I bought my MB at a discounted sale price "sold as seen" and it arrived with a tiny 'ding' on the bezel, which makes me wonder whether the hardening is more resistant to day-to-day scratches that it is 'impact dings'. Either way, I'm unsure of the value of having this process on a watch case: both of my Supermarines have the same 'life' (probably more so, as I dive and spearfish with them) as the MB but the cases are not marked more than the MB.
On the other hand, I've heard it said previously that Rolex are quite easy to mark. So you have a more expensive watch with far higher residuals that damages far more easily.Originally Posted by jonobailey
I take your point about the ETA movements being relatively inexpensive which should be reflected in the price of the watch. The counter argument to that is what percentage of the value of the watch is the movement. I could imagine the same 'engine' being put in watches of different build standards and being different prices. I suppose you could look at the Casio G-Shock line as a case in point and the huge variance in costs between the cheapest and the most absurdly expensive
My main bugbear and why I no longer own a Bremont is how easily they scratch.On the other hand, I've heard it said previously that Rolex are quite easy to mark. So you have a more expensive watch with far higher residuals that damages far more easily.
I owned an MBII and had worn it on half a dozen occasions and noticed the bezel was badly scratched. I emailed Bremont for the full spec of the case hardening and then passed the info along with my watch to a friend who works as a Metallurgist at the Centre for Precision Technologies at the University of Huddersfield. He tested the case on a Buehler Micro Hardness Tester and the results came back between 515 to 742 vickers so nowhere near the claimed hardness of 2000 Vickers. Emails went backwards and forwards between Bremont, my friend and myself for a few weeks with the final conclusion being this from my friend "if they say the coating is only a couple of microns in thickness and a load of 1kg will penetrate the surface, then the coating is less than useless, a 1kg load would be a like a normal everyday scratch"
I then promptly sold the watch as in my mind it was more marketing BS.
I still keep an eye out on this forum from time to time and wish Bremont and British watchmaking luck but there's nothing that they have manufactured and priced it at a point that would make me want to buy another one.
Now if we are talking about expensive watches that scratch easily and have high residuals you've got to mention Nautilus or Aquanauts, now they are scratch magnets.
Think it's a bit of a stretch to say Bremonts are expensive because of UK Based production and assembly when you are comparing them to a Swiss product with just about the highest wages in the World.
I find it very very hard to believe there is only 2 microns of case hardening.
Yes that's what the email from Steven Green said back in 2014. I did start a thread on it but the Mods deleted it after Bremont complained that I posted their email correspondence without consent.
Don’t know if it’s something to do with the MB cases in particular, but I had a ding on that and hardly wore it
That said, my Alt1 and S300 get plenty of wear and are spotless
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Likewise. My MB has a few more dings than the others, especially around the ‘top’ of the bezel where I’ve caught it on door handles and the like.
Another thing I’ve found is the Bremont ceramic bezels appear to be ‘soft.’ I know of a few folks (Jeremy and Steve of this parish being two!) who have managed to scratch the ceramic, which is very very unusual.
J.
Woukd be good to know if he has managed to test other Bremont watches and what readings they came out with, along with other companies watches.
I know from my experience my Bremont's don't scratch as easy as all my other brands. Worse for scratching was my IWC UTC. But my Rolex, Omega , Breitling & Panerai all show much more wear. So whatever Bremont do it has worked for me.
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My S300's ceramic bezel is beautiful and I would imagine 'pot hard' which is an old engineering term from my neck of the woods.
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Unfortunately I think I believe it - I have had hardened Sinn and Damasko watches for approx. 7 years, have banged them against walls, metal posts and clumsily changed straps without the slightest of marks being made. My MB2 on the other hand had a ding of the bezel just by looking at it - the tech is not comparable.
I do think the Bremont tech will prevent swirls and minor scratches, but if its an impact that will cause a ding on a normal steel watch, I think the Bremont will be dented as well, as the depth of the hardening is so shallow
Last edited by jonobailey; 01-12-2021 at 10:10 PM.
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