Ryan - you sound like someone who has found out the truth about Santa, surely this is not newsOriginally Posted by ryanb741
You were one of the biggest defenders or Bremont in other threads - what’s changed?
Ryan - you sound like someone who has found out the truth about Santa, surely this is not news
You were one of the biggest defenders or Bremont in other threads - what’s changed?
I feel the quality is good and the cases are superb but it starts to grate now with all the heritage claptrap. Plus British isn't globally a good thing to aspire to currently! And the market has moved on since then - Omega in particular have done some amazing things in that price point and arguably Tudor too at a lower price point.
The 3 new Military themed watches (Broadsword) etc are a case in point. Not very good watches spec wise but with the naff RAF association. Go get a PRS29 and get a much better value or go for a Sinn or a Damasko and get way better quality watch for same outlay
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Why should we? I don't only buy British, do you?
I have nothing against Bremont, but I've never seen anything that takes my fancy. They're usually on the thick size too (case and price).
For me it’s tempting when a nice MB2 with the orange barrel pops up on SC around the £2k mark. If I were looking to buy new at £4K would I look at Bremont, probably not. There’s an awful lot of choice round that pricing level and I suspect my money would go elsewhere.
Does it though? They supply a lot of military units with commissions.
I'll wager never a Spitfire squadron mind. Or Concorde flight crew. Or P52 Mustang crew etc. Plenty of watches have won this accolade in the last but none of them are Bremont
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But they have never claimed to supply watches to spitfire pilots or Concorde crews?
They do supply a lot of watches to pilots in the military. That those pilots chose a Bremont over the issued offering says something.
Commemorative jewellery =/= issued equipment.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with commemorative jewellery, but it's easy to get the impression that Bremont would like us to get confused between the two. I can see why that makes some people recoil.
Great point. There's a good thread on another watch forum regarding mitsry issued watches. A fair few military personnel have replied saying the days of military issued watches are pretry much over this past 20 years, and anything thst is issued will be a cheap quartz as it does the job its supposed to do reliably.
They also say that most folks just being their own watches, and generally it's Casio, both g and non g, with a smattering of other watches, and a rare few expensive watches.
One can sometimes buy watches with a particular Insignia from militaey store but it's just commerative and in no way issued.
So I would hazard a guess that the bretmont watches are most if not all commerative in nature and not issued for use during missions, training, battle etc.
To answer the op, I don't own one as I find them too big, they look cheap to my eye and the cost is about 5x what I would actually pay for one.
Last edited by Wilson_smyth; 29th December 2019 at 00:44.
Would suggest that through it’s Special Projects with a whole host of international military forces that it has earned the right to make a big deal about that? Suspect it sells more watches to active service personnel than most other brands.
Some of the recent stuff, with the HMAF release wasn’t great.
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As much as Timex and casio? I doubt it.
It is all a bit walty for me plus other weird tie-ins such as this one I spotted.
Are Casio and Timex undertaking specific orders for military personnel or are you suggesting that them walking into the local H Samuel to buy and every day watch is relevant to the point being made?As much as Timex and casio? I doubt it.
It is all a bit walty for me plus other weird tie-ins such as this one I spotted.
Why didn’t you pick up a brochure, it would have explained the Hercules model and it’s origins?
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Was your watch issued to the 1st Light Laptop divison?
I know about the Hercules - it is all still a bit weird to me when you can buy a citizen with the royal marines logo for £200 - if you want that sort of thing...
Last edited by Alansmithee; 28th December 2019 at 19:41.
I wonder how many RM have bought the Citizen?
Bremont certainly has some nice watches. I personally like the Bremont AIRCO Mach 3 - nice clean design and great dial. But £3 K is a big ask for that IMHO.
If you you are looking for a British designed watch there are better alternatives value wise.
I personally like the watches designed by Marloe. Great watches at reasonable prices.
Decent looking watches but none have appealed enough to fork out the £
Kind of how I feel about them, whether I am down here or up there
I can enjoy the ‘Britishness’ of some of our brands, but no more than I enjoy the Japaneseness of Japanese brands or the Swiss history with ancient watch brands. In the case of Switzerland, it’s more about the history of the brands themselves than the country of origin or its culture, as nice as their mountains are.
