That’s interesting. I guess that, as I rarely can see the watches in person, is less of a thing for me to see them in person. In fact, the only time I can is when I pass through an airport (and these days, the boutiques there don’t carry anything anyway).
The other thing is that I know exactly what I’m looking for, and so I’m only interested to see if a watch meets that requirement (which I can do online, largely). It is, of course, always helpful to try on a watch and I won’t buy without trying either — but that has nothing to do with the *release* of the watch. I like to see the releases online — because, otherwise, I wouldn’t see the watches at all. It’s only once a year I fly into Heathrow and the boutiques in terminal 5 don’t have much to look at anyway (other terminals are better).
I’m sure gatherings are nice, but they’re exclusionary when you can’t get to them.
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The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. :smokin::twit::smokin:
SS Submariner no date 1992 (flipped); SS GMT II 2007 (flipped); SS GMT II C 2008 ('M' series) (flipped); SS Sub C 2011 (flipped); 16753, '81 TT GMT 'Root Beer'
I can see your point with your first comment and totally agree with your second. The internet is a very useful tool and I wouldn't for a second suggest that releases should not be online as well but there's something less personal about the internet. I think that with Bremont it's about more than just the watch. The boutiques are extremely inviting and the staff very personable.You can spend an entire visit with no intention of buying and they'll be more than happy to talk, often about topics other than watches. The Townhouse event has a very easy going appeal and the limited edition launches have the glamour but also a friendliness to them that makes you feel as though you're part of the whole event rather than just that you managed to 'blag' an invite.
Of course I say all that while being aware that very few people are able to make these events in which case the internet is the best of what's left. I think Bremont have got it right in that when we're in 'normal' times they hold a launch event and at the same time 'launch' details of the watches on the web.
I've just thought of another watch(es) that looks totally different in person to on the web - the 1947 collection. They look so much better in person although I still think the price is too high but that's a whole different story!
It’s good to hear that the townhouse events are so inviting — a few people have suggested I should go to one. To be honest, I probably would if it coincided with a UK visit. It’s refreshing to hear of a manufacturer that perceives its clients as an imminent and important thing — rather than just someone who buys a piece. That attitude is, in part, one of the ‘love’ aspects of my watch ownership.
However, I’m really a one watch guy, so I’m waiting for someone to actually produce the piece I need and then my interest in other watches will be pretty much non-existent. (Unfortunately, every watch manufacturer is kind of dancing around my needed specs, and I get quite irritated and annoyed by how close they come without hitting it). So as much as I like going to ADs and boutiques to see what there is, I’m *really* only looking to see if any brand I prefer has managed to see the light yet! (Grand Seiko’s upcoming ABGJ237 is near (though is too big, too ugly, too blingy); and Steinhart’s Ocean One Titanium as close as it gets function wise, (but it’s also ugly, too big, and doesn’t have a chronometer movement with shock absorption — so it’s still off by a country mile! [photos below]))
I suppose, for people like me, online releases simply show me whether or not something has the required functionality I’m searching for. If something is close, then I’ll make the effort to go and find one. If not, I ignore it. In as much, I don’t really chat about watches or case construction (or what have you) — what little bit I know about a watch is only a function of a very demanding set of desired criteria; and after that my knowledge, like my interest, wains.
It’d certainly be nice to meet the brothers though: As an engineer and a Land Rover enthusiast, I think we’d have a bit in common. However, I could care less about ambassadors: I don’t what to know if my watch is good for the Arctic, climbing 7 mountains, or being ejected out of a plane — I want to know if it’d cope with splitting 2 cords of wood with an axe, whether it’d cope with banging in fenceposts with a can, or whether the crystal would scratch from rooting around in soil and gravel.
Likewise, I’m uninterested if Tom Hardy or Ewan McGregor wears one (unless they happen to do so pulling the bottom end on a Range Rover V8): That kind of marketing is irrelevant to me. show me some farmer that’s trapped his in a side dump trailer, or who’s had some cow shove his up against a concrete post or metal pillar. These are the real-world things I care about, and these things tend not to be the kinds of things marketed at such releases (though I’m sure that there’s any number of interesting personal stories to be told — I’ve a few myself!) Sadly, no-one wants to see some guy splitting wood in a promo image — we’re generally not sexy enough!
