraving” - De Bethune Innovation (2007)
• Hand-snailed barrels
• Hand-polished and chamfered steel parts

Display

• Black titanium hours and minutes hands with black polished steel insert and second blued polished titanium insert, luminescent tip Polished blued titanium seconds hand with luminescent tip Power-reserve indicator between 9 and 10 o’clock

Dial

• Black Satin-brushed grade 5 titanium minutes dial with cut-out Arabic numerals
• Rotating bezel crystal with metallised minutes ring

Case and strap

• Case material: Black zirconium case middle with “Microlight” decoration, black brushed and polished harden stainless steel caseback and bezel
• Case diameter: 44 mm
• Case thickness: 12.8 mm
• Lugs: Floating lugs in black brushed harden stainless steel with blued polished grade 5 titanium insert – De Bethune Patent (2006)
• Crystal: In sapphire crystal (1800 Vickers hardness) with double anti- reflective coating open in black polished harden stainless steel
• Water Resistance: 10 ATM
• Strap: Natural rubber strap + 1 canvas / leather strap
• Buckle: Folding clasp in black brushed harden stainless steel