De Bethune

De Bethune was founded on 22 April 2002 by David Zanetta, an Italian collector and dealer of art and vintage watches, and Denis Flageollet, a fourth-generation French master watchmaker. The brand is named after the Chevalier de Béthune, an 18th-century nobleman who designed a revolutionary watch escapement component. Flageollet previously worked at Technique Horlogère Appliquée (THA) alongside future independent watchmaking legends Vianney Halter and François-Paul Journe, and had earlier trained under Michel Parmigiani. After just two years of R&D, De Bethune began filing groundbreaking patents. In 2011, the DB28 won the prestigious Aiguille d'Or at the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève, cementing the young brand's position among watchmaking's elite.