In case you’re like most and not familiar with De Bethune as a brand, it’s a high-end independent watch brand co-founded by master watchmaker Denis Flageollet, who at least one watch publication has loftily compared to Leonardo da Vinci as an inventor and horological genius.
When Flageollet started the brand in 2002, his aspirations were as grand as they come in watchmaking. Rather than creating watches that relied on parts and components sourced elsewhere, he aspired to build a proper “Manufacture,” which in French watch speak, refers to a tier of watch brands capable of making most, if not all, of a watch’s key parts entirely in-house.
Today, De Bethune’s watches are hard to miss and easy to recognize once you’ve seen one. They’re boldly designed, unique, and often strikingly colorful and meant to speak to elite collectors who prioritize innovation, novelty, creativity, and exclusivity above all else.
In the company’s partially cringeworthy words shared in a press release, “De Bethune does not simply create watches, but timeless works of art.”
