Company: Bremont
Brief history from Bremont’s website:
BREMONT HERITAGE
Bremont is an award-winning British company producing beautifully engineered chronometers at our Headquarters in Henley on Thames, England.
Time began for Bremont in 2002, when we embarked on a journey to make beautifully crafted pilot’s watches of exceptional quality. Inspired by a love of flying historic aircraft, of watches and all things mechanical, our timepieces had to be tested beyond the normal call of duty. The watches in our classic range are all COSC-certified and we are one of the few companies offering a 3-year warranty on every product. Immensely precise, reliable and durable, Bremont watches are hand built in limited numbers.
Each is designed to appeal to those who share our passion for – and appreciation of – the innovation and mastery behind a beautiful mechanical wristwatch. We hope you enjoy the same satisfaction when you try on a Bremont watch, as we do in creating one.
Watch Model: Supermarine 500
Technical Data:
MOVEMENT
Modified calibre 13 1/4” BE-36AE automatic chronometer, 25 jewels, glucydur balance. Anachron balance spring, Nivaflex 1 mainspring, 28,800 bph, 38 hour power reserve, Bremont moulded and skeletised decorated rotor.
FUNCTIONS
Hour/minute/second, date and day at 3H.
CASE
Stainless steel case with sapphire uni-directional rotating bezel. Case diameter 43mm, lug width 22mm. Inner soft iron anti-magnetic Faraday cage to protect movement. Protective patented anti-shock movement mount.
CASE BACK
Stainless steel screw-in and decorated case back.
BEZEL
Sapphire uni-directional rotating bezel with SuperLumiNova luminous coating.
DIAL
Metal dial with various ground colours and applied indexes. SuperLumiNova coated indexes and hands.
CRYSTAL
Domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal.
WATER RESISTANCE
Water resistant to 50 ATM, 500 metres.
RATINGS
C.O.S.C chronometer tested.
STRAP/BRACELET
Integrated rubber strap or stainless steel bracelet.
CERTIFICATION
Individually serial numbered with accompanying C.O.S.C certification.
PRICE
$5400 USD
Packaging:
The packaging is nothing short of awesome. The outer box is made of cardboard adorned with the Bremont name on the top of the box, inside that box is a leather travel case. The case is clasped with a traditional buckle strap. It really has that aesthetic that Bremont tries to include in all of their watches, the aviation aesthetic. But it goes beyond that, it has that vintage aviation feel, not the we are trying to go for that purposeful overdone vintage feel, but the vintage feel of early aviation. When it was something so new and so exciting, when the Wright brothers were just “taking off”.
When you unbuckle the travel case, you get your first look at the watch itself. More on this later, but it’s breathtaking. The watch is strapped to a long tube, which at first just appthe ears to be a means to strap the watch tube, but there’s a hidden surprise. One end of the tube is removable, and inside the tube is a Bremont strap changing tool. A very innovative and cool bonus. I don’t know about you guys, but I love changing the straps on my watches. Not only does this change the look of the watch but it also breaths a newness to the watch, adding more personality and individually to the watch.
The packaging also includes the documents; chronometer certification, watch manual, warranty card and a signed letter from Bremont founders the English brothers. I really like the addition of the letter and it’s what I really like about Bremont as a brand. Being a newer company, their passion is prevelent in all that they do. They have that care to make sure their customers are happy and to deliver quality products, not just out there to make a dollar. It’s so refreshing to see this.
The Case:
The case is what initially made this watch so attractive to me, it’s so beautiful, yet so rugged in design. The crown side features the coolest crown guard I have ever seen on a watch. The crown guard is held in place by 2 hex style screws which adds to the rugged feel of the S500. The screw down crown is easy to grab and unscrew, operates smooth and flawlessly. The crown is signed with the Bremont propeller logo. Signed crowns are a must for me, when they are not signed it just looks off and generic. There’s a DLC ring around the middle of the crown which matches and ties in nicely with the DLC sides if the case. Bremont’s cases are technical feats in themselves, see the picture below for a breakdown of their patented triptik cases.
I’m not going to get all scientifically on you guys, I believe the above pic explains it better than I could. To put it all into my words, the case on the S500 is tough as nails, and can withstand most of what you can throw at it. It’s what I look for in my watches, a watch that can handle daily use in all situations, after all watches are made to be worn, not to sit in a watch winder to be admired from afar. Tough watches, like Bremont says, tested beyond endurance, is exactly what you get in the design of the S500.
The non crown side of the case features a automatic helium release valve. The wacth can handle depths to 500m, though Bremont states it can handle deeper, not like I’m going to test that. 25-50 feet is about as deep as I go.
