Titanium is such a great material ! Lighter than steel, tougher too, it's comfortable, gray... and exacting. This is because it is notoriously hard to scratch. It is one of the great advantages watchmakers are after, as it protects it from wear, aging and more generally, life. The only problem is that scratching is not just an accident. When done on purpose by watchmakers, it's called finishings.
So there it is : titanium is difficult to finish. The easy way around it is to sandblast it. By torturing it with a powerful stream of very fine and hard particles, its appearance becomes homogeneous. The other option is to satin-finish it. This tight array of very thin, parallel scratches is obtained by careful friction. In both cases, the metal undergoes controlled, yet actual, damage.
Polishing is another kettle of fish. In order to properly shine, a surface has to be uniformly smooth. No bumps, no irregularities, no inconsistencies in height can interfere with the light reflection process. Which is the opposite of damage. When applied on titanium, you could put it this way: it's a nightmare. Especially if you're aiming at mirror polish level.
It so happens that DeBethune is one hell of a specialist of said polishings. And they them on surfaces that aren't even flat, or small, or hidden. One of the most gorgeous components in all of watchmaking is the vast bridge they install dial-side in several of their watches, which they call « the curved delta ». This large, shiny-to-a-fault, titanium arrow is curved in all three dimensions. From there, DeBethune went even further and started using polished titanium on cases as well.
Still, that wasn't enough. DeBethune is powered by the technical soul of its co-founder Denis Flageollet. And the man loves playing with fire, literally. This explains why they so often feature blued components. It began with hands and three-dimensional moons. They upped their game and started doing it with entire polished titanium cases. They roast them in their oven, creating a finely mastered oxidation. One that's all the harder to control as hues come from fine temperature control, which is hard to achieve on as big a piece as a case. And so it became that, after years of practice and experience, DeBethune checked out the matte. Instead, they allowed us to stare at ourselves in a new kind of perfect mirror.
