Reply With QuoteI like them all, but I the Arrow would be my favourite.
The case looks a little too thick. I would need to see it in the flesh.
Ishmael.
Quite like this but not too sure of the crown and pushers
https://www.bremont.com/collections/...products/arrow
I'm guessing this is pretty much a Martin Baker dive watch?
https://www.bremont.com/collections/...ducts/Argonaut
I quite like the simpleness of this although the case marks feel unnecessary
https://www.bremont.com/collections/...cts/broadsword
Last edited by animalone; 26th February 2019 at 13:44.
I like them all, but I the Arrow would be my favourite.
The case looks a little too thick. I would need to see it in the flesh.
Ishmael.
Too much change; too many new models, still the vaguely ‘off’ marketing. Shame because their watches can be pretty good. If only they could settle-down, relax a little and let the brand grow more naturally.
But, with bills to pay, profit to make, perhaps they are running to stand still.
I like the Argonaut, but then im a fan of internal bezels.
Id prefer it without the HMAF though :(
All beautiful watches. There appears to be a black anodized ring on the crown of the Chrono which might bother some.
Needs to be 40mm Case plus the Crown but no bigger. 10mm in Depth and that's it. Antimagnetic case. No milling on the Case side. Screw in crown. The case back needs to be re-engineered for simplicity and comfort.Originally Posted by speedish
I could go on...
Ishmael.
I like both the Arrow and Argonaut. Simple classic and very old skool IWC?
I also like that they've finally picked another case size. 43.50MM just too big for some and the 40MM sometimes a bit lacking presence
For a quality 42MM timepiece pricing also looks 'sensible' but as we all know because they have been a bit marmite over the year the residuals are not great.
If I spent £10-£11k on a certain SS sports watch I might get more of my money back and more 'kudos' from the none WIS fraternity but at least they are something different.
Think I'm with you on that point
Argonaut is lovely but 42mm is 2mm too big for me.
I like all 3.
Quite like the Broadsword, let down by 'HMAF' and 'London' replacing the markers in the small seconds ring. A hardened case would have worked well here. More I study them the worse they look. I'd much prefer a Solo.
Last edited by mylofitz; 26th February 2019 at 15:01.
They work fine for me - what would make them like you more? Maybe there shouldn't be enamel on the crown, but the watch only pretends to be utilitarian anyway, so it's sort of nice of Bremont to acknowledge this.
They are heavily influenced by other watches
The chrono looks to be a modern interpretation of the Lemania Single pusher to me
The diver has shades of the Enica 600
The WWW inspired watch is the winner, nicer than the Vertex reissue although the hands are not quite right to my eyes.
They could all do without HMAF on them
Last edited by Sinnlover; 26th February 2019 at 14:59.
@animalone, funny I was going to text you this morning about them.
I like the argonaut alot,
Don't like the HMAF or stuff on the caseback :(, but i'm definately tempted at that price
(i'm curious if any of the MB's shock resistance is carried over?)
The other two, personally i prefer Vertex's (https://www.vertex-watches.com) takes on the monopusher/time only watches MP45 & M100
the 10th Anniversary MB GMT is quite nice too
https://www.bremont.com/collections/...th-anniversary
Some reasonable looking new releases. My pick is the white dial S300.
They are hardened.
I went to their townhouse event and the Argonaut is the best of the lot in my opinion. The MB III Special edition looks great on a bracelet.
They Argonaut is hardened but no anti magnetic cover or anti shock
I was going to say something similar with preferring how Vertex have gone about the design versus Bremont.
The HMAF on the dial are not great and frankly I think it is all rather expensive.
Argonaut is the pick of the bunch for me, by a long way.
It's just a matter of time...
Should be there tomorrow so I'll ask, if you want any pictures let me know
Last edited by animalone; 26th February 2019 at 16:43.
Love the new white dial 40mm Supermarine. And the white MB looks good.
The new HMAF range needed to have white hands, not black hands with green lume, so despite liking the overall design idea, they miss the design point for me. They put black hands on their white dials, but seem allergic to white hands on black dials??
And I agree that the link to HMAF needs to be kept on the back.
Dave
The shape makes them look like they are sticking out a bit to far in the picture, may be better in person it was just my initial thought.
The dials look ok but as expected they're pretty thick. What wasn't expected is the lines along the case side to hide that, the same trick Breitling have pulled lately. I'm not a fan of it, it makes watches look like twee bakelite radios or something.
I hadnt even realised HMAF was a known abbreviation. But what do I know, I've only been in the army since 1986, so still a bit of a sprog.
If the abbreviation was not on the dial, them I would be saying nice watch.
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I like them but they should all have been 40mm
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Solid bezel plus rotating rehaut at 40mm would have a teeny little dial, no?
I think their number of models is getting a bit out of hand. The yellow S2000 is like an unholy Seiko / IWC fusion, and the “Red” is shear Seiko / Citizen to my eyes
I’m not keen on the HMAF marking, although the Arrow is quite nicely done. I think the Broadsword would be better with different hands and no date. The Argonaut is attractive, but the orange hand is a bit derivative, and it’s a bit, well, meh.
MB2 orange is still their peak, as far as I’m concerned
Dave
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Close but no cigar.
Not necessarily for me. My Seiko SLA017 and 60th Seamaster both have bezels and they wear great.
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Bit disappointing to be honest. Not a fan of the new cases at all, the trip tick case is something that sets them apart so the new case is nothing special. Like the dials though, bit closer to where they were a few years ago before the vintage influence took hold.
