Bremont - what have they done?

[theancientmariner]

the Britishness will be expressed much more through exploration, designs, colours and references to the golden days of British watchmaking.”

and then they take on an American surfer as an ambassador......

the 'Britishness' has to be in the engineering. British design and manufacture or at least a desire to be doing that in the future. That's what the English brothers had in mind when they started the company. The new direction doesn't seem to have any Britishness in it as far as I can tell?

I do wonder what Ben Saunders take on the new Terra Nova will be. The original limited edition was released on the back of his record breaking polar expedition. Imagine having a watch effectively named after you then some years later the name being used as a design decision. Sort of reminds me of the 'turbo' label on the Porsche Taycan electric car.

[chrisparker]

and then they take on an American surfer as an ambassador......

Laird Hamilton is 60 years old surfer, Jason Fox 47, Military Veteran, Jimmy Chin 51 year old climber. They're certainly aiming for the older watch buyer.

In theory, the TZ audience is Bremont's target market. It's amazing how far off they are. The new branding and products look to be designed by non watch people.

[Christian]

Laird Hamilton is 60 years old surfer, Jason Fox 47, Military Veteran, Jimmy Chin 51 year old climber. They're certainly aiming for the older watch buyer.

In theory, the TZ audience is Bremont's target market. It's amazing how far off they are. The new branding and products look to be designed by non watch people.

I’m a bit lost with which companies are targeting which demographic. I’d have put TZ mostly as 40-retiree age bracket and a majority Rolex consumers. I though Bremont was chasing the younger market with these watches in the £3-4k bracket…competing with Tudor and Tag etc. I guess my perception might be off.

[Montello]

I’m a bit lost with which companies are targeting which demographic. I’d have put TZ mostly as 40-retiree age bracket and a majority Rolex consumers. I though Bremont was chasing the younger market with these watches in the £3-4k bracket…competing with Tudor and Tag etc. I guess my perception might be off.

Good question ... I can't see many under 40s dropping ££££ on a mechanical watch ...

All the sub 40s are either no watch ("I have a phone") or SmartWatch (Apple/Garmin) ... trying to carve out a business for expensive mechanical watches from "youngsters" seems a tough segment to crack ...

[TaketheCannoli]

I guess we have to look at the company / brand as before and after the 'change'. Since their inception they've had an identity and an ethos. Some haven't liked it but it's been there all the same. You knew a Bremont when you saw one. This new company will operate in a different market and with a different identity. What that identity is, from the watches I've seen in this release, isn't very clear. These new watches are very ordinary and don't retain the ethos or USPs of Bremont IMO.

But a new fanbase will emerge and I'm sure the company will be just as successful or even more so which I assume is the intention. What I cannot for the life of me understand is why the brothers have allowed this to happen. They've worked so hard and for so long to build that brand and following for it to be diminished in this way.

[Montello]

What I cannot for the life of me understand is why the brothers have allowed this to happen.

You can't sell your company and expect to retain control, I have seen it happen a number of times, the new owners always wish to stamp their mark on their new acquisition.

[MrBanks]

You can't sell your company and expect to retain control, I have seen it happen a number of times, the new owners always wish to stamp their mark on their new acquisition.

They haven't had any meaningful control for years except with PR and watch design. Now that has been completely removed from them and the shareholders want to start making money.

[verv]

They've just trashed the brand in one release.
I quite like the MB (and would wear one) or the Supernova but I genuinely think that the terranova and that shockingly unattractive new bracelet is going to push MB etc buyers away by association.

[kaiserphoenix]

Stone Island will be looking at this development...closely...

[TaketheCannoli]

Would anyone here not buy a heritage model now for fear of warranty issues?

[wildheart]

I've always thought of them as a British version of Kobold, a few decent idea's but vastly over priced. I went to see them at Jura watches in London many years ago and liked one or two designs but on the wrist was very underwhelmed.

[TaketheCannoli]

Reid and Sons in Newcastle had a lovely selection of heritage pieces in today. If I’m honest I loved all of them! I talked to the staff who said they’ve no idea when they’ll be getting the new models in.

[TaketheCannoli]

Does the Terra Nova have a press / snap on case back? There’s no reference to screw-down on the technical spec page and it looks like it does in the pics.

[IMG][/IMG]

[catch21]

Dunno what the moaning is about. They've got a couple of different case shapes. That's nice. There's blue ones and green ones, so take your pick there. And what about that aurora? Nearly 5 grand of black and lime green, Roman numerals on one half and Arabic on the other, got to be a winner.

[theancientmariner]

In theory, the TZ audience is Bremont's target market. It's amazing how far off they are. The new branding and products look to be designed by non watch people.

the TZ audience isn't anyones target market. A minority of watch enthusiasts isn't going to keep any company afloat. Just my opinion but Bremonts target audience used to be reasonably affluent middle aged men and women who didn't want to be part of the crowd and had a little national pride. Their target audience with the new releases are 20 to 50 something year old men and may be women who would usually buy a less expensive TAG and aspire toward a Tudor or Omega. High street shoppers, not watch enthusiasts.

[Montello]

…. aspire toward a Tudor or Omega..

At those prices if they aspire to a Tudor they could buy one, granted Omega is a step up in price.

[theancientmariner]

At those prices if they aspire to a Tudor they could buy one, granted Omega is a step up in price.

I wasn't meaning to reference the middle ground, more so that Bremont might be (badly) trying to divert customers away from Tudor and may be to a lesser extent Omega.