And my navy suit especially misses its presence at cocktail parties. The watch — that I procured with this review by the friendly and knowledgeable staff in the newly opened Bremont flagship boutique on 501 Madison Avenue in New York — carries a retail price of $6,695. It is always an exciting moment when Bremont start to unveil their next limited edition timepiece and we haven’t been able to stop thinking about what could be following because last year’s Bremont DH-88. But now we now have the answer! For 2017, the brand have published a trio of beauties in the form of the Bremont 1918 Limited Edition watch collection.Named in tribute to the RAF’s heritage year and celebrating 100 years since date, the Bremont 1918 Limited Edition watches come from stainless steel, rose gold and white gold. The date appears in a strangely shaped window apparently echoing a screen from a C17 plane — at 3 o’clock. A particularly aviation-inspired city ring — even more on which later — surrounds the dial, representing the 24 major time zones. And do not be so transfixed from the gorgeous, thoroughly completed dial which you neglect sneaking a glance or three in the movement — along with its crowning attribute, the Bremont-customized, skeletonized rotor — throughout the crystal clear sapphire caseback. The solid caseback has been decorated with an engraved profile of the Supermarine S6.B, the fastest plane in the world in 1931 and also considered to have played a vital part in the development of the legendary Spitfire.
In 2018, the British Royal Air Force will celebrate its centenary year and in recognition of this, Bremont Watch Company, has launched a new limited edition chronograph GMT watch called the Bremont 1918 – available in stainless steel, rose gold, and white gold variations, each with a different dial color. A connection to the RAF is nothing new for the British watchmaker, which has always associated itself with and taken design inspiration from aviation.
The Bremont 2016 Replica 1918 has a 30-minute chronograph, a second hour hand for tracking a second time zone in a 12-hour format, an AM/PM indicator for the second time zone, and the date. It is powered by the caliber BE-16AE, which is a modified Valjoux 7750 and beats at 28,800bph with a 42-hour power reserve, and comes with a COSC certification. To be pedantic, we should note that the strict definition of a GMT watch means it displays the second time zone in 24-hour format – but with the AM/PM indicator, well… close enough. Like previous Bremont limited editions, a lot of effort has been put towards the design of the rotor, which in this case apparently has metal and wood veneer from 4 different planes from the WW1 and WW2 eras – a Bristol Blenheim, a Supermarine Spitfire, a Hawker Hurricane, and a 1917 SE5a.
This, however, made it difficult to find anything to criticize, which is a fantastic thing from a customer’s point-of-view but not really helpful when you really attempt to compose a more well-balanced review. 1 thing struck us right away: awarded the S2000’s increased performance, and its placement as a professional-grade dive watch, we believe that the triangle on the bezel should not have been executed in red (see this post for our reasoning on this). On the flip side, from a layout point-of-view, we redesign Bremont Vs Panerai Replica to the crimson accents on the hand, dial and bezel.On a more significant note re: diving functionality (and assuming there isn’t an extra strap extension included), the standard black rubber strap is too short should you intend on wearing the S2000 over a diving suit. But these are about the only reasons we could come up with if we were seeking to convince ourselves not to buy this watch.Compared to its “just” 500-meter water-resistant predecessor, the 2,000 meter-water-resistant S2000 brings not only a different color scheme, but also more thickness and a 2-mm bigger diameter (but nevertheless wears smaller than what you’d expect from a 45-mm watch). This also means that not only was that the case enlarged, but most of the parts had to be substituted so as to maintain the well balanced proportions of the first design.With the debut of the S2000 in 2012, Bremont began to include “London” on the dial instead of the former “Swiss Made” that can be found in before S500 models.The see’s COSC-certified movement sits in a toaster to boost shock protection. It is then put within an anti-magnetic soft-iron cage to better protect the balance, balance spring and escapement in the effects of magnetic fields.
The metal from the first three is shaped into propeller blades, one for each plane and the wood is from the 1917 SE5a. All of this is visible through a sapphire caseback. With the use of an automatic chronograph movement with GMT function, a display back, and 100m of water resistance, it’s no surprise this watch is 17.2mm thick. With a case diameter of 43mm, this should give the watch plenty of weight and presence on the wrist – especially with the gold case materials.
The case is assembled using the brand’s signature TripTick method, which gives the case band and lugs their signature look from the side and back. It has a sporty double-step bezel and a large (perhaps, a tad too large) knurled crown, and round pushers. Overall, the case does look like that of a large, contemporary pilot’s watch with a sporty edge.
The dial however, isn’t as immediately legible as one might expect from an aviation watch, as pilot watches make a point of being simple and super legible. Each case material comes with its own dial color – blue for the white gold case, black for the rose gold case, and white for the steel case. At first glance, it is easy to confuse the dial for that of a moonphase chronograph due to the indicator at 6:00 – but that is in fact the AM/PM indicator. This indicator has been designed to depict the Spitfire dogfighting in the Battle of Britain in the AM and the Avro Lancaster bomber on a night mission in the PM.
Bremont — the independent watch brand that is bringing watchmaking back to Britain, and British aviation history into watchmaking — attracts its latest limited-edition timepiece into U.S. viewers for the very first time during the weekend’s WatchTime New York event. Read on for additional information concerning the Bremont Mbiii Replica 1918 Limited Edition, along with some live photos.The watch was developed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the British Royal Air Force (RAF), the world’s oldest independent air force and an institution with whom the brand’s aviation-enthusiast founders, brothers Nick and Giles English, have long held close ties. The dial layout incorporates features from conventional RAF industry clocks and comprises, for the first time at a Bremont watch, an AM/PM indicator. The latter screen, at a moon-phase-like aperture at 6 o’clock, depicts night and day by means of two air-battle scenes from history: the Supermarine Spitfire in a daytime dogfight during the Battle of Britain and also an Avro Lancaster bomber on a night search mission. Yet another first for Bremont: the use of a telemeter scale round the dial’s periphery, a feature which permits the wearer to about assess the distance to an event which may be viewed and noticed, such as a lightning bolt or torpedo strike.Even more historical inspiration can be found when a person turns the watch above, and spies through the sapphire caseback the automatic, chronometer-certified Bremont Caliber BE-16AE and its own very special, propellor-shaped rotor. Like some other Bremont historical restricted editions with historic themes — like the Codebreaker along with the Victory — the 1918’s movement incorporates real antique materials. Here, it’s an unprecedented four historical aircraft that fought with the RAF during both World Wars, all added to the rotor.
There are the usual sub-dials at 3:00 for the 30-minute chrono counter and at 9:00 for running seconds. The Arabic markers are applied and the baton shaped hour and minute hands are filled with SuperLuminova. Despite the large 43mm case size, a significant portion of the dial area is taken up by the telemeter scale, and while thematically it is fitting, it may prove distracting to some wearers in practice due to the increased clutter.
Another contentious choice is the date window, which is in the infamous 4:30 position. With all the different indicators on the dial, I think the date window could’ve been left out. A curious design choice is the contrasting sub-dials on the white gold variant (white on blue) but the other two variants have sub-dials with the same color as the primary dial. I don’t see any obvious reason for this choice, but it does give it a “panda” kind of effect.
Like previous limited-edition Bremont timepieces, a portion of the proceeds from sales of the Bremont 1918 will be donated to the Royal Air Forces Association. The Bremont 1918 is likely to appeal to the collector with a personal connection to or interest in the Royal Air Force. All variants ship on an alligator strap with the stainless steel version retailing for a price of $11,495, rose gold for $21,495, and white gold for $22,995. bremont.com
