Watch Identifier: De Bethune DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon Chronograph

When most watch manufacturers put a tourbillon movement in a wristwatch, they expose the movement right on the face of the watch for everyone to admire and drool over. Not De Bethune and especially not on the DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon.

Just because you have a tourbillon powering your timepiece doesn’t mean everyone needs to know. Your dial doesn’t have to be cluttered and can still serve a specific purpose. The DB29 proves this. Besides, you can still appreciate the intricate details that go into a tourbillon mechanism by opening the hinged door on the back of the watch.

And just because you have a tourbillon doesn’t mean you can’t have a chronograph.

A push button at 4 o’clock opens the cover on the sapphire-crystal glass of a titanium case back to reveal the modern construction of the calibre DB2039 movement with its polished steel bridges, the tourbillon at 3 o’clock and the complex mechanism of an innovative time-measuring system featuring three column-wheels. -De Bethune

Such is the case with your other tourbillon watches, the DB29 has the hours and minutes, but doesn’t stop there. Three more hands give you the readout for a 24 hour counter, 60 minute chronograph counter, as well as 60 seconds and even 30 second indication. All controlled by a single mono-pusher button.

This is made possible by the DeBethune in-house caliber DB2039 manual-wind movement. A full wind will get your watch 5 days without needing to replenish energy to the mainspring.

The watch’s round case is clean and streamlined, constructed from 5N rose gold. The 5N stands for the shade of gold. Stretching to a generous 46mm diameter across, the DB29 sits 11.7mm tall on the wrist. The cone-shaped lugs hold the extra supple alligator strap.

The dial will remind you of vintage timepieces that have had a recent resurgence of popularity. It is silver in tone, with a modern multi-step design. Our readers might have noticed that 5 is a common theme with this piece, and the 5 hand-polished hands are absolutely mesmerizing.

The design of the DB29 Maxichrono Tourbillon’s dial with its five central hands aims to make it easier and more attractive to read the chronograph indications by doing away with the small subdials of the conventional chronograph. The hands that give this watch its identity are designed to follow the different shapes and curves of the silver-toned dial. They are all in hand-polished steel that has been flame-blued by the company’s craftsmen, apart from the chronograph minutes hand, which is in rose gold. -De Bethune

To tell the time on the DB29, glance at the larger and more legible Arabic numerals. For the chronograph seconds, match the long flamed-blue hand to the outer markings. For chrono minutes, do the same thing with the rose gold hand. De Bethune could’ve nixed the 24 hour hand, but its there nonetheless in the inner circle and smallest blue hand.

The retail price is 270,000 CHF which currently works out to about $269,219.28 USD.