Bremont the luxury watch maker based in the UK invited a few Jaguar Enthusiast Members to visit their facilities and find out what made them so special.
Who are Bremont?
In their own words “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 core 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.”
To read more and find out about Bremont click here
David Wood explains what the tour was about.
What’s this got to do with the JEC, or even Jaguar, you may ask. Bremont launched a series of watches designed in collaboration with Ian Callum, which feature beautiful designs based around the Jaguar theme. These include a dial that looks like a speedo, a flywheel designed as an E-Type steering wheel, a Dunlop tyre tread on the crown wheel, etc. Through Andy Webber, the JEC organised a trip to look around the factory, and I was lucky enough to attend.
For those that don’t know, Bremont are a British company who have set out with the intention of returning high end watchmaking back to the UK (where it used to be until the manufacturers became more involved in weapons to help war efforts. Switzerland, being a neutral country, had no need for weapons design and so took over as the home of precision watchmaking). A feature of Bremont is designing a watch with a particular theme. Military and aerospace feature strongly in these, but there are other themes too, including the Jaguar range.
We (a group of seven JEC members, plus James Blackwell from the club HQ) met at the manufacturing site at Ruscombe on 20 November for an insight into parts manufacture using CNC milling and turning machines (some of which are the only ones outside Switzerland), and the subsequent polishing and engraving work we do. Tim Parker, Head of Manufacturing, gave an excellent tour of the facility. One staggering fact – Bremont go through £15k worth of cutting tools per month.
Tim Parker (Image below) explained the start of the process alongside a rack of stainless steel rods from which the cases are cut and shaped as one piece, before moving on through the various stages of production including, the 11-axis (there’s one for manufacturing nerds, like me) cutting tool at work shaping a case. Tim then went through a showcase of various different stages of case manufacturing from featureless steel rod to fully formed watch case.
Head Quarters, David Wood continues
We then transfer to Bremont HQ in Henley. The aim in a couple years’ time is to have everything under one roof. But for now, the metalwork is done at Ruscombe, and the assembly and service work at Henley. The watch mechanism is still made in Switzerland, but Bremont fully intend to bring this in-house also when circumstances permit. We had a presentation about the Bremont brand – where it has come from, where it is going, and partnership stories. It is encouraging to see so many ‘celebrities’ supporting the brand because of what it represents, i.e. a small entrepreneurial outfit taking on the big boys, rather than simply being paid for it. And there were very many watches to look at, try on and dream about…
Following this was a tour of the watch assembly workshop, including the detail of inspection and testing. The final tour was of the aftersales workshop, with an appreciation of what servicing involves. We had a goody bag to take away – sadly, no watches, but a catalogue and a nice keyring were included. For anyone, like me, whose interest in watches matches that of cars, and also who is always keen to see how things are made, this visit made a 600+ mile round trip worth it. Absolutely brilliant. Everyone had tremendous pride in the company and their individual function, and it is great to see a British start-up company taking on much bigger players at their own game – and making superb progress. If JEC repeat this offer, and you can spare the time, I would thoroughly recommend it to those mesmerised by manufacturing and precision engineering.
David Wood, JEC Member, North East Region
Bremont Tour
We were very honoured to be invited to see the Bremont process and experience what a British engineering company is working to accomplish, namely bringing even more highly skilled manufacturing back to the UK. To that end we must thank Bremont for their invite and opening up so much of their sites for us to experience.The whole tour was exceptionally informative and I came away with a real inspired sense that this is British manufacturer aiming to become something quite special, that and the need to purchase a Bremont Jaguar MK1.
British watch Innovators
- 1664 – Robert Hooke: Balance Spring
- 1690 – Daniel Quare: Minute Hand
- 1755 – Thomas Mudge: Lever Escapement
- 1765 – John Whitehurst: Centre Seconds
- 1807 – Thomas Young: Chronograph
- 1924 – John Harwood: Automatic Winding
Future Tours
To find out if their is another tour planned please contact