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July 16, 2013updated Aug 27, 2013

Only Watch 2013: De Bethune

By Chris Boyle

De BethuneThis September 28, Monaco will play host to the fifth edition of the ‘Only Watch’ charity watch auction benefiting research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Recognized as the world’s first ever charity watch auction, Only Watch is conducted by the watch auctioneers, Antiquorum.

33 of the world’s leading watch manufacturers are donating a unique timepiece specially created for the occasion, one of which will feature on Elite’s website every day leading up to this not-to-be-missed auction.

The proceeds from the sales will be donated to the Monegasque Association against Muscular Dystrophy, promoter of Only Watch with Antiquorum Auctioneers and the Monaco Yacht Show, to help finance research for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease affecting 1 in 3,500 boys and therefore 250,000 children, adolescents, and young adults around the world.

From September 6, an international exhibit of the Only Watch collection of timepieces for men and women will also travel the world – Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, New York – and will be concluded by a presentation during the Monaco Yacht Show (September 25 to 28).

The Only Watch auction itself takes place on September 28 at 11am (GMT+1) in the ‘Salle Belle Epoque’ of the Hôtel Hermitage.

ONLY WATCH 2013 SPOTLIGHT: De Bethune

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.

Nine patent registrations, seventeen world première innovations and sixteen in-house calibres in 11 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.

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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.

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