I’ve worn my MB pretty much constantly for 6 years, it’s been a great watch. Sadly, I’ve not seen anything for the last few years that’s really grabbed me though. That said, it’s good they are continuing to invest in manufacturing capabilities, just need to find a consistent formula on the design front (and please, not vintage).
Still waiting for that 40mm Solo but don’t think it’s ever coming.
Not keen. Another fake ‘connection’ that is probably made by Bremont paying the marketing department of the MOD some cash. I’ve never heard of the HMAF abbreviation either.
This watch has both a thick bezel AND a rotating rehaut. The SLA017 just has a rotating bezel. With both a thick bezel and a rotating rehaut either the watch has to be bigger, or the dial has to be smaller.
Her Majesty's Armed Forces
I see they are following their usual marketing plan.
Tenuous association / inspiration from the Army this time.
I suppose they are running out of ideas, done Aviation, both commercial and military, Navy now Army.
What's next? Home Front Dad's Army editions?
Probably the salvation army?
That would be a good one. Each watch has a cymbal off a Sally Army tambourine as the dial.
They been doing stuff for the army a fair while now. My unit had a watch commissioned back in 2012.
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Fair enough, and the watches are pretty good.
But, that's my issue (among many) Bremont do this smoke and mirrors thing. They don't have any links to the forces at all. They do commissions, which is very different to supplying issued watches.
Yep I understand that. But nowadays the army procure stuff many off the shelf. Gone the days where issued watches where modified and the REME would inspect them yearly. It's all about the fit for purpose and cost. Low Value Precurement put the end to luxury watch brands making mil spec watches.
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Are most things not outsourced (or commissioned) these days anyway?
The biggest difference between a commissioned piece and a military issued piece is that a military issued piece has a been modified by a unit within the military?
Thanks for the insight in advance.
I'm not a fan of the tenuous connection. I applaud their aspiration to "treat those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, fairly", but unless you bother to read the text the inference from "HMAF" is that they are actually supplying pieces, rather than offering a decent discount to HMAF.
"Bremont have become the sole luxury watch producer allowed to legitimately use the signs, symbols and Heraldic Badges of all three services". It's a clever commercial offering but it's not quite what it appears to be. Had Elliot Brown and Newmark bigger wallets I'm sure they could do the same; after all, EB has made at least one piece specifically for military unit charity organisation which are only available to members of the organisation (serving and ret'd personnel) but NOT available to Joe Public.
Don't get me wrong. I like their passion and may order one of the pieces, and having met Nick I understand his horological drive. I just don't like, IMHO, the slight misrepresentation.
But this is also exactly what they do at Bremont. The last time I looked (and the projects are no longer accessible on thie main site) the military section had over 70 units (like the one referred to above) specifying and procuringcustom models, made only for the people in the unit or retired from it, and at a discount price to offer them some value.
This new range is not the same, I grant you, but that is not all they do in conjunction with the military.
Dave
Military issue is just a contract between the MoD and a supplier.
These days, for “military issue”, read “lowest priced contract that meets requirement on paper”. Not necessarily good for watches and non-essential kit...in the early 2000’s, the military issue CWC was changed to a Pulsar contract. We had loads of issues with crowns falling off watches creating loose articles in cockpits.
That said, in terms of personal kit such as flying clothing, boots, camouflage gear etc, the kit is pretty good quality...which I think stems from the pressure brought about by media attention to
the Afghanistan conflict in 2010-ish. Similarly, we have had a good investment in respirators and personal protective kit against nuclear and biological threat...for obvious recent conflicts.
Commissioned watches have nothing to do with the MoD. They generally come about by a unit (indirectly) paying eg Bremont or Breitling to produce a run of watches with the unit crest or emblem on the dial. Any small discount is usually obtained because you are ordering lots of watches.
The MoD also has a marketing department who sell commercial parties the rights to use trademarked logos. In the case of these Bremont watches I suspect they have just paid to use the rights to the HM Forces logos.
Just to be clear, it’s not really for the army directly. It’s for a group of individuals within the service who have chosen to privately buy a job lot of their watches with a dial print. Not saying that’s a bad thing though as it says that the service individuals are choosing to buy their products.
Black-edged hands on black dials of the Arrow and Broadsword models... what is that all about? What is a BE-95-2AV movement?
I'm afraid that since the BWC/01 in-house movement - "that wasn't" - and their half-hearted subsequent explanations... I can not take Bremont seriously any longer.
I think that IWC's new Spitfire models with in-house movements are a better proposition. If Bremont were not British, nobody round here would give them a second look.
I'm not sure that's true, or fair. Bremont quality is superb and the customer service arguably the best there is. They also appear to have a very strong following in the US.
I sometimes think Bremont get a hard time on here precisely because they are British (or perhaps overplay the British element).
I like them but..............How much??
That's very interesting, I never realized that - perhaps naively.
That's quite harsh, I think. I'm not British and I really like what they are doing. I fully understand how their, well, eagerness to create a heritage for the brand may put some people off and I agree they are trying too hard sometimes. On the other hand I think they succeed in designing watches that have a rather traditional styling, while at the same time being unmistakably Bremont. Their pricing attracts a lot of comments, but having owned one, I can say that they have the quality to back it up.
As for the new models: I have to say I really like them, with the Argonaut being the pick of the bunch for me.
Which is a shame, Guess hence the high prices for vintage mil-spec watches
Jeez, it's time to get over it and move on! Cut them some slack, they made a mistake, it wasn't great and they apologized. Try focusing your anger on other brands that are far more controversial. How about Rolex who manipulate the market creating artificial demand resulting in dealers and watch fans having to play stupid games just to buy a watch!
I don't for one minute believe they made a mistake at all. They tried to pull the wool and got nicked for it.
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