The lugs are absolutely amazing on the S500, combining both brushed and polished steel. The polished portion can be traced from one lug across the case length wise to the other lug, a very nice intricate detail. Though the watch is thick, the curved lugs let the watch sit nice on the wrist and ever so comfortable. You will know the watch is on your wrist, but not in a way where it’s obnoxious.
The Dial, bezel, hands.
Attractive, bold, attention to detail, flawless design, yes this sums up the dial on the S500. The hands are so proportional to the dial which is a personal petpeve of mine, for example you get a nice rugged diver, with a robust case, nice size dial, and then you get these tiny hands that look like they belong on a 32mm watch???? Really? That’s not he case here at all. You get nice thick minute and hour hands, that have a nice elegant finish to them at the end where they round off then straighten to a point, I’ve heard them referred to as “lollipop” style, but the thickness/width of the rest of the hand doesn’t scream lollipop to me. The lume on the hands is perfectly applied and glow very nicely. The seconds hand extends all the way to the chapter ring which I really enjoy that it does. I do wish the seconds hand was done like it is on the S2000, which is the only thing I have to nitpick about on this whole watch by the way. The applied markers are nicely raised adding a 3 dimensional apprearence. The rectangles and circles used for the hour and minute markers are encapsulated with matching metal in appearence to the hands. At the 12, 6, 9 positions are the rectangles and at the 1,2,4,5,7,8,10,11 markers are the circles, all of the markers are also coated with lume. The dial center features some nice texturing which is bordered by “railroad tracked” style ring with bold marks at the coresponding hour marks. The chapter ring is marked from 0-60 in which the second hand nicely extends to. The date window at 3 has some nice attention to detail to it in terms of the bordering around the date window with some nice angled detailing, instead of just a simple flat square, Bremont opted to add some 45 degree angling to the inner framing. Everything on the dial is easily read and due to the beautiful sapphire crystal, which is so transparent, makes reading at all angles easy. The bezel itself is also sapphire which adds more durability and scratch resistance than that of traditionally used bezel materials. The bezel markers are also coated with a layer of lume which in my opinion is a must on a dive watch. The bezel is easy to grip thanks to the nice machining done to the outter edges and not too sharp where it’s uncomfortable to grip. The nice, no play unidirectional, magical 120 clicks beauty makes spinning the bezel ever so addicting. Round and round where and when I’ll stop…….I doubt that I ever will. The bezel also features a lumed triangle which is a detail which is critical to diving watches and should be on every dive watch.
The Strap:
The watch included with the watch is a nice rubber strap with a singed Bremont buckle. The strap is well made and very comfortable to wear. I would like to get the Bremont bracelet but for right now this strap fits all my needs. It’s thick rubber, but not stiff, it easily forms to the wrist and meets the case with no gaps inbetween. It hugs the case so tight with love aka craftmenship at its best.
The Movement:
Modified calibre 13 1/4” BE-36AE automatic chronometer, 25 jewels, glucydur balance. Anachron balance spring, Nivaflex 1 mainspring, 28,800 bph, 38 hour power reserve, Bremont moulded and skeletised decorated rotor. Below is a picture explaining the extra care Bremont takes to make not only the outside of the watch rugged and tough, but also ensuring the movement is protected. Again I’m not going to try to get all technical and bore you putting things into my own words, so just look below and read how the masters at Bremont explain things.
Closing thoughts:
The S500 achieves everything that Bremont set out to do with this watch, it’s a all purpose, rugged dive watch that can handle anything the wearer can throw at it. It’s an adventurers watch, whether your adventures are extreme or just a typical low key weekend adventure. It’s nice enough to wear to the office or with a suit or dressed down for a weekend out. I don’t know how true this is, but I read somewhere that the S500 was designed to be the a certain companies iconic dive watch competition. While that companies diver is iconic and a classic, it’s also in my opinion boring, mundane and without personality, whereas the S500 is refreshing, with technically built in both case design and movement protection. Teamed with amazing customer consideration and service at Bremont, makes the S500 the clear choice for me. I love Bremont’s passion, I love that they care so much about their customers and I love how they are constantly striving to improve and impress. While other companies just ride on their name and stick with the same old thing, Bremont is out there doing their thing with their customers always in their mind, but for the right reasons, not just to make a buck. This is the watch James Bond should be wearing.
I highly recommend the S500 to anyone looking for a tough but classy diver, and who wants a break from the obvious same old choice, break the common mold, and go outside the box, go with a Bremont. You won’t be disappointed.
Additional Pictures:
Wrist Shot
my wrist is 7 1/2″ for reference.
