Nothing gives me more pleasure than picking up a new watch and sharing my thoughts about it. Today, I am super excited to have my Supermarine S301. Barely more than a year ago, I thought I'd never see a Bremont in real life. I really don't travel, and I am not keen on ordering online a watch which I have never seen.
Thank You to Roldorf & Co. here in Vancouver - especially Howie and Jason - who introduced me to Bremont. The smart little shop located downtown, is a treasure trove of a few unique brands not carried elsewhere in the city, and some nowhere else in Canada. They are a couple of great, humble and friendly guys, who love helping people and talking about all types of watches. Plus all their watchmaking tasks. I don't know how they have time in their day to accomplish everything!
Yesterday, I went in to get a new strap for my Nomos. My eyes were drawn to this gorgeous little vintage looking diving watch in the display case. And I took a long look at my first Bremont. The S301 is the smallest of the Bremont diving watches and, at 40mm, a suitable size for any wrist.
Today, I went and had another look, and left with the watch. Now time to share some pics and thoughts about it.
Quoting from the Bremont website:
"The watches’ namesake derives from the 1930’s aircraft company, Supermarine, whose first ever Spitfire prototype – the Type 300 – led to one of Britain’s most iconic aircraft."
All watches come in a gorgeous bridle leather watch wallet, Made in England, contained in black velour Bremont sack within a black box. I include these photos because I think it is one of the nicest ways I have ever seen a new watch presented:
This watch abounds with details which make it one of the coolest diving watches I have seen.The smaller markers evoke feelings of vintage pieces from the 50s. Super clean dial, minimum of text and smallish date window at 3 o'clock. Narrowish cathedral style hour and minute hands, a red tipped lollipop second hand and red "SUPERMARINE" text add a bit of excitement to the dial. A very subtle faux patina use for hands, and markings on dial and bezel add a vintage look again, without being overdone. The other quality in the finishing is the seamless texture and shade of bezel and dial:
Photo from Bremont website
Bremont uses a triple layer case design called "Trip-Tick". A ceramic unidirectional laser engraved bezel on top, middle layer or main case is DLC coated with a beautiful gold accented crown, and the back is screw-down stainless steel, decorated with the outline of the Spitfire 300 aircraft. The beautifully sculpted signature lug design really sets this watch apart IMO from other brands. Especially with the lovely polishing of the beveled edges:
Photo from Bremont website
The polished beveled edge of the lugs is apparent in these two photos:
The dark brown vintage leather strap with sturdy Bremont buckle suits the watch perfectly:
The way the beautiful lugs protrude slightly over the edge of the main case, and curve at the ends really hold the case in place and allow the watch to sit very comfortable on the wrist, as can be seen in some of the above photos. The watch is a perfect size and only 13mm thick. The bezel at 120 clicks turns very precisely. The easy-to-grip screwed down crown tightens effortlessly into place, very securely without any hint that it will loosen.
A few of my own wrist shots. My wrist is 7.25in:
Information about the metal case from the Bremont website:
CASE HARDENING
BREMONT B-EBE2000 WATCH CASE TREATMENT
All Bremont watches are treated for hardness with B-EBE2000 technology. During this special stage in the case production the metal is heat-treated and defused with carbon, then bombarded with electrons. The process dramatically increases the hardness and scratch resistance of the stainless steel. On the Vickers’ scale of hardness, for example, B-EBE2000 produces a watch case with a value of 2000Hv - approximately seven times that of the normal stainless steel used for watch cases.
A few details:
BE-92AE automatic chronometer with 38-hour power reserve
40mm stainless steel Trip-TickŪ case construction
Water resistant to 30 ATM, 300 metres
The satin finishing on the case is beautiful, as is the polishing on the beveled edges of the lugs. I'm not sure if it's the finishing or the treating of the metal, but the case and lugs take on an almost titanium grey shade, which really adds to the appeal.
Thank You for looking at my review of this watch, which I have come to love in a very short time. The Bremont website offers an abundance of information on both technical and aesthetic elements of the watches: https://www.bremont.com/
Cheers,
Carl