Pierre Jacques Appointed CEO of De Bethune
David Zanetta, President of the Board of Directors and his co-founder, Denis Flageollet, Director of Production, have announced the appointment of Pierre Jacques as Chief Executive Officer of De Bethune. Jacques will officially take up his responsibilities effective March 1, 2011. Jacques holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and in 2000 he co-founded GMT magazine. Since January 2010, he had been serving as Branch Manager of Les Ambassadeurs Gen��ve, and he also headed the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix as director of the organizing companymenting on the appointment, Mr. David Zanetta said: “The arrival of Mr. Pierre Jacques marks a new stage in De Bethune’s international development.”

Swiss Watch Exports Pick Up in First Quarter
Swiss watch exports registered strong growth in March and for the first quarter overall. Exports to the U.S. were up 56% in March and 6.7% for the quarter. Though the numbers reflect improvements against admittedly terrible year-earlier figures, the results confirm that a recovery is under way, with exports returning to 2007 levels.The moving 12 month average shows the corner has been turned.In March, the sector exported the equivalent of 1.2 billion francs, an increase of 32.8% compared with March 2009. Bimetallic watches saw their value more than double. Gold and steel timepieces were up sharply. The number of timepieces exported also rose, buoyed by the categories of bimetallic, steel, and other materials. In three months, volumes increased by 900,000 units (+19.8%) compared with 2009.Broken down by export price, watches below 500 francs showed only modest or even slightly negative growth, while timepieces above 500 francs made steady progress with a growth rate exceeding 40% in val

Introductions of Glashutte Original Sport Evolution Impact Panorama Date Watch
This watch Glashutte Sport evolution Impact Panorama Date original black rubber coated stainless steel features a black dial with luminous super hands of silver polished and index markers, scanning seconds, a display of panorama distinguished above 06 and a date window of 60 minutes, in a case impressive 46 mm illustrated here on a versatile black and Red synthetic Trieste strap. The Glashutte Original Sport evolution Impact Panorama Date Watch uses the automatic calibre movement 39-47 in-house designed for optimum shock absorption and is water-resistant to 100 metres.[IMG]

Mid 90s Swiss Army Mecha-Quartz Chronograph?
A few weeks ago my Dad, an avid watch-nerd, brought to my attention a peculiar watch from his collection. The watch is a Swiss Army chronograph from the mid to late 90's that he believes was the first chronograph they produced, and one that was only available for a short amount of time. As far as looks go it's not particularly strange. It has the classic Swiss Army case design with a white face, and a fairly normal dial layout. What's weird about it is how it works. First, there is no moving seconds hand. The third sub-dial, which is located at 6, is a date index with a hand that points to the day, which is set by pushing a recessed button on the side of the case. This detail unto itself is fairly uncommon for a quartz chronograph, but what is really weird is how the chronograph works.When you start the chrono, you might find its behavior slightly strange. First, the 60-second register is ticking at half-second intervals. While this is less than a typical mechanical chronograph, which

Having dial replaced... will the process affect the movement's accuracy???
Hello everyone,I have a Mid Size SMP ref: 2551.80.00, calibre 1120.I had it serviced back in Oct 2011 and had a new dial installed. As it turns out the application of the luminous material applied to indices 12, 6 & 9 is not as thick as the rest resulting in a weaker glow, not as intense. Long story short, Swatch Group Canada, although states that it is within Omega quality control standards, will replace the dial free of charge.Here is my main question, right now the accuracy is excellent... +/- 0sec on my wrist and dial up and only +/- a few seconds in all other positions 24hrs. Will taking apart my SMP by Swatch Group to replace the dial affect the accuracy of the movement in any way or will they have to regulate it again?Thanks for the advice.