This year, Revolution turns 20. Two decades of chronicling watches, people and ideas have given us a front-row seat to a remarkable story: how an age-old craft has both preserved its soul and reinvented itself for the 21st century. To celebrate, we’ve chosen over 100 names and milestones that, for us, define the era so far. From leaders to watches, you can see the whole list here.

De Bethune may be a young marque, only a quarter of a century old, yet it has already carved out an enduring place in modern watchmaking. The reasons are clear: a design language that looks forward rather than back, an almost painterly mastery of blued titanium, and a willingness to push mechanical construction into unfamiliar territory.

All three came together in 2016 with the DB28 Kind of Blue Tourbillon, a watch that quickly became a dream piece not only for De Bethune’s devoted following, but also for collectors who might never have considered themselves futurists. One glance is usually enough. The entire watch glows in a saturated spectrum of blue, achieved not with steel but with polished Grade 5 titanium that has been carefully heat treated to yield hues shifting from blue to violet. De Bethune began experimenting with this process in 2006, transforming titanium from a purely technical material into something poetic.

DB28 Tourbillon Kind of Blue

The case itself is a study in ergonomics as much as design. Its articulated, spring-loaded lugs bend to the wrist, allowing a large and sculptural watch to sit with unexpected ease. Across the dial stretches the brand’s signature delta-shaped bridge, polished to a mirror finish and dotted with tiny white gold pins that resemble stars scattered across a night sky. Golden markers provide a gentle contrast, pulling the eye back from spectacle to legibility.

The spring-loaded lugs bend to the wrist, allowing a large and sculptural watch to sit with unexpected ease

Beneath the theatrics lies one of De Bethune’s most daring technical achievements. The tourbillon cage, constructed from titanium and silicon, is the lightest in the world at just 0.18 grams despite comprising 63 components. That lack of mass allows the mechanism to run at a brisk 36,000 vibrations per hour, maintaining precision while still delivering five days of power reserve. It also completes a full rotation every 30 seconds, twice the speed of a traditional tourbillon. On the wrist, this faster motion is both visually striking and mechanically meaningful.

The tourbillon cage, constructed from titanium and silicon, is the lightest in the world at just 0.18 grams despite comprising 63 components

Tech Specs: De Bethune DB28 Tourbillon Kind of Blue

Movement: Manual winding DB caliber; five-day power reserve
Functions: Hours, minutes and 30-second tourbillon
Case: 42.6mm × 9.2mm; heat-blued, mirror-polished titanium
Dial: Heat-blued titanium with white gold pins
Strap: Alligator leather