Part of it is about enjoying genuine heritage and the way that’s created a unique aesthetic that has some historical depth. I’ve never been too interested in pretending to be a pilot from some bygone era though, and a relatively new brand playing with that aesthetic doesn’t quite create that nostalgic feeling anyway.
As far as the watches go, I like some of the dials in photos, but when I see the actual watches the feeling passes. The sizes / thicknesses mean they aren’t as appealing as I’d imagined. But that’s not a huge criticism as that applies to most modern watches by most brands. To me they often look overly bold and cartoonish, like more genuinely sophisticated vintage watches with ironic air quotes around them.
I'm not really bothered about Bremonts marketing TBH, if I like a watch & I can afford it, that does it for me, it's the watch I will be wearing not the marketing, history or association with anything or person. I don't like a lot in Bremonts range which translates to most mainstream makers for me. In fact I can't really think of one brand that every single watch in their line-up appeals, Oris, Longines, Omega, Rolex, Zenith for example.
However the Alt1/P that I have, is for my money a super example of what I like about Chronographs, large arabic luminous numbers, very clever & robust case construction, Val 7750 finished to a very high standard, nice click-stop internal rotating, bezel, looks good on leather or bracelet, nice heft & a 'Chronometer' certificate to wrap it all up in, Ha.
Lovin' mine.
That’s rather Nice looking,I’d be very pleased to own that, but I’d probably buy a Fortis 7750 chrono that has some real airforce/space connection for half the price.I'm not really bothered about Bremonts marketing TBH, if I like a watch & I can afford it, that does it for me, it's the watch I will be wearing not the marketing, history or association with anything or person. I don't like a lot in Bremonts range which translates to most mainstream makers for me. In fact I can't really think of one brand that every single watch in their line-up appeals, Oris, Longines, Omega, Rolex, Zenith for example.
However the Alt1/P that I have, is for my money a super example of what I like about Chronographs, large arabic luminous numbers, very clever & robust case construction, Val 7750 finished to a very high standard, nice click-stop internal rotating, bezel, looks good on leather or bracelet, nice heft & a 'Chronometer' certificate to wrap it all up in, Ha.
Lovin' mine.
I quite like Bremont, the whole British thing doesn't bother me I have lived abroad for years and come across plenty of nauseating OTT nationalism/patriotism and really dont think we are doing anything especially over the top if anything we must be one of the few nations on earth that shy away from our own past. That aside they do make very nice watches the thing that puts me off in some ways is similar to Breitling. The retail price doesnt seem to be anywhere near close to the actual value of the watch and they seem to be almost first on the list on sale. Some of their designs seem a bit bland there doesnt seem to be anything that really stands out.
The next James Bond should be wearing a Bremont!
He probably will be 'cos it'll be another reason for a limited/special/expensive version....
The first kingsmen film they wore Bremont, Nick was in it briefly too.
No
I’d like to see bond in a bremont in his new movie, No Time To Fly.
After a decade and a half of The Blond Scouser, hasn’t that character suffered enough?
after over 16000 posts, hasn't this forum suffered enough?
what's becoming more and more apparent through this forum is the reason why people should buy a Bremont. There's a distinct lack of constructive criticism. When Bremont is mentioned, the negativity turns into rhetoric and name calling that could be bettered by school children. What better reason to buy a watch than when the only negative comments aren't watch related.
Lol!!!!
This is going to give my BB58 some serious competition
I quite like the look of some of their watches, but the prices, to me, don't equate to the watches.
Even secondhand, they seem dear for something that seems to be marketed a bit like a Christopher Ward.
When I worked in London, I'd often pop in the Royal Exchange and for a while I had no idea what Bremont was - Their shop looked a bit like a bric-a-brac store with the odd watch on display.
I'm sure some see that as edgy, different marketing, but to me it just set an image of fakeness about the company and what I've read since has only reinforced that perception in my mind.
M
Also, what news about Santa? He's real surely?
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Neither of those, but this is quite a roster of squadrons that they have supplied as well as non-aviation units......
https://www.bremont.com/pages/military-watches
The best LE they have done is ironically the P-51 Mustang, less dress watch more sports model, it’s a stunning piece and I think has doubled in the original RRP
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Don’t think there’s any confusion, even this government isn’t going to blow £4K per watch on servicemen, the fact they buy it from their own funds is arguably more compelling a message
Plenty of them wear the watches on active service, per their Instagram feed
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Probably because not many find them an attractive proposition in either the looks or build departments. If they did we would of course 'all have a Bremont'. Although personally I don't mind the look of some of them, just the marketing is a bit 'gauche' perhaps.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I’ve owned a couple for a comparatively short time then traded them on.
