Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by Middo
My money went elsewhere to Mr Platts and the PRS-12 1903 commemorating 100 years since the Wright brothers first flight. Good movement and limited to 100 pieces
Indeed. I was first interested in Bremont having watched Ewan McGregor on his motorcycle adventures. The early designs appealed and a bit of plus value being a British company.
I think if they had continued to have their watches associated with adventures and exploration, then they would have built an interesting brand.
The more I saw of the brothers, their events and marketing, I began to realise that unless I suddenly became someone who likes pink shirts with white collars, or trousers with elastic waists from a Sunday supplement, then I would spend elsewhere.
Nigel
My money went elsewhere to Mr Platts and the PRS-12 1903 commemorating 100 years since the Wright brothers first flight. Good movement and limited to 100 pieces
Since Bremont marketing history seems to bring the worst out in people (particularly those who haven't handled them), i'd like to agree with these two posts.
For the money they are very well made watches (non LE stuff)
I had for several years a MB2 (sold it to WF a couple of weeks back to fund a new toy), and in that time I found it to be a brilliant watch
-fit and finish was nice, and the inner rotating bezel had a satisfing click when turning
-the case design and contrasting finishes of the brushed case vs machined aluminium barrel was visually interesting vs your typical slab sided case
-CS on the few times i've dealt with them was perfect and better than a lot of the "big boys", servicing was quick and reasonably priced too.
Would i buy one again, probably yes (MB3, since i prefer the lack of the day indicator)
If they did an LE MB2 non-date (with no tenuous tie-in), then i'd probably buy that.
I would like to say that being one of the people that has recently spoke negatively about the Bremont brand on this thread that I have actually handled them.
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My money went elsewhere to Mr Platts and the PRS-12 1903 commemorating 100 years since the Wright brothers first flight. Good movement and limited to 100 pieces
There's a rumour that each rotor contains a scrap of material from the Wright brother's underpants.
;-)
F.T.F.A.
Bremont do regular tours of their factory. I'm sure if there was enough interest on here (from genuine people with interest in the brand) a tour can be organised.
Let's hope it was from a flight where they didn't crash then!
So Bremont have bought history, in the form of cloth from the Wright Brothers airplane, to make up for not having any of their own?
He may not ever have actually existed, that is the rub !
Complete with touchdown skidmarks perhaps ??
Thanks - hands-up anyone want to look at an English Watch Factory??
Also found this article - https://www.ablogtowatch.com/bremont...y-closer-look/
Which ends with:Come on England!. . . To me, the biggest take away from my deep-dive into the goings-on at Bremont isn’t what Bremont has achieved technologically, but rather their commitment to bringing real mechanical watchmaking back to the UK. No other contemporary watch brand at their level is doing this in England, or arguably, anywhere else. Their successes bode well for the industry at large, and fan the flames of a larger resurgence of contemporary mechanical watchmaking outside the framework of a conglomerate entity. In other words, their work is innovation at its purest form.
To that end, if you’re looking to support modern independent watchmaking at a level that makes a difference, you’d do well to look at Bremont. Take it from a guy who only collects vintage and owns exactly ONE modern timepiece: Bremont is a contemporary brand worth throwing your support behind
Back on topic: Last year I bought a couple of Bremonts, an Alt 1C and an Alt 1 ZT and loved them both. Unusual, not blingy, well made and look great. Early this year, I bought a Wright Flyer as my "special" occasion watch and I have to say I love it. Has far more presence and appeal than my Rolexes and other watches and love the fact that its British. I managed to get a half decent discount, which helped justify the price point.
Love the watch and love the brand.
That is what drew my interest rather than the fake, made up history...Indeed
Nigel
Careful, now! That's dangerously close to a rational and balanced opinion. Surely your post count is high enough to know better...? 8-)
SGR
Sorry about that, I must have been drunk out of my mind. I'll stick to unnecessarily offensive drivel in the future. ;)
For those who haven't read it, here's how the controversy exploded. Grab a cuppa and read the comments section.
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/in...t-wright-flyer
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Ooh ang on, I will grab my ready meal Lasagne and have a read
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Jeez, you said grab a cuppa to read the comments? I'm gonna need a large Flask, I'm at the in-house rotor bit lol.
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Thing is, most watch buyers couldn’t care less...
