Down to the Wire: De Bethune’s In-House Hairsprings
De Bethune plans to bring hairspring production in house, aiming to become one of the very few firms able to process alloy wire into a finished balance hairspring. This requires De Bethune’s new hairspring workshop to master wire drawing, rolling, cutting, heat treatment, and assembly. The rationale? “Externally produced hairsprings meet standards based on averages that do not enable fine adjustment of the dimensions to suit a particular balance wheel or its specific positioning in a calibre,” according to De Bethune. De Bethune’s “flat end curve” mated to a hairspring sourced from a supplier. Initial thoughts As De Bethune explains it, making its own hairsprings will allow the brand to tailor its hairspring to a specific balance or movement. Since its founding in 2002, De Bethune has presented itself as being on the cutting edge of chronometry, debuting a new balance design every year from 2004 to 2010. The brand was also quick to embrace silicon, and even briefly attempted a kilohertz magnetic oscillator system, Résonique. A new year, a new balance. Sometimes two new balances. Given De Bethune’s focus on chronometry, making its own hairsprings seems like a natural next step. However, there is a reason so few brands make their own hairsprings: the process is a difficult and demanding one that benefits greatly from economies of scale. For example, H. Moser & Cie. makes less than 4,000 watches per year, however, its sister company Precision Engineering claims...
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