Bremont - what have they done?

[Rev-O]

Followed by Bredundancies, and then Breceivership...?


Funny how everything prefaced by "Bre-" turns to s***.

Breakfast? My high fibre cereal certainly does. Keep me regular as (imported) clockwork.

[HectorHughMunro]

Well, I just ordered one of the old models!

At these prices, given they are mostly Sellita and can be repaired cheaply if the company goes bust, they’re starting to look reasonable, especially when you combine them with voucher codes.

The problem they really had was Tudor. Tudor became very successful and Bremont found themselves priced above it. Longines too has had a creative spurt at around £3k or below. If you put a Pélagos next to Bremont at full price, I don’t think I would take the Bremont.

The CEO was right about pushing the price down. Unfortunately, if they move the manufacturing to Switzerland, you might as well buy a CW Trident for £1k.

[Christian]

Well, I just ordered one of the old models!

At these prices, given they are mostly Sellita and can be repaired cheaply if the company goes bust, they’re starting to look reasonable, especially when you combine them with voucher codes.

The problem they really had was Tudor. Tudor became very successful and Bremont found themselves priced above it. Longines too has had a creative spurt at around £3k or below. If you put a Pélagos next to Bremont at full price, I don’t think I would take the Bremont.

The CEO was right about pushing the price down. Unfortunately, if they move the manufacturing to Switzerland, you might as well buy a CW Trident for £1k.

True. Although I’m not sure they had previously settled on what segment of the market they were aiming for. Whilst most models seemed to be the same market as Tudor they were pursuing the in-house movement and had quite a few pieces (mostly with bits of other things incorporated into the rotor) at much higher prices. It feels to me like it’s only now they have set their stall at chasing the lower end of the luxury market.

[Hammond]

True. Although I’m not sure they had previously settled on what segment of the market they were aiming for. Whilst most models seemed to be the same market as Tudor they were pursuing the in-house movement and had quite a few pieces (mostly with bits of other things incorporated into the rotor) at much higher prices. It feels to me like it’s only now they have set their stall at chasing the lower end of the luxury market.

Yet their new releases start at £2500 and end at £5400 for something with a bit of gold sprinkled on it. Tudor start at £1700 for something ladies, £2860 for a Ranger which is arguably where the comparison truly begins, and then go up to just over £6k for a chrono with some gold bits.

I don't think they're targeting a different market at all - it's exactly the same people, being asked to buy a technically deficient product that affords Bremont a higher margin. Nothing wrong with that, they can do what they like and it will probably work, but it will put people like "us" off.

[TaketheCannoli]

I don’t blame you. I built this on their MBII simulator today and absolutely love it. If only I could afford it :(
[IMG][/IMG]

Well, I just ordered one of the old models!

At these prices, given they are mostly Sellita and can be repaired cheaply if the company goes bust, they’re starting to look reasonable, especially when you combine them with voucher codes.

The problem they really had was Tudor. Tudor became very successful and Bremont found themselves priced above it. Longines too has had a creative spurt at around £3k or below. If you put a Pélagos next to Bremont at full price, I don’t think I would take the Bremont.

The CEO was right about pushing the price down. Unfortunately, if they move the manufacturing to Switzerland, you might as well buy a CW Trident for £1k.

[HectorHughMunro]

I don’t blame you. I built this on their MBII simulator today and absolutely love it. If only I could afford it :(
[IMG][/IMG]

The going rate seems to be 30% below RRP with some occasional freebies. If you fancy it, it might be a good idea to make an offer to an AD. I wonder if that 30% level comes from Bremont to shift inventory. Yes, I like that one. The one I went for (if it turns up) is the Ionbird which seems to do what the Longines Zulu does but in an expensive titanium Trip Tick case.

[sweets]

The going rate seems to be 30% below RRP with some occasional freebies. If you fancy it, it might be a good idea to make an offer to an AD. I wonder if that 30% level comes from Bremont to shift inventory. Yes, I like that one. The one I went for (if it turns up) is the Ionbird which seems to do what the Longines Zulu does but in an expensive titanium Trip Tick case.

One word of warning (as a long time owner of one Bremont, and a very short term owner of another).
Bremont seem to do nothing to harden their titanium cases.
As a result (especially by comparison to their surface hardened steel cases) they mark up quite badly. In fact, it seemed on my Ti one (an Amercia's Cup LE) that it marked a whole lot more easily than any other Ti watch that I have owned (and that's a few, I still have ones from Tutima, Sinn, RZE etc etc).
It was evident that every time the springbar had been dragged across the inside of the lugs, it had cut a shallow scratch across it.
It was very disappointing, as the steel Bremont I have (and still have) is ludicrously tough, and almost unmarked despite being 14 years old.

[MrBanks]

One word of warning (as a long time owner of one Bremont, and a very short term owner of another).
Bremont seem to do nothing to harden their titanium cases.
As a result (especially by comparison to their surface hardened steel cases) they mark up quite badly. In fact, it seemed on my Ti one (an Amercia's Cup LE) that it marked a whole lot more easily than any other Ti watch that I have owned (and that's a few, I still have ones from Tutima, Sinn, RZE etc etc).
It was evident that every time the springbar had been dragged across the inside of the lugs, it had cut a shallow scratch across it.
It was very disappointing, as the steel Bremont I have (and still have) is ludicrously tough, and almost unmarked despite being 14 years old.

None of the S500 cases, Ti or SS had surface coatings/hardening on the top bezel. It was only the middle barrel that was PVD'd or DLC'd.

[sweets]

None of the S500 cases, Ti or SS had surface coatings/hardening on the top bezel. It was only the middle barrel that was PVD'd or DLC'd.

I know you worked there, but.....
The hardening process is not the DLC process. The hardening can happen without the colouring.
The top bezel of my Alt1_P is definitely hardened, it is way tougher than "normal steel". The MB series was sold with "hardened case" and as the barrel is aluminium, only the front (and caseback?) can be hardened. I was sure the same hardening was also used for the S500.
At least originally, which had all of the "toughness tech" like the movement suspension, that the MB was designed with.