This Unique Travel Watch Turns the Typical GMT on Its Head. Literally

It’s a different take on the meaning of “vacation time.”

Published March 21, 2025

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Most GMT watches work in the same way. You’ve got your main hour and minute hand for telling the local time on a 12-hour scale, while an additional GMT hand tracks a second time zone on a 24-hour scale.

There are variations, of course. Sometimes there’s a rotating 24-hour bezel, sometimes not. Movements come in either “caller” or “flyer” arrangements, offering independent adjustability of the GMT hand or local hour hand, respectively. Some brands, like Panerai and Patek Philippe, have their GMT hand track the second time zone in a 12-hour rather than 24-hour format.

Then there’s De Bethune. The high-end independent brand thrives on the unexpected and the avant-garde, which is why its take on the travel watch turns the GMT complication on its head. Literally.

a de bethune watch on a desk next to a pen — In case you couldn’t tell, this isn’t your average GMT.

Home Watch, Meet Travel Watch

De Bethune has just debuted the DB Kind of Two GMT Season 3, a new version of the brand’s previous Kind of Two GMT and its third collaboration with rapper and horological enthusiast Swizz Beatz, hence the “Season 3” moniker.

The watch is effectively two separate watches in one, with the rotating case featuring a unique dial on both sides with each displaying a different time zone. This makes it so the wearer can, if they wish, use one dial for home wear and the other when traveling. Sort of gives a new definition to the term “vacation time.”

The front “home time” side dial is the more wild of the two. It features an open-worked display showcasing the remarkable in-house Calibre DB2517 movement — more on that in a bit — with the hour display in a subdial at 6 o’clock and a minute track circling the entire dial.

a de bethune watch viewed at an angle — The DB Kind of Two GMT Season 3 is the third collaboration between De Bethune and rapper Swizz Beatz.

Both hands are in heat-blued titanium, while a prominent center-mounted black bridge in De Bethune’s signature Star Trek-esque deltoid shape brings structure to the dial. The crown in this configuration is at 12 o’clock.

Of course, the real magic happens when you flip the watch over. A modified version of De Bethune’s trademark floating lugs incorporates a case-turning mechanism that allows for a smooth transition between home and GMT time.

The “GMT” side of the watch is far more traditional, with a classically inspired minute track and Arabic numeral markers all transferred in silver against a black backdrop. A hand-guillochéd motif in black with blue accents dominates the center of the dial and is complemented by Breguet-adjacent hands in heat-blued steel.

a de bethune watch — The “GMT” side of the dial features a hand-guillochéd motif and a dead beat seconds hand.

The seconds hand is crafted from mirror-polished titanium and it’s meant to stand out. That’s because the watch, in addition to being a dual-sided GMT, also features a jumping seconds complication on the classic dial side. Also called a deadbeat seconds complication, this is where the seconds hand moves just once per second like on a quartz watch.

It’s highly complicated to get a mechanical watch to perform in such a way, and as a result, a deadbeat seconds hand is a sort of badge of honor for a high-end watch — even though it mimics the look of cheap, everyday quartz watches. What can I say, watches are weird.

a closeup of a de bethune watch dial — On the “Home” side, the gold jumping seconds wheel is clearly visible in the center of the open-worked dial.

The previously mentioned Cal. DB2517 movement is a high-beat hand-cranker with 394 components, 58 jewels and four days of power when fully wound courtesy of its twin mainspring barrels. The two time zones are both set simply by using the crown. You set the home time first in the third position and then the GMT time in the crown’s second position. Easy peasy.

Finally, there’s the case. It’s made from a mix of Grade 5 titanium and matte black zirconium, with sapphire crystals on both sides to protect the dials. The case-turning mechanism is made from a mix of titanium and surgical steel parts — 42 of them, in total — and the brand says it’s “engineered to withstand water, humidity and temperature fluctuations.”

a man holds a de bethune watch with a rotating case — 42 components enable the watch’s innovative rotating mechanism.

Pricing and Availability

De Bethune is one of those brands that most of us will just have to appreciate from afar, as its watches aren’t exactly made for the masses. This is a collab with a rapper and producer with a long history as a high-end watch collector, so availability is about what you’d expect.

The De Bethune DB Kind of Two GMT Season 3 is priced at $235,000, and the brand is making just 10 examples. Keep in mind, De Bethune only makes around 200 watches a year total, so this was never going to be a high-production piece.

Still, it’s hard not to appreciate the watch for what it is. Its unique take on a GMT, its casual showing off with the jumping seconds complication, and the perfectly executed designs on both its classic and contemporary dials make this one of the most special watches I’ve seen so far this year.