If you’ve ever met Nick or Giles English, you know the brothers are always smiling. why not? After all, the founding couple behind British watchmaker Bremont have finally moved into their brand’s sprawling new factory, which is already starting to produce the fruits of its massive workforce, after a year of delay due to the global pandemic. These include the 40mm Supermarine S302 GMT diver’s watch – one of the first Bremont references to be born in this ambitious new space.
Before we dive into the specific impressions of the watch itself, it’s worth taking a moment to acknowledge that Wing – Bremont’s new factory in Thames Henley and a central figure in the brand’s long-term goal of bringing Britain back to the forefront of watchmaking . It’s a pretty big win, though — after five years in development (not including the pandemic delay), Wing’s sweeping vision does seem to imply that Bremont has no plans to follow in the footsteps of any of its contemporaries. Designed for watchmaking, its eco-friendly design (excess heat from machining on one side of the building is intended to heat the rest of the building, just as an example) lays the foundation for a completely carbon neutral brand ambition, and a It also aims to trace many elements of its watch back to its origins under Wing’s own big roof.
At present, sturdy Norwegian steel bars are machined into the case here, bright red jewels are set into the movements, which are then decorated in Bremont’s own style, including traditional perlage, custom skeletonized rotors and patented shock resistance Technology. Final assembly and quality control are also taking place at the Wing, although the brothers have hinted that there will be more to come in the near future. For Bremont, this is a welcome step towards the next phase of manufacturing integration and a very welcome step to better inform and serve end consumers, especially at a time when component provenance and assembly are often shrouded in mystery. industry. wholesale watches replica
Taking all of these factors into consideration is probably why the new S302 has such an impressive value proposition. You have a tried and tested Swiss GMT ebauche (in this case a bespoke and chronometer-certified ETA 2893 base) powering a tool watch entirely machined and manufactured in the UK. Now, are there cheaper GMT watches with the same movement? Of course – it’s a familiar refrain whenever Bremont’s name is mentioned in the conversation. But we don’t buy a watch solely for its movement – we buy it for the sum of its parts. And with Bremont, you buy it because of the quality and sophistication of the case design, the ease of wearing the watch itself, and the simple fact that for the better part of a decade the brand has brought ingenuity, debate ,
Externally, the new S302 GMT looks a lot like the standard Supermerine S301, with its stocky 40mm profile and signature ribbed DLC-coated barrel protecting the middle of the hardened steel case. Although it’s a GMT watch with a card, Bremont cheap has wisely kept the traditional 60-minute scale on the unidirectional ceramic bezel, fully maintaining its ability as a diver’s watch, rather than just happen to have excess water resistance. It may not seem like much, but if you pull out references to similar gear from Monta, Oris, Bell & Ross, Tudor, or even Breitling or Omega (if we stretch our budget a bit), you’ll find a surprising amount The bidirectional 24-hour bezels, some of which even feature the all-important independently adjustable hour hand – a combination that easily switches back and forth between multiple time zones. But at the end of the day, if you’re just planning to settle for a long diving vacation in some remote turquoise framed area, a quick GMT setting will do the trick, you really only need the time zone: home time and local time to make sure you don’t miss out on the dive boat daily appointments.
Specification
Brand: Bremont
Model: Supermarine S302 GMT
Dimensions: 40mm (12.5mm thick,49mm lug to lug)
Water resistance: 300 meters
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Crystal/Lens: Sapphire
Movement: BE-93-2AV (ETA 2893 GMT base), chronometer-certified automatic movement with date and adjustable 24-hour hand
Frequency: 4 Hz
Power reserve: 40 hours
Strap/Bracelet: Leather
Measuring 40mm, the new S302 is a bit different from Bremont’s tradition of previous GMT-equipped divers, such as the recent Project Possible and the now-sold Endurance, both of which measure 43mm. The stance on the wrist hasn’t changed much (the 40mm Supermarine is 2mm thinner and the lug-to-lug measurement is only a millimeter shorter), but the dial opening has shrunk and so has the lug width, which is now 20mm, The result is a watch that is still very modern to wear, but should be visually small enough to appeal to anyone who prefers the classic size of a typical mid-century tool watch.
Personally, I prefer the applied dial elements, the unique 2 o’clock crown position and crown guard, and the slightly more aggressive styling of the larger 43mm GMT version, but what the S302 lacks in the above , it more than makes up for the charm of the orange ring crown and the cream-painted hour-markers. It also makes me think it’s the perfect understated adventure watch – I wouldn’t think twice about taking it to Baja for a little free dive or land landing, the watch’s matte dial, brushed lugs and On the side, the apparent absence of the ubiquitous Switzerland whose “Luxury” designation at 12 o’clock is actually an advantage.