Known for incorporating important historical artefacts including fragments of the Enigma wartime coding machine and Lord Nelson’s flagship HMS Victory into its timepieces, Bremont has moulded a section of the brass beam that runs through Greenwich’s Royal Observatory in London into each of its 300-piece Longitude wristwatches.
The brass beam is used to mark the area in which John Flamsteed, who was the founder of Greenwich Observatory and the first astronomer royal of England, charted the position of stars in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Here, Bremont’s co-founder Giles English talks us through the Longitude's inspiration.
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Tell us about the Bremont Longitude.
It’s an important watch not only for Bremont but for British horology. Longitude houses a Bremont-manufactured movement called ENG 300, which was made at our new 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Henley-on-Thames. The ENG 300 is the first mechanical movement that’s been made on British shores for over 50 years.
Why is it important that Bremont pays tribute to Britain?
Some of the most glorious watchmaking the world has ever seen came from Britain. Go back a few centuries, and we helped solve the conundrum of accurate timekeeping at sea when we set up the first chronometer testing and regulation facility at the Royal Observatory. It’s Bremont’s mission to play a part in the reinvigoration of this country’s watchmaking and I truly believe that the Longitude will be seen as an important milestone in that quest.
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Bremont is known for incorporating important historical artefacts into its watches. How did you mould a section of brass into each Longitude?
We were very keen to integrate parts of Flamsteed’s Meridian Line from the Royal Observatory into each watch. The brass beam is used to mark the area in which John Flamsteed, who was the founder of Greenwich Observatory and the first astronomer royal of England, charted the position of stars in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was smelted down and then machined to place perfectly into Longitude casebacks.
What don’t we know about Bremont?
We have an exciting new generation of watchmakers and technicians who have been trained under our internal apprenticeship scheme. These specialists come from numerous industries, including Formula One and even bomb disposal.
Describe this watch in five words.
Historic, beautiful, limited and British.
Which watch are you currently wearing?
The MB Savanna, which is a model based on our partnership with English ejection seat manufacturer Martin-Baker. About 20 per cent of our business involves making watches for the world's military and the Savanna is incredibly robust and beautifully made. It has a very eye-catching anti-reflective case treatment, which makes the watch look almost khaki in colour.
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