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The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. :smokin::twit::smokin:
SS Submariner no date 1992 (flipped); SS GMT II 2007 (flipped); SS GMT II C 2008 ('M' series) (flipped); SS Sub C 2011 (flipped); 16753, '81 TT GMT 'Root Beer'
Ah, the funny (and sometimes bizarre) world of brand ambassadors!
Bremont have always had an interesting mix in my opinion - because they have always prided themselves on never having paid for the watch to be on somebodies wrist.
Now recently in the UK, this has led to the watches being seen on everyone from a TV Chef to hardened ex-SAS (and SBS!) heroes on a popular TV show. I think this can (and likely does) portray a very different image of the watch - these guys are all wearing S2000 - than the marketing maybe suggests, and thus hitting a different target audience. A clever move!
As an aside to the above, I was talking to someone the other day who was anti-the other big aviation watch brand starting with ‘B’ because they DIDN’T use any female ambassadors at a fairly recent boutique launch. This lack of inclusivity put them squarely off pulling the trigger on a potential big sale.
I know it wouldn’t bother the brand one bit, but it does go to show the potential your ambassadors can have on the customers....
J.
That’s quite fair, really. I hadn’t thought about it, but it’s a reasonable position to take. Curiously, even though I don’t follow the brand ambassador thing, I know more people (ambassadors) that wear Bremont than for other watch producers. I can’t think of one for Rolex (only the usual vintage names form the 60/70s). I don’t think they were ambassadors either — they just happened to wear them, perhaps? I don’t know — perhaps Eastwood was given one for his movies.
I think it’s fair to say that Bremont have a different type of ambassador — usually focussed on their target of endurance rather than on the fact that a person is famous. That helps me somewhat because it’s the endurance aspect about which I care. While I’ve no connection to being ejected, I kinda care that the shock protection developed for it might protect the watch from other shocks.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. :smokin::twit::smokin:
SS Submariner no date 1992 (flipped); SS GMT II 2007 (flipped); SS GMT II C 2008 ('M' series) (flipped); SS Sub C 2011 (flipped); 16753, '81 TT GMT 'Root Beer'
Is that comment not stretching the truth a little bit? Didn't Bremont become main sponsors for Nims Project Possible?
Peter Hickman becoming an ambassador also coincided with Bremont becoming official timing partner for the IOM TT.
I'm not suggesting that there's anything wrong with it but I don't think all the ambassadors are wearing the Bremont watches because they are fans of the brand and paid for the watches. Some for sure but not all.
On the subject of 'ambassadors', it's something that I understand for marketing purposes but also something that i don't like. I've never seen why just because someone is famous they should be given expensive things that the ordinary person, who most likely has far less income, has to save up and pay for. If those ambassadors have purchased a watch and choose to be part of the 'family' then I'm fine with that but if they do it simply as a free ride that's something else altogether.
Regarding the other 'B' brand, was it a problem with the boutique launch or the brand they had a problem with? I constantly see 'B' adverts with Charlie Theron in them who is most likely paid to represent the brand but is an 'ambassador' never the less. I can't actually recall ever seeing a female ambassador at a Bremont launch either. I've never actually seen a Solo 32 or 34 in any shop other than a Bremont boutique either. Should it matter? (another chance at a debate)
That's the main thing that I like about the Bremont brand, it's so friendly and being at a Townhouse event where an owner of the company quite casually walks up to you and has a chat is something that I would never expect from another international watch brand. Even just walking into a boutique is relaxing. You get the feeling that everyone who works for the brand likes the brand which is a selling point in itself.
I actually like that Steinhart.![]()
I can't think of many but do they need them? Rolex don't seem to want to sell more watches than they already do. In the UK the one 'ambassador' that springs to mind is (Lord) Alan Sugar. He seems to wear nothing but Rolex and even posted on twitter recently that he was annoyed at not being able to get hold of one (a BLNR if I recall correctly).
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. :smokin::twit::smokin:
SS Submariner no date 1992 (flipped); SS GMT II 2007 (flipped); SS GMT II C 2008 ('M' series) (flipped); SS Sub C 2011 (flipped); 16753, '81 TT GMT 'Root Beer'