Description
De Bethune has unveiled the DB27 Night Hawk, a 10-piece limited edition produced in collaboration with Geneva-based independent retailer EsperLuxe. The watch builds on De Bethune's signature DB27 Titan Hawk architecture but layers in a poetic dial: the polished titanium surface is engraved with the positions of the major stars in the night sky as they appeared on the day De Bethune and EsperLuxe first partnered.
The DB27 Night Hawk retains the brand's hallmark double-pivot lugs — here finished in matte blued titanium — a 43 × 9 mm titanium case, and the proprietary in-house Calibre AUTOV2 with central seconds, 4 Hz frequency and a 60-hour power reserve. Priced at USD 70,000 (excl. taxes), the watch is available exclusively from EsperLuxe, online and at the Geneva boutique.
Design
The DB27 Night Hawk centres on its dial. A polished titanium plate is engraved with a star-map — small drilled punctuations corresponding to the positions of the major stars in the night sky on the date of De Bethune and EsperLuxe's first partnership; the dot pattern reads as a constellation rather than as decoration, and the layout has a precise astronomical reference point rather than being decorative. Sword-shaped polished hands sweep over the surface, and a subtle moon-phase ornamental accent appears on the dial in the De Bethune tradition.
The case retains the DB27 Titan Hawk's elegant 43 mm × 9 mm proportions in titanium, but adapts the brand's distinctive double-pivot lugs in matte blued titanium — a finish exclusive to this run that gives the watch a subtle, dark-ocean visual presence. The sapphire crystal is double-sided and the case is rated to 30 m water resistance, in line with the dress-watch positioning of the DB27 line.
Specifications
- Reference: DB27 Night Hawk for EsperLuxe (LE 10)
- Case: 43 mm × 9 mm titanium with matte-finished blued-titanium double-pivot lugs
- Dial: Polished titanium engraved with star-map (specific astronomical date), polished sword hands, ornamental moon-phase indication
- Crystal: Sapphire (front and back)
- Movement: Manufacture Calibre AUTOV2 — automatic, central seconds, 4 Hz (28,800 vph), 60 h power reserve, in-house
- Functions: Hours, minutes, central seconds; ornamental moon
- Water resistance: 30 m
- Limited edition: 10 pieces, exclusive to EsperLuxe
- Price: USD 70,000 (excl. taxes)
- Availability: EsperLuxe online and Geneva boutique
What's Exciting
For the De Bethune collector, this Night Hawk hits three notes at once. First, it's a 9 mm-thick wearable De Bethune in titanium — historically an under-served slot in the brand's catalogue. Second, the price of USD 70,000 sits noticeably below the white-gold and rose-gold Titan Hawks; it makes a real De Bethune accessible to a wider audience without compromising the in-house calibre or the brand's signature design language. Third, the star-map dial — with its hidden, specific astronomical anchor — is exactly the kind of restrained, meaningful aesthetic gesture De Bethune has built its reputation on (think DB28 Stardust or DB Eight Tourbillon Constellation).
EsperLuxe's role here also matters: this is a boutique-exclusive release, with all 10 pieces sold through one independent retailer, putting the run squarely in the haute-collector tier where De Bethune has spent two decades cultivating its reputation. The 60-hour-reserve in-house automatic with De Bethune's characteristic triple-arm balance and silicon escape wheel is the technical anchor.
History
De Bethune was founded in 1995 in L'Auberson, Switzerland, by David Zanetta and watchmaker Denis Flageollet. The brand has built its reputation on relentless technical innovation (silicon escape wheels, triple pare-chute shock absorbers, three-dimensional moon phases) paired with a poetic visual language drawn from astronomy and celestial themes. The DB27 Titan Hawk debuted in 2016 as the brand's first sports-elegant titanium reference, deliberately positioned to be more approachable than the haute-complication DB28/DB29 lines. The Night Hawk continues a small lineage of dark, celestial-themed Titan Hawk editions — following the original Titan Hawk Black (2018) and the Titan Hawk Black Dial V2 — and is the first to be developed in partnership with EsperLuxe.
