De Bethune DB28 JPS, Zirconium

£80,000
Price excludes 20% VAT for UK buyers. Learn more
Watchdrawer

An intriguing variation on De Bethune's sports watch line, the DB28GS, in accordance with the spirit of the collection. Taking inspiration from the distinctive colour combination found on the John Player Special Lotus cars of the 1970s, the watch pays homage to a vintage classic with its own signature De Bethune flair. The DB28 JPS is limited to just 50 pieces.

A DESIRE FOR TOTAL INDEPENDENCE

Perched in the Jura Mountains, hugging the border with France, is the small hamlet of L’Auberson, home of De Bethune. This is where the brand was born in 2002 when David Zanetta, an Italian collector and dealer of art and vintage watches, joined forces with Denis Flageollet, a fourth-generation watchmaker from France.
buy & sell rara De Bethune preowned watch at A Collected Man London
buy & sell rara De Bethune preowned watch at A Collected Man London
buy & sell rara De Bethune preowned watch at A Collected Man London
buy & sell rara De Bethune preowned watch at A Collected Man London

Right from the very first day, 22 April 2002, they made their intentions for the manufacture known. Instead of putting their own names on the dial, as so many of their contemporaries at the time were doing, the duo looked to the past for inspiration. They named it after Chevalier De Bethune, the 18th-century French nobleman and revolutionary escapement designer. It was fitting – it indicated the importance the duo placed on the history of classical watchmaking and the kind of inventiveness that had driven the brand’s namesake. Both Zanetta and Flageollet were convinced right from the start that what they were trying to do could not amount to just another watch brand; it had to be a manufacture in the truest sense of the word.