De Bethune’s New Watch Is Like Two Super Luxe Timepieces in One

Courtesy De Bethune

It’s called “Kind of Two” after Miles Davis’ album.

It's always a privilege for horology lovers to own a luxe timepiece from a top watchmaker. But De Bethune just made it possible to have two watches that you can wear simultaneously. The Swiss brand just released its Kind of Two Tourbillon featuring a reversible face and dial, creating two distinct watches on one band.

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While the watch is new, the brand acknowledges the two-faced concept is not. A Venice clock tower from the Renaissance had several faces, and a Leroy 01 by Louis Leroy pocket watch (which was considered the most complicated watch ever created) from 1900 had two dials. Reversible wristwatches didn't come until much later. Now, this timepiece advances the two-faced technology further. 

Courtesy De Bethune

While it might seem like a simple design, the mechanisms to make the unique timepiece work are quite complicated. A team of experts had to devise a way to keep both dials accurate and ticking with one hand-wound movement. A complex system of pinions and gears also ensures the hands turn in the correct direction no matter which side you choose to wear, and the middle case is perfectly symmetrical. What's more, the watch also incorporates the brand's famous "floating lug" system.

The watch has an impressive 120 hour power reserve due to a twin set of self-regulating mainspring barrels, and a beat rate of 36,000 bph.

Of course, the design aesthetic is remarkable as well. One side features a simple dial similar to that of the DB29 Tourbillon Maxichrono. At the same time, the other has a more futuristic vibe with an isosceles triangle at the center, central hours and minutes hands, as well as a tourbillon at 6 o'clock. The wearer can choose the design with a simple flip of the watch face making it a versatile and technologically advanced timepiece

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"The DB Kind of Two Tourbillon perfectly illustrates one of the great principles of the Manufacture De Bethune: reinterpreting grand traditions with a contemporary vision of the horological object," the company said in a release. "A work of art with two faces, whose timeless beauty reflects mechanical and aesthetic perfection."

The DB Kind of Two Tourbillon is available through authorized dealers for $250,000.