I doubt I’d get another but if I were to, it would be the orange or green cased one.
If the stories about ETA movement supply being halted are true, they’d better get a wriggle on with their in house movement.
If that puts up the (already high imho) price, I think they’ll struggle.
Buy used would be my preference
I have a B42 official cosmonauts chrono' & after the recent price rise they retail at over 3k now on the Jura website.
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I don’t like the look of Bremont watches in general, and as an Englishman the whole British Armed Forces association has always been obviously phoney and a bit embarrassing, bordering on naff. However, one thing I’m not embarrassed of - and never have been - is being British.
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RobDad. You may find some forum members disagree:
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...rne-75th-Watch
As regards the original proposition - do all Swiss have a Swiss watch, do all Germans wear a German Brand watch I wonder? However, it is good to see British watchmaking back where Rolex started. I commend the brothers and it can't be easy. It has to start somewhere and their facilities are expanding within Henley. Good luck to them!
I did own one, but haven't at present. I may do again sometime.
Martyn
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 28th December 2019 at 17:18.
Agree on both points.
I see one of the posts was edited to get rid of the further anti-British BS.
The Brand does less than nothing for me.
Zero West for me has better options.
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I do support British manufacturing and look forward to Bremont opening their new Henley facility next year and later producing a true British-made movement.
However, I haven’t yet owned one because on the whole they are large watches - it would be good to see more around 38-40mm. I’ve also reservations about design. While their looks have improved in the last year or two none of their watches have that drop-dead handsomeness that I’d like to see. Maybe they could spend some of their considerable marketing budget on a top watch designer?
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Have seen a few Bremont watches first hand but not Damasko. Regarding the case hardening I have read before that it looks much better on Bremont than Damasko that appear a bit "cheap" looking. Can anyone confirm this?
FWIW, we hear plenty of stories here on the forum itself how servicemen and ex-servicemen are keen to buy Bremont watches. Just says something about the connection.
May be this says more. https://www.bremont.com/pages/military-watches
Rolex also had a Comex collection. The difference being they were issued, of course.
Air France regularly asks watchmakers to create a special edition, reserved to AF personnel. a few years ago, it was Dodane (that had watches issued to the French Air Force, the 'Type 21'), with 3 models. Recently, it was a B&R GMT. Guess what? My Cousin, who's a captain on Airbus has both the Dodane GMT and the B&R, the later one I saw this Christmas. Apparently they sold out in a few days.
In other words, cater to a specific market, give it some exclusivity (you cannot purchase in shops), and those who can afford it and who are considering buying a watch will naturally turn to the model.
About Dodane, the GMT was created specifically for Air France. Cedric Dodane said at the time that they would eventually release it to the general public (without the AF markings, of course) but it is still not done.
They have other partners, too: http://www.dodane1857.com/partenariat/
It is obvious that creating this sort of association can be lucrative. In this respect, B&R and Bremont are quite similar, having created the association out of thin air. It's called marketing. It works if the association tickles your fancy.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
I agree about B&R and Bremont, although the French company are less obvious about the military thing. The do have a lot of watches with “military” in the name, but that is more about what has inspired them. Breitling have been doing the squadron / unit customisations for years.
Dave
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Yes, popular with the military aircrew because there is such a huge military discount. Judging by the comment, I guess that investment in marketing works!
Yep, I got a massive discount on my "military" Bremont - I don't think I'd have bought one otherwise. Cracking watch though and after-sales service was excellent: when a movement holder screw came loose inside, Bremont sent a next day courier to pick it up and I had it back again pretty sharpish.
Gratuitous my Bremont pic:
Whilst I love the look of the Bremont Solo I’m really not a fan of the Triptik case as it seems to needlessly complicate the design and create a weak spot for no real reason.
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Actually, if you do a little research on the Trip-Tik case construction it is not only a very clever case design, but it really does an amazing job of protecting the movement, so in no way a 'weak spot' at all. Think Richard Mille!
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