An evening of watches, aviation and motorsport with Bremont

Kieran Robson

On the evening of the Australian Grand Prix, Time+Tide were invited to an evening with Bremont that featured a guest appearance by co-founder Giles English. This was set to be the final event held in the brand’s current Melbourne boutique located on St. Collins Lane, before the move later in the year to their new venue on Collins Street. The story of Bremont has been told by co-founder Nick English when he met up with our own Andrew McUtchen a couple of years ago. During this event, Giles expanded on the tale and explained more about the background of Bremont.

English referenced the strong relationship Bremont has built with the armed forces, best shown off in the ‘Broadsword’ collection with the blue dial bronze version taking centre stage here. He estimates that between 20% – 25% of Bremont watches are sold to armed forces personnel, echoing the quality of  the brand’s offering and the growing relationship they have with Her Majesty’s Armed Forces, as they’re the only watch brand allowed to use the official HMAF symbols and crests.

As well as the brand’s military-inspired offerings, there were some fantastic watches on display from the British watchmaker, including their Supernova. Powered by the “in-house” ENG375 movement that is manufactured in the UK, the finishing of the watch was excellent and for the very brief time I was hands-on, it felt great on the wrist. It’s certainly a piece I would like to spend more time with.

Another very fun discovery was the “FedEx” Pilots Watch. As the name suggests, the ‘FEDEX ALT1-WT’ piece is only available to FedEx pilots. The company logo attached to the dial is accompanied by a flash of purple and subtle design nods to the planes flown by FedEx. This particular piece was present on the night thanks to its owner, a FedEx pilot, allowing it to be displayed.

To its right, the Bremont MB1, was probably the least attainable piece on the night. The story of this watch is fascinating, and if you think qualifying to purchase a Rolex is difficult, the MB1 surely beats it. According to Giles English, not even Tom Cruise was allowed to pick one up, being politely turned down, as he wasn’t part of the exclusive Martin-Baker Tie Club. To get permission, you must have been one of the lucky souls to have ejected from a Martin Baker ejection seat and survived. How cool is that? The MB1 is identifiable by the yellow seconds’ markers on the dial and the yellow seconds’ hand with a red tip.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank collectors Priya, Carl and Russell who were kind enough to share their stories about watch collecting and even share a couple of highlights from their watch collections. If there is one thing that I have taken away from this evening with Bremont, it is that much like the founders, the watches all have interesting stories to tell. Click here to learn another story, this time about the MBIII.