The Sleek And Racy De Bethune DB27 Titan Hawk JPS

The stylish black & gold John Player Special livery, made famous by the Lotus F1 team in the 1970s, is enjoying a revival with offerings from brands like Hamilton, Bell & Ross and TAG Heuer, all the way up the ladder to niche indie brands like De Bethune. Earlier this year, De Bethune unveiled a JPS version of its sporty DB28GS kitted out in black with gold accents. Paying tribute to the golden age of competitive motorsports in the 1970s, De Bethune revisits its DB27 Titan Hawk in pure JPS livery with a black zirconium high-tech case body and yellow titanium accents. Like the souped-up engines powering F1 cars to the finish line, the DB27 Titan Hawk is equipped with De Bethune’s potent 60-hour AUTOV2 engine.

Released in 2012 and refreshed in 2018, the DB27 was positioned as the brand’s most straightforward, sportiest entry-level collection. Nevertheless, as a true DB child, it is incredibly crafted and packed with in-house technology and features, like the patented floating articulated lugs and crown at noon. Revisited in 2021 with a lovely green dial, the JPS livery has been used before by De Bethune on the flashier, more complex and expensive DB28GS model.

JPS livery

The sleek, polished and brushed black zirconium 43mm case of the new DB27 Titan Hawk JPS has a slim height of 9mm. Black zirconium is renowned as a high-tech, resilient, lightweight and hypoallergenic material. One of De Bethune’s hallmark traits is heat-treating metals to come up with new colours; De Bethune’s celestial shade of blue is iconic, for example. The latest colour to emerge from Denis Flageollet’s lab is a golden yellow colour obtained by oxidising titanium. Used to accent different features of the watch, you can see the polished yellow grade 5 titanium inserts in the interior of the openworked lugs holding the black textured canvas strap. The black textile strap has a leather lining and a yellow titanium pin and buckle in black polished zirconium.

Echoing the microlight decoration (De Bethune’s take on traditional guilloché producing unique visual and optical effects) found on the case middle, the dial’s centre is also decorated with the hypnotic microlight pattern divided into three sections. The signature delta motif is applied to the centre with De Bethune inscribed in golden letters. Golden Roman numerals on the sloping chapter ring are complemented by a peripheral minutes track with Arabic numerals. The lovely openworked titanium hands are another in-house speciality and are sandblasted with golden hand-polished tips, while the central seconds hand is golden from head to toe.

AUTOV2

Fitted with De Bethune’s AUTOV2 calibre, the single barrel provides a robust 60h power reserve for the hours, minutes and central seconds. The rotor, which is made of titanium and weighted with white gold inserts (De Bethune patent), is optimised for maximum efficiency and can be seen through the tinted sapphire crystal caseback. The balance spring and flat terminal curve are also patented by de Bethune, and the 217-part movement features hand-crafted finishings and decoration.

Availability & Price

The De Bethune DB27 Titan Hawk JPS is available as a limited series and sold exclusively through De Bethune and its price is indicated as “upon request.”