Bremont jumps on a trend with the Terra Nova Jumping Hour Collection (live pics)
Tom Austin- Bremont have unveiled two new surprise models in the Terra Nova lineup for 2025, in the form of two variations of jumping hour complication watches.
- In keeping with the current hot trend for jumping hour designs, the Terra Nova Jumping Hour is available in two forms: one in 38mm bronze and the other in 40.5mm stainless steel.
- While both watches feature the same jumping hour calibre, the bronze is a more traditional layout, dial-less, with simple apertures, while the steel model has a more conventional dial and seconds hand.
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Traditional hours and minutes hands are so 2024, darling. It seems that anyone who’s anyone in the watch world this year is embracing the dial-less look and ditching the traditional method of telling time with rotating hands around a dial, in search of something fresh with a jumping hour complication. It’s a concept spearheaded in the 1920s by Cartier with the Tank à Guichets. With its re-introduction this year at Watches & Wonders, having set the benchmark, it seems that this complication trend is here to stay for the foreseeable future. There have been several other releases recently, from the likes of Maen, Fears, Franck Muller, Chanel and Gerald Charles, to name a few – but none have quite surprised as much as this new offering from British brand Bremont, the Terra Nova Jumping Hour Collection.
The brainchild of Bremont CEO Davide Cerrato, the Terra Nova Jumping Hour combines the traditional aspects of Bremont’s typical design language with the Art Deco era of the 1920s and 1930s, replacing the traditional dial layout with a mechanically driven digital display that is clean and easy to read. The new collection comprises two different variations, one in stainless steel and a limited edition in bronze, both offering a very different take on the jumping hour style.
The Terra Nova line takes inspiration from the trench watches of the early 20th century, opting for a robust design but incorporating more contemporary, chunky proportions and forging ahead with Bremont’s new, somewhat controversial design language. It’s fair to say that despite the criticism, the brand is doubling down on its vision and showing what it is capable of with the Terra Nova. The new Jumping Hour collection is available in two variations, both in the familiar cushion style, but both quite different in their own ways. The first is in 38mm diameter and finished in a brushed cupro-aluminium bronze alloy (which Bremont CEO Davide Cerrato has dubbed the “Rolls-Royce” of bronze alloys!), and the second is slightly larger at 40.5mm, in brushed and polished 904L stainless steel.
The bronze model incorporates a traditional, closed-case jumping hour style, displayed in the ‘montre a guichet’ fashion, meaning “aperture watch”. It shows the time via a series of apertures on the front of the case, and is devoid of any kind of dial like a traditional timepiece, similar to that of the Cartier Tank à Guichets. The stainless steel model shows the jumping hour mechanism in a more conservative way, retaining the dial, and so at a glance, you wouldn’t necessarily know it was a jumping hour watch at all.
Both cases are well proportioned with the bronze being just 9.1mm thick with a 44mm lug-to-lug, and the steel at 10.15mm thick and 47mm lug to lug, but the steel has an annoyingly wide 22mm lug width, as opposed to the bronze’s 20mm, meaning strap options won’t be quite as broad for the steel. Both models offer a push in crown and a decorated stainless steel case back, which only affords the bronze watch a paltry 30-meter water resistance, which almost negates the military tool-like aesthetic – interestingly, however, the stainless steel does push the water resistance to 100 meters.
The Terra Nova Jumping Hour collection goes in a different direction for both models, with the bronze model opting for three apertures to display the hours at the top, minutes at the bottom and a central seconds window. The seconds dial features the Bremont Compass Wayfinder logo, which is a subtle addition but somewhat blocks reading the seconds easily, as the hand is the same colour as the printing, although it’s unlikely this watch will be used for timing purposes anyway. The dial section of the watch is still circular, as it is still based on the main Terra Nova line, and I can’t help but think it would have been slightly more cohesive if the shape of the front plate was changed to more closely match the case shape, perhaps in a more cushion-like design.
The stainless steel model, however, makes more sense visually, incorporating a more traditional dial layout in its design. This makes the circular layout more pleasing to the eye, and the deep black dial is nicely detailed with a silver-printed minute track, large centre seconds hand and minimal dial text. The hour and minute windows now sit at 9 o’clock (is it still 9 o’clock on this kind of dial? I’m not sure), and this time comes printed in Super LumiNova – a baffling decision when you consider that each hour numeral is only exposed to light for, well, an hour (and each minute numeral for only around 5-10 minutes) – meaning that as they rotate in, they won’t be ‘charged’, and by the time they are, they’ll have rotated away. Not very practical.
Bremont has partnered with Sellita to provide an exclusive movement for both of the Jumping Hour models. The Calibre BC634 is a modified Sellita movement with a high-torque gearing system to ensure the hour disc jumps to the next hour at less than one-tenth of a second. The BC634 is an automatic winding movement with a 56-hour power reserve, features 29 jewels and beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour. Bremont has managed to secure exclusivity for the movement for two years, meaning that afterwards, it’s possible that we may see the movement opened up to be used in many other applications. The central seconds plus hour and minute disc placement means that a myriad of dial variations are possible, so expect to see jumping hour complications from a few of your favourite micro-brands in the future. A jumping hour Studio Underd0g, anyone?
Both models feature quick-release strap and bracelet options, with the bronze model opting for a brown leather strap with cream stitching and pin buckle closure, or a full cupro-aluminium bronze alloy bracelet made up of Y-links and a butterfly clasp, which sadly offers no micro-adjustment. The stainless steel variation offers the same choices, with a black leather strap or stainless steel Y-link bracelet. Both are comfortable options, but I feel like for the complete look, the case design leans well into the bracelet, especially on the bronze model. As mentioned, the stainless steel model has a 22mm lug width, which is a little annoying, but Bremont does offer a wide range of alternative straps as optional accessories that will fit just fine.
Bremont Terra Nova Jumping Hour price & availability
The Bremont Terra Nova Jumping Hour in bronze and steel is available now from Bremont, with the bronze model being a limited edition of 100 pieces. Price: £3,500 (steel on leather), £3,750 (steel on bracelet), £4,550 (bronze on leather), £4,900 (bronze on bracelet)
| Brand | Bremont |
| Model | Terra Nova Jumping Hour |
| Case Dimensions | Bronze: 38mm (D) x 9.1mm (T) Stainless steel: 40.5mm (D) x 10.15mm (T) |
| Case Material | Cupro-aluminium bronze alloy 904L stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 30 meters (bronze) 100 meters (steel) |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire |
| Dial | 3-aperture ‘montre a guichet’ style (bronze) Gloss black (steel) |
| Lug Width | 20mm (bronze) 22mm (steel) |
| Bracelet | Brown leather with pin buckle, or bronze alloy bracelet with butterfly clasp (bronze) Black leather with pin buckle, or stainless steel bracelet with butterfly clasp (steel) |
| Movement | BC634AH, Sellita-based, Bremont exclusive, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 56 hours |
| Functions | Jumping hours, dragging minutes, central seconds |
| Availability | Unlimited production, available now (steel) Limited edition of 100 pieces (bronze) |
| Price | £3,500 (steel on leather) £3,750 (steel on bracelet) £4,550 (bronze on leather) £4,900 (bronze on bracelet) |