The present DB25 with power reserve looks very different from the original DB25 launched in 2007 as the dial features a silvered outer section as well as a spherical power reserve indicator, the reason being that the present watch is in fact the prototype for the original DB25 with power reserve introduced in 2007.

Horological maestro Denis Flageollet teamed up with collector extraordinaire David Zanetta in 2002 to create the independent watchmaking tour-de-force that is De Bethune, striving to implement avant-garde designs rooted in traditional watchmaking principals. In the almost two decades since, they have developed over thirty in-house movements and a cavalcade of technical innovations.

Inside is De Bethune’s first automatic caliber, launched in 2006 with a six day power reserve, a titanium and platinum balance wheel, and an innovative shock-absorbing system for the ceramic ball-bearings used in the automatic winding assembly.

The present watch is the first and only prototype made of this model and was the personal timepiece of David Zanetta, the co-founder of the brand, who is now offering it to the market for the very first time.

About the DB25 project, Mr. Zanetta has the following remarks: “my intent with the DB25 was to merge the most classic horological aesthetics with the foremost technological solution available at the time, to create a bridge between past and future of mechanical horology.”