Well worth a 3 min read, he has pedigree and the brand is at a true turning point. Slow and steady they have grown and progressed.
https://www.ft.com/content/a249c48a-...Mh5XeirTglGMEs
RIAC
Interesting that he sees the future offering being slightly under (on cost terms) the current offer, stepping into what the article suggests is "Black Bay" Territory.
I would really like to see more on offer from Bremont in that segment.
And I see no problem with getting in there.
Currently Bremont hardly offer any no-date watches for instance. A simplified S300 no-date with all of the elegance but less of the costs in steel would sell very well I think.
People do associate price with quality and its easy to forget that not too many years ago a nice Rolex Sports was £3-£4k. Perhaps the current feeding frenzy has priced it out and a return to a sensible price point would be very welcome given the state of the economy and what we could be facing. That said I remember when planet oceans used to cost £1000 and then when omega bought out the new range. They marked them at £2000 and nobody was prepared to pay the money for about six months and then it normalised. I think if you look at brands like Bremont and compare what you are getting then bang for buck you will truly struggle to find a better made piece and you are buying British and you have all of that service support in your own country which is actually great value as a watch owner.
Now, clearly I am a Bremont fan. Having project designed a watch for them and enjoying their ethos and offerings, but that said it is still a logical price point, and a quality product for anybody, regardless of whether they are slightly biased as I will openly admit I am
RIAC
Nice read, and would be good to see Bremont challenge for that sector, with the in-house movement & potentially smaller size watches.
A no date s300 or Solo at 38mm would peak my interest.
However most of their recent releases for me haven't appealed.
Odd he suggested they didnt have any brand identity. MBII spring to mind or the ALt1-C.
I'll be interested to see how they do under an experienced industry CEO who understands the market.
He also did well to not mention N&G, it was only the FT that dropped them in.
Last edited by MrBanks; 7th July 2023 at 15:40.
Interesting to see how he does. I think he's right in identifying that they need an instantly recognisable Bremont model that is "theirs". Oh and dial down on the Limited Editions as well.
I wonder why Bremont now have a Managing Director and a CEO - which in the UK should be the same thing but as we're now the 51st state it isn't - as well as two founders. Who will become the face of the new Bremont company?
The US market is an obvious choice to try and break, why that hasn't been done already I don't know. The US love our prestige cars so why not our prestige watches?
I'm also fascinated that he says there's, as has been mentioned previously, no iconic Bremont product. The MBII must be that watch. Arguably the Alt1-C as well but that has so many variations it's watered down the design. That's possibly where Bremont fall foul at the moment. They make so many different designs that it's great for collectors who want variation but not so great for new customers to the brand who have too much choice.
I'm also not so sure about DC wanting to push a watch into the 2k-3k price point. The price of watches is rising very quickly and now there are Seiko watches around that price as well as multiple brand quartz watches. If you're pushing a luxury British watch brand is that where you want to be pushing?
They don't. They only have the CEO now.Originally Posted by theancientmariner
I stand corrected, I didn't realise that Chris Reynolds had literally just left to take over as CEO of Thrudark (so for a short time, they did have an MD and CEO, or actually a CEO and COO).
Thanks for sharing, Kerry.
It is encouraging to see Bremont not join the race up the pricing ladder but rather to seek to exploit the sub-£3k segment that others have vacated. I think he’s spot on when he says they don’t have an iconic product. Looking forward to what they produce in 2024!
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
The ‘TRIP-TICK’ case was supposed to be it but I feel it is suffering from the same issue as the AP Code 11.59... where it doesn't matter how well it appears from the side when from the top it looks too ordinary/plain. They need a "punchy" design. Time to spend some money in that direction.
Let's hope the new CE reads up on his new charge at some point (as well as finding a decent British tailor and optician) - no iconic watch ... That said, I'm looking forward to seeing the new models - kudos on the lower (more reasonable) price point.
The problem with the Trip-Tick design is that it's used across 90 percent of the Bremont range and it's more function than form, iconic design may be but not an iconic model.
I happen to think that the MBII is an iconic design, I hadn't seen anything like it before and haven't really since. The new Supernova seems an attempt at an iconic design but the price is may be too high and too many people have issues with the design cues coming from other watch brands.
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