TBH If a watch buyer was looking to drop £23k on a watch they would probably be looking somewhere else.
Very true, but I could.
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Horology gold. Never seen anything like it. I don't think Bremont have ever truly recovered.
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Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Maybe Bremont won't care about the small percentage of wis that think they tried to con people, your probably right.
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Well, they aren't allowed to are they.
In any thread discussing the release of a Bremont watch there are only two or three posts that are actually about the watch. The rest are the oft repeated rehash of the same old issues.
I own a Supermarine and dealt with the company to have the bezel repaired the year before last. The watch and Bremont's customer service have been exemplary.
And why should they be?
Lied from the start only admitted their "mistake" after being found out. In an Instant trustworthiness is out the window.
They could have spun it as, in-house design but made by xxxx exclusively for us etc. etc. They chose not to and to outright lie instead.
We are lied to, target marketed and conned by big international corporations everyday, so a small UK based watch maker, especially, in WIS-Land was like a breath of fresh air. So finding out that they lied is upsetting and makes you question their other tales and are they tall?
Origin story of the brand name?
Bought in associations with various companies, but the copy reading as if they were commissioned.
Are the bits of scrap inside actually from whatever they say it is?
There is a difference between Bragging marketing and BS marketing, it's slight but it is there.
What he said.
Very damaging, a parallel with Elon Musk calling that diver a 'Pedo', there'll be long-reaching repercussions on the business!
That’s hardly a parallel.
The level of hate for Bremont never ceases to amaze me. Flyergate aside I have always found them a great company to deal with, they make some great pieces. It’s not all about the LE stuff, and at least their LE's are made in small numbers.
Did the bezel need to be repaired because you damaged it, or did it leave the factory that way,?
😂 I bet at least 8 out of 10 Bremont buyers wouldn’t have a clue what you were on about if you mentioned the in-house misstep. I suspect most people either see a watch in a window they like or they see some celeb wearing one and think, ‘that looks cool’. Before I joined here I had no clue about in-house vs ETA or any of that stuff. I doubt there will be any repercussions and my guess is Bremont will continue to grow globally.
Has anyone ever called into question the practice that Bremont took - or was allowed to take - canvas from such a historic aircraft just to cut it in pieces put them into brand new consumer products? If I were a fan of the Wright brothers' endeavours and their aircraft, I'd prefer the latter to remain as intact as possible. I hope Bremont don't ever get to do a Rembrandt limited edition where they'd cut away bits of his canvases ...
It was done in association with the Wright family, a portion of the profits went back to them.
And the cloth used was from a replica of the plane anyway I believe
I damaged it.
Just realised this was four years ago, same old biased drivel.... I think I will grab a brew an start a thread about being privileged enough to be put on a Rolex list, or maybe how the tudor GMT is the saviour of modern mechanical watchmaking. Tudor marketing is better than bremonts, David and Ga Ga would never lie to us, I’m sure they will personally sort out all the non working date function.
In the comments underneath that article, they talk about 'TZ moderators'.
What do they mean?
I don't doubt what they did was legal, I'm questioning the logic behind it and whether it was justified to do. The way I see it, just because the Wright brothers' heirs were okay with this doesn't mean that the Wright flyer isn't hugely significant and irreplaceable heritage which should be protected.
Their website is once again quite unequivocal: "The Wright Flyer timepieces feature some of the original fabric used on the 1903 Wright Flyer aircraft."
Timezone forum, not this one...
I wonder how it would fly if the internet had been around in the 1920's when Hans Wilsdorf forced Aegler to put 'Rolex' on the bridges of Aegler movements? Aegler caved in 1927 and Aegler movements were produced with Rolex engraved on them. Oh the horror.
Last edited by bedlam; 18th July 2018 at 10:32.
Last edited by bedlam; 18th July 2018 at 10:36.
I stand corrected
"If you visit the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Wright Flyer on display is only “mostly” there. The spruce frame and rigging are original, but the fabric that makes up the wings is new. The original muslin fabric used in 1903 is much too susceptible to decay to go on public display, so it remains in storage with the Wright family.It’s from trimming this that the Bremont Watch Flyer gets it swatches. Following in the footsteps Bremont’s Codebreaker watch that contained parts of an Enigma cipher machine, the small piece of fabric is housed in a window on the reverse side of the Wright Flyer watch along with a decorative rotor plate featuring an airplane prop inscribed with the initials of the Wright brothers."
Nobody is claiming that the rest of the watch world is whiter than white, but we are talking specifically about Bremont here and I don't think 'everyone else is doing it' stands up particularly well as a defence. Many Bremont owners will not even be aware of the brand's questionable origin story or the movement controversy; very few will care. Those of us in the enthusiast community who are aware clearly have our own views on the importance of these things. Some say creative marketing/innocent mistake, others say dishonest/deliberately deceitful. Personally, I've worked in marketing for over 20 years and there's enough of a question mark over the brand's integrity to prevent me from becoming an owner. My loss, perhaps.
SGR
That's right, there is lots of less than 'whiter than white' going around in watch companies histories. And every time a watch is discussed you inform potential buyers of any shady things in that makers history? Yeah, sure you do.
Sorry Martyn, not a fan of this at all. The initial batch sold as people thought they'd go the way of the P-51 etc that shot up in value. This is too large to be a dress watch and I heard the material in the case back isn't from the original Wright plane, but a replica (sorry if anyone else has mentioned that). Bremont can do way better than this.
Thanks.
It's funny how Panerai threads don't have the brooklyn bridge incident raised every 5 mins, or the ongoing saga of questionable vintage/prototypes.
or how every Tag thread isn't spammed with comments about the Seiko movement debacle.
or how Biver (i think was him, could be wrong) said it didn't matter that the totally blacked out Hublot was illegible, as it was a fashion item (then again.. it is a Hublot, so he probably had a point :P)
Yet, mention the word Bremont and everyone jumps in to bash them a bit more because of their string of LE's and terrible marketing stratgey, ignoring the fact that the watches they produce are actually pretty good.
Could always just throw in the fact that my early MB2 (first 100) had a Selita SW200, and not an ETA 2824, and rile up the mob with the pitchforks some more.
I guess though it makes a change from moaning about warranty cards and stickers.
Maybe the public have got it right, they buy watches they like the look of, rather than having to justify the purchase (or not) by the opinion of others on a forum.
At the end of the day, if you love the look/design/function, the watch operates as expected, is well made, and you have good customer support should you need it, there's not much more to ask.
Apparently they sought permission from the family and had consent to use the pieces in the watches...
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They tried to decieve their target market. Competition in their segment is huge. Dishonesty is the hardest thing to forgive esp when they are expecting folks to fork out £3-5k. I believe they do deserve a second chance but they will find it hard as they have to compete with the likes of Tudor. Would u pick a Tudor GMT for £2.8k or a Bremont terra nova GMT £4.4k, it's a no brainer. Would u pick a supermarine at £2.7k or a chrward trident for £895? Companies who have been this space eg Monta, have quickly realised they cannot compete and therefore have changed their strategy, Bremont as yet have not.
All that being said the new supermarine sits lovely on the wrist.
I think anyone who can spend £1k on a luxury mechanical watch is privileged so it doesn't matter if you are a Rolex, omega or Bremont snob.
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This forum has been Bremont bashing for as long as I've been here, and it's tiresome.
It's a luxury brand
Luxury brands spend a lot on marketing. They like to tell stories, as your monkey brain likes stories, you buy stuff!
They don't always get it right
Engineering / manufacturing cost and retail cost are disconnected for all brands.
Sure Bremonts are expensive
Yes Omega, with much bigger economies of scale can cost less.
Maybe buyers of luxury watches like the individuality and choice.
David
(Doesn't have a Bremont, but glad they are out there, and would quite like and MB2 / ALT1-C)
Not even remotely – what Elon tweeted is significantly worse than the debacle caused when Bremont lost the ability to claim they were the first British company to make in-house movements after Christopher Ward usurped their event by revealing they’d bought the Swiss company they had been partnering with.
Put the English brothers’ noses out of joint, and resulted in ludicrous remarks about involving the police through claims of corporate sabotage.
WrightFlyer-gate has mostly been forgotten about, and irrespectively, they must be doing well enough to afford opening their 3rd boutique in London, at Canary Wharf, soon.
Can’t help thinking the costs involved in opening and running the 2nd and now 3rd ones would surely have allowed them to design their own movement or two, even if contract manufactured mostly.
Last edited by PJ S; 20th July 2018 at 12:12.
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