DB8 De Bethune Monopusher Chronograph, Pink Gold

In 1989, when independent watchmaker was more a slur rather than ambitious height, there was a company called THA. THA (short for Applied Watchmaking Techniques in French) was founded by a young FP Journe, Vianney Halter, and Denis Flageollet of De Bethune, eventually including Nicolas Court of Janvier SA. The trio were an ambitious set, who intended to create a Skunkworks lab that larger companies could utilize for serious watchmaking endeavors. It worked. Their clients included Breguet, Cartier, and AP. But it is their monopusher calibre, developed for Cartier, that remains their most famous work (revisited last year in the Tortue). However, what happened to this calibre after THA is even more interesting. This is probably the finest set of tailoring which that THA Monopusher has ever worn, the De Bethune DB8 in pink gold.

THA disbanded when the founders decided to focus on their own separate ventures. Journe solely owned the rights to the chronograph. Rather interestingly, in the disbanding years he made a deal with Ulysse Nardin to use a simpler version, which did away with the swivel pin mechanism to reduce chronograph actuation drag, which resulted in the very handsome 175th Anniversary Chronograph. When Flageollet needed a chronograph for De Bethune to come to fruition, he knew what to do. In his words, ‘I trusted its reliability, plus it could be transformed into a minute counter at 6 which allowed us to create the DB8.’ Flageollet purchased this movement after the DB1 in order to make it exclusive to De Bethune, before they were a true vertical manufacture.

What I find remarkable about the DB8 here, and DB1 it is based on (De Bethune’s first-ever wristwatch), is just how beautifully restrained the watch is, yet you can still catch the tiniest glimpse of that DB madness we know today. Pre-DB28 & DB25, well before Watchbox acquisition, it was a different world. There are hints of what was to come, highly considered fonts and futurist detail (as opposed to proportion), but with restraint and an eye toward the classic. All shared this lovely ogival (or bullet-shaped in common parlance) lug shape, mostly with guilloché dials, and were produced in handfuls mainly to fill retailer orders and collectors’ wishes on a per order basis. 

This is a DB8, a monopusher chronograph that is so reserved that it almost looks like a time-only at a quick glance. It has just one register at 6, a 45 minute counter which is rumored to have been selected because founder Denis Flageollet was a football fan. The dial sports blued steel feuille hands and stylized Arabic numerals against champagne guilloché. It is the final evolution of that THA calibre. The case is pink gold, 41mm, and, though large, nothing like as imposing as their current articulating lug offerings. This is probably because it’s only 9mm thin. This example is number 001, one of just 21 in pink and yellow gold.

Today, De Bethune are one of the few independents that manufacture everything from the hairspring to the handset, vertically. The name is synonymous with space age cases and movements for exhibitionists. Fucking Alicia Keys is even a fan of theirs today. When a brand reaches a certain escape velocity, or just critical mass in general, people begin to dig through the back catalogues. What you find in De Bethune is magical. 

This example looks to be nothing more than lightly worn. The case has been lightly polished, which should be noted. It comes with a service invoice from a well-regarded Genevan retailer.