While the pandemic is not entirely in the rearview mirror yet, international travel is recovering slowly but surely, so De Bethune’s latest arrives at an opportune time. The DB25GMT Starry Varius is a gently updated version of its dual time zone wristwatch – smaller, thinner, and lighter than the original, while also sporting the brand’s trademark “Starry Night” dial.
More classical than the brand’s best-known models like the DB28 or DW5, the DB25GMT nonetheless incorporates details that are quintessentially De Bethune in addition to the celestial motif dial, helping it stand out amongst dual-time watches.
Initial thoughts
If money was no object, the first watch I would buy is my “grail”, the De Bethune DB25 Starry Varius Tourbillon. It has an ethereal quality and technical innovations that capture both the mind and heart. Unsurprisingly, I love the DB25GMT Starry Varius, which has a similar style but is more practical.
The star-studded dial is a modest upgrade, but one that significantly improves the aesthetics of the brand’s original dual time-zone watch that was launched in 2016. Matching it with a travel-time complication makes sense as a historical reference, since explorers once depended on the stars for navigation – making the design feel like a match made in heaven (pun intended).
The multiple-part dial gives the watch visual depth despite the clean layout, certainly making it one of the most captivating travel watches.
But the new dual time zone isn’t just a pretty dial. Functionally it is identical to the brand’s earlier dual time zone watch, having an unusual second time zone display and a jumping date pointer, both smartly executed to blend in perfectly with the design.
Despite the three-dimensional display, the DB25GMT remains wearable at 42 mm and just 11.8 mm high, or around 2 mm slimmer than the previous iteration – compact by De Bethune’s standard.
Priced at approximately US$105,000, the DB25GMT costs 30% less than the preceding DB25 World Traveller, which was in gold, explaining part of the price disparity. Still, the DB25GMT is a compelling buy as exotic travel watches ago.
Sun and stars
Playing the starring role on the dial, literally, is the cosmic horizon at its centre, which is made up of two parts. Together, the two halves are “poetic vision of our sky by day and by night” according to De Bethune.
The lower half is the “Starry Varius” that evokes the cosmos, with gold spheres embedded on a blued titanium base. More unusual is the upper half, which incorporates a pink gold sphere as the Sun that’s set into a radially textured crescent.
Heat-blued leaf hands and italicised Arabic numerals are a nod to the brand’s earliest creations
The technical highlight of the watch, however, is the second time zone display that’s both innovative and elegant.
A discrete sphere travels along the recessed, home-time track along the dial, indicating the second time zone while also doubling up as a day-night indicator. The numerals on the upper half of the home-time track are printed in gold, while those on the bottom half are blue, denoting day and nighttime respectively.
Simultaneously, the second time zone sphere illustrates day or night for the local time zone. It is made up of two halves in pink gold and blued steel. The blued steel half will face upwards at night, and the pink gold half during the day. And the sphere makes a gradual rotation twice a day at 6 am and 6 pm, approximating sunrise and sunset times.
Also unusual is the date, which is indicated via a jumping hand of blued steel, bringing to mind vintage calendar watches
Inside is the manual-wind cal. DB2507, essentially a slightly modified version of the cal. Db2547 found in the previous version.
The DB2507 has all the bells and whistles of a De Bethune movement, including a patented, blued titanium balance wheel with white gold weights, and an impressive five days of power reserve thanks to twin barrels.
Visually, the movement is classic De Bethune. It sports a large, delta-shaped barrel bridge that is mirrored polished, except for a central portion engraved with a pattern inspired by Cotes de Geneve.
And above the balance wheel, the blued steel, triple pare-chute shock absorber stands out with its wide, inverted V-shape echoing the barrel bridge.
Key facts and price
De Bethune DB25GMT Starry Varius Ref. DB25VGTIS3
Diameter: 42 mm Height: 11.8 mm Material: Titanium Crystal: Sapphire Water resistance: 30 m
Movement: DB2507 Functions: Hours, minutes, second time zone, day and night indicator, jumping date Winding: Hand-wound Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz) Power reserve: 5 days
Strap: Alligator with pin buckle
Availability: Now from De Bethune and its authorised retailers
Price: 95,000 Swiss Francs, equivalent to about US$105,000
An architect-turned-watch-designer who made his reputation with a distinctive, whimsical style, Alain Silberstein founded one of the most prominent independent watch brands of the 1990s.
Located in Besançon, the historic centre of French watchmaking, the Alain Silberstein brand went under in 2012 but has since enjoyed a revival thanks to a collaboration with Louis Erard that gave birth to an affordable regulator-style wristwatch. More recently, Mr Silberstein designed a charming pendulum clock.
An early Alain Silberstein from the 1990s, this one the uncommon Krono Saphir with a sapphire crystal case
Now the designer is back with a set of wristwatches, once again made by Louis Erard, but this time designed from the ground up as an entirely new model. The Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein is made up of three watches, all having the same case and design cues, but featuring different complications. They are available individually or as a box set.
The top-of-the-line model is the Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein, an automatic, single-button chronograph. The other two watches in the set are priced identically but quite different: La Semaine shows the time along with the trademark Silberstein “Smileday” calendar, while Le Régulateur has a regulator-style display.
The Triptyque with the Le Régulateur (left), La Semaine (centre), and Le Chrono Monopoussoir. Photo – Louis Erard
We’re only going up close with the mono-pusher chronograph, but the other two in the set are nearly identical – the diameter is the same, but the chronograph is a little over 2 mm taller. Build quality and finishing is also going to be alike, so the chronograph is a good proxy for the others.
Also, the chronograph costs about US$1,000 more than the other two, a small enough difference that choosing between the three hinges on dial aesthetics, rather than cost.
Le Chrono Monopoussoir
Initial thoughts
Unlike the original Louis Erard and Alain Silberstein collaboration that was essentially a Silberstein dial installed in a standard model, the watches of the Triptyque are entirely new models designed from the ground up.
Though unconventional, the case is recognisable as an evolution of the original Alain Silberstein watch case of the 1990s, which was a one-piece construction shaped like a tall tuna can. It’s a simple design, but made slightly fancier now with brancard lugs. The loop attachment for the strap, however, is a bit dinky, and the watch feels large, but light, on the wrist.
Simple but distinctive, the dial is very much Silberstein in its colours and geometric shapes. Though different, the hands are modelled on the original Silberstein designs of the 1990s.
Admittedly, the hands makes reading the time confusing when they are positioned close together or overlapping. But it’s a thoroughly worthwhile tradeoff for the design.
The finishing of the case and dial are simple and good enough. A few elements could obviously have been done better, like the plastic pusher in the crown and hiding the stock movement, but those don’t detract much from the appeal of the watch.
There are several chronographs that are clearly better value in tangible terms, boasting superior movements and overall finishing for the same or less money. Notable examples include the Tudor Black Bay Chrono and the Longines Avigation BigEye.
But none have an aesthetic as original as Alain Silberstein’s style, and that makes Le Chrono unique and also a compelling value proposition. Where Le Chrono falls short in fit and finish, it more than makes up for in design and scarcity since only 178 of each model will be made.
Bauhaus with a twist
The Alain Silberstein house style is best described as Bauhaus having fun. It’s most obvious on the dial, which is made up of geometric shapes in the primary colours of red, yellow, and blue.
The central seconds hand is a wavy “S”, the hour hand incorporates the traditional Silberstein triangle by making it the tip of a large, open circle, and the long minute hand takes after the one-handed Pikto – all elements taken from the original designs of the 1990s.
Perhaps the most famous historic Alain Silberstein model was the Krono, which had a conventional dial layout with a Valjoux 7750 or Lemania 5100 movement inside.
This is a return to that, but with twist: the chronograph is a mono pusher with only a single counter. It’s a clean and concise expression of a stopwatch that goes well with the Silberstein style.
The register at 12 o’clock counts the minutes, with the elapsed seconds relying on yellow central seconds hand. Reading the chronograph is easy, since the indicators are clear and large.
Conversely, reading the time is less intuitive when the hands are close enough to overlap, because the hands take a bit of getting used to. That’s due to the width of the hour hand, as well as the length of the minute hand, which makes it seem double-ended.
The dial is straightforward in execution, which suits the style and price. All the elements are cleanly finished, with no elaboration. One detail that’s a useful extra is the raised minute track that also holds the yellow hour markers, which prevents the dial from looking too wide and flat.
Tuna can
Another element of Bauhaus design are rounded corners and metal tubes, which is exactly what the case is. The case middle is a one-piece affair with a flat case back secured by screws, just like the Silberstein watches of the 1990s.
But instead of the stubby lugs of the originals, this has brancard, or “stretcher”, lugs: a pair of arms on each side of the case that secure the strap. While the arms might appear to pivot, they are fixed bars that sit in a recess on the sides of the case.
The design makes the case seem larger, although it is actually quite compact in diameter at just 40 mm. But that is not surprising, since the chunky feel has always been one of the characteristics of Silberstein designs.
The case is thick, just like most of the original Silberstein watches were. The chronograph is 13.9 mm high, and sits tall on the wrist. Its height is accentuated by the position of the brancard, which sits in the middle of the case. Though the other two models in the triptych are thinner, the difference is marginal at a bit over 2 mm, so they are equally thick.
But the case is all titanium, and its walls are probably quite thin, so the watch is lightweight.
Though the material is the same throughout, the components are finished differently. The middle is sandblasted titanium, while the arms are polished.
The two surfaces create a useful contrast between the components, though the polished arms are tumble polished rather than mirror finished, which is the only cost effective solution for a watch of this price.
The part of the case I wish were done better is the chronograph pusher inset into the crown. It’s made of red plastic and feels inexpensive even on an affordable watch.
While I appreciate the cost constraints given the price of the watch, and the utility of colour on the case, I would have preferred a no-frills titanium button just because it has a superior tactile feel.
Another element of the case that doesn’t work for me are the loop attachments for the fabric strap. They are functional and convenient, having built-in quick release for the spring bars, but look odd as they break up the lines of the case.
A conventional strap that attaches directly to the arms on the case would look better in my opinion, but this is a non issue since the strap is easy to replace.
The twin tabs to release the spring bar from the lugs
Single-button 7750
Like many other Louis Erard watches, Le Chrono is powered by a Sellita movement, this time the SW500 MPCa.
Based on the SW500, which is a clone of the ETA Valjoux 7750, the SW500 MPCa has been modified to be a single-button chronograph, with the pusher in the crown responsible for start, stop, and reset.
While the SW500 (or 7750) is common in chronographs in this price range, a mono-pusher variant is uncommon, which makes Le Chrono a standout. It feels like a 7750 in operation, the winding is heavy and the chronograph pusher stiff.
While the modification of the movement to transform it into a mono-pusher chronograph is an achievement at this price, the calibre has not been dressed up at all. Functionally, the movement is no doubt perfect – it will likely run for a long time without a service and then it’ll be easy to service – but it isn’t pretty.
The movement is raw and industrial, so the view through the display back isn’t very enjoyable. That’s certainly a necessity at the price, but given the plain looks, a solid back would have been useful.
The one bit of decor is the open-worked rotor with the Louis Erard emblem
The cam that controls the chronograph
Concluding thoughts
Le Chrono is a fun watch, but designed by someone with a notable history in contemporary watchmaking, which also makes it special. At the same time, the mono-pusher configuration is novel for an affordable chronograph.
Though it does have a few weakness, like the visible movement and plastic button, Le Chrono is a compelling buy, especially since it is a limited edition of only 178 watches.
Key Facts and Price
Le Chrono Monopoussoir Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein
Ref. 74359TT02.BTT88
Diameter: 42 mm Height: 13.9 mm Material: Titanium Crystal: Sapphire Water resistance: 100 m
Movement: SW500 MPCa Functions: Hours, minutes, and chronograph Winding: Automatic Frequency: 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz) Power reserve: 48 hours
Strap: Nylon with velcro closure
Limited edition: 178 pieces (78 of which will be sold as a box set)
Availability: Direct from Louis Erard online
Price: 4,500 Swiss francs
Le Triptyque Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein box set
Ref. 11111TT02
Features: All three watches in a presentation box along with an NFT digital artwork by Alain Silberstein
Limited edition: 78 sets
Availability: Direct from Louis Erard online Price: 11,111 Swiss francs
