The name says it all: “Dream Watch.” While the term “grail watch” gets bandied in a litany of uses on which few can agree, it’s clear that any watch which haunts your dreams is a literal “dream watch.” And I did dream about this watch, because it’s the ultimate machine from a brand I revere: De Bethune.

The origical De Bethune Dream Watch 5

As a limited edition priced at $520,000 each, this dream will remain confined to the realm of my nocturnal whimsey. But I had a chance to wear and experience the ultimate De Bethune in the light of day, and I have thoughts.

First, the obvious disclaimer: I work for The 1916 Company which is the majority owner of De Bethune. If it bothers you that I actively sell the brand, at least take comfort in the fact that it’s no longer a secret. And if it still bothers you, rest assured that every watch I’ve ever featured on these pages is something I’ve already sold, so all I have to offer at this point are the memories and photos.

De Bethune’s Dream Watch Series rises above the entry-level DB27, the conservative DB25, and the brand’s best-known product, the DB28. Launched in 2008, the Dream Watch series is a standalone collection offering just a single model at any given time. The fifth model, simply dubbed “Dream Watch 5,” bowed in 2014 and continues to this day.

Unlike the other De Bethune model lines, which offer customization on request, the Dream Watch 5 must be ordered with at least some bespoke tailoring by the collector. Even many accomplished collectors of the brand aren’t aware of this fact, so De Bethune opted to advertise the Dream Watch 5’s customization potential with the 2021 Dream Watch 5 Tourbillon Season 1.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

American DB brand enthusiast and recording artist Kasseem Dean, better known by his trade name, “Swizz Beatz,” envisioned this model as a rare instance of a Dream Watch available in a single-spec series. The customization solely reflects his vision, and ten examples were available over the course of a year’s production run.

De Bethune Dream Watch 5 Maestri’Art Cempasúchil in a bed of marigolds

A Dream Watch 5 can be customized in almost any fashion imaginable. Previous examples included cases forged and machined from solid meteorite, engravings drawn from graphic novels, and aggregations of engraving and miniature sculpture.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

If it will fit on the teardrop Dream Watch 5 case, it’s fair game. Dean’s vision was to take the opposite tack; reduce the case rather than ornament it. As much of the vessel as possible was removed by machining, and sapphire view ports filled the hollows.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

What remained of the titanium case was kiln-fired to a rich blue hue. Unlike most “coated” watches that require case replacements to remedy lost layers, the color oxidized De Bethune cases can be restored with subsequent firings when they return to the factory for service. A blue sapphire cabochon on the crown adds luxurious flair.

Although most Dream Watch customizations are aesthetically focused, engineering options also exist. While a standard Dream Watch 5 does not include a tourbillon, the “Season 1” features a prominent carriage oscillator on its caseback.

30-second tourbillon visible on the back of the De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

Mechanically, the dial-side of the Dream Watch 5 is related to De Bethune’s long-running DB28 Digitale jump hour. The time display of the DW5 normally reveals only the jumping digital hour, scrolling minutes, and a spherical moonphase display.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1 indication disk

Dean’s request for maximum frontal sapphire opens the dial and reveals the complex system of discs and circumferential springs that underpin the jumping digit.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

At center, the moonphase is a patented De Bethune design that mates one hemisphere of fired blue steel with another of white palladium. At the time they’re joined, both hemispheres are silver; this changes when they’re fired over a bed of metal shavings with an oil lamp.

For good measure, this patented moonphase display has a correction interval of once every 122 years. Dial-side finishing is deliberately muted to match the mechanism; it’s more technical than artisanal, but a counterpoint awaits on the backside.

Most of the caliber DB2149’s hardware is on the caseback. De Bethune’s self-adjusting twin barrels are prominent, but their greatest asset remains unseen; they can’t be damaged by overwinding. With a jump hour, moonphase, and tourbillon, it’s a given that this is an energy-intensive watch.

Massive mainspring barrel of the De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

Immense mainspring potential ensures a robust four-day power reserve so that winding is an occasional pleasure rather than a constant chore.

The tourbillon is related to the one De Bethune first launched on the Dream Watch 2 of 2009. Its primary assets are its mass and its precision. Low mass means that the entire assembly of 63 pieces of white gold, steel, titanium, and silicon amounts to eighteen hundredths of a gram – 0.18g.

The oscillation rate of ten beats per second (5 Hz) will be familiar to enthusiasts of the Zenith El Primero chronograph series. But the 30-second tourbillon period is alien to almost all watch enthusiasts.

De Bethune creative lead and co-founder, Denis Flageollet, determined that a faster-beating escapement and a double-speed tourbillon was optimal for timekeeping precision. As a result, De Bethune is among the few watch brands that speak in concrete terms about the expected accuracy of its tourbillon watches; less than a second of deviation per day is the goal before each example leaves the factory.

Regulator and balance spring of the De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

Close inspection reveals that the hairspring amounts to two sections cut, bent by hand, and physically rejoined; it breathes like an overcoil without the thickness. There’s a silicon escapement of De Bethune’s own design to reduce mass, lubrication, and variability. Like most tourbillon regulators, it’s a vocal thing, and the assembly is easy to hear in a quiet room.

Truth be told, this is a difficult watch to photograph. Despite the profusion of sapphire on the case, the camber of all viewing crystals means human eyes receive the spectacle more effectively than camera lenses.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1 indication disks

Mirrored finish characterizes the polished steel cover of the base plate surrounding the center bridge. The bridge includes exacting bevels of brilliant quality around its periphery.

Côtes De Bethune waves on the De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1

 The surface of the bridge is graced by “côtes De Bethune,” a variant of striping that involves mirroring the stripes from side to side.

All blue elements of the tourbillon and its bridge are titanium components that have been treated with heat in the same fashion as the case.

De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1 on the wrist

For most – me included – this Dream Watch will remain a dream watch. It’s exclusive, expensive, expressive, and exhaustive. De Bethune emptied the tank to show what’s possible with imagination and a budget. For the fortunate few, this is as good as it gets.

For the rest of us, envision it the way a person regards the Louvre or the Grand Canyon. Nobody can own them, but simply living in a world where they exist brings joy.

For more, please visit www.debethune.ch/en/collections/dream-watches and/or www.debethune.ch/application/files/5416/3514/7047/DW5_Tourbillon_Season_1_ENG.pdf

Quick Facts: De Bethune Dream 5 Tourbillon Season 1
Reference Code: DW5TSB
Functions: Jumping hour; scrolling minutes; spherical moonphase
Case: Fired blue grade five titanium with sapphire ports; 58mm; 17 mm thick; 47mm lug-to-lug; 30-meters WR; push down crown
Dial: Open dial with digital hours minutes; moonphase
Movement: Caliber DB2149, manual wind; 96-hour power reserve; tourbillon regulator; dual mainspring barrels; 122-year moonphase; 36,000 VpH
Clasp: Fired blue grade five titanium pin buckle
Limitation: 10 pieces
2021 Price: $520,000
2024 Preowned Price: $520,000

* Tim Mosso is the media director and watch specialist at The 1916 Company. You can check out their very comprehensive YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@the1916company

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