Inside the De Bethune Manufacture

Based on a resolutely avant-garde vision of traditional watchmaking, the Manufacture Horlogère De Bethune was founded in 2002, by David Zanetta, a collector with a passion for art, history and timepieces and Denis Flageollet, a fourth-generation watchmaker who was introduced to the art at age of three.

Ten patent registrations, eighteen world première innovations and nineteen in-house calibres in 12 years of research express the spirit of excellence of the Manufacture. De Bethune is above all a research and development engine, a laboratory making use of cutting-edge technologies implemented in the spirit of the great 18th century master watchmakers, where all parts are designed and produced one by one, while lavishing particular attention on every detail.

Not doing more, but instead doing better; drawing inspiration from the past in order to constantly reinvent it; creating bridges between the various fields of knowledge: such are the principles guiding the elaboration of the mechanisms and the artistic creation.

The quest for perfection and beauty is the constant driving force behind the work of David Zanetta and Denis Flageollet, brand co-founders and the artisans behind these exceptional timepieces. The pure styling, taut lines and slender cases of these creations represent the unmistakable signature of De Bethune's contemporary expression of the watchmaking art. Together with Pierre Jacques, De Bethune's dynamic CEO, they form an effective triumvirate that is propelling De Bethune and its consistently modern creations towards an even brighter future.

Builder of the 21st century horology and custodian of the grand tradition, with its feet firmly planted in history and its head resolutely turned towards the future, De Bethune received a major token of recognition from its peers in November 2011. The Geneva Watchmaking Grand prix awarded it famous "Aiguille d'Or" or Golden Hand, its most coveted title, thereby honouring its exceptional approach at the very crossroads of art and science.