Iconoclastic indie watchmaker De Bethune returns to one of its most distinctive timepieces, and gives it an added functionality, with the launch of the new DB25GMT Starry Varius. The watch follows up original DB25 Starry Varius, introduced in 2018, and as its name implies updates it with a new GMT mechanism. It’s the latest release in what has already been a notable year for the Swiss luxury maker, which introduced the DB Kind of Two Tourbillon DB29 in January and the DB28XP Meteorite this past spring.

The new watch’s 42-mm case, made of titanium and 11.8 mm thick, is produced in the signature De Bethune style, complete with integrated, hollowed lugs, a stylized, tight-fitting crown, an overall fine polished surface, and securing to the wrist with a dark alligator leather strap.
The delicately executed dial under the sapphire crystal is layered in its look to provide a thoroughly three-dimensional timekeeping display. Along the outer curved edge, a salmon-hued minute ring frames a ring of blue Arabic numerals placed just within its border. A step closer to the center is the watch?s signature GMT feature, its second time zone indicated via a rotating 3D micro-spheric moon. This sphere not only indicates the second time zone, but also gradually turns at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM to imitate the sunrise and sunset. The wearer sets the second time zone by pulling the crown to its second position.

Emerging from the trench that hosts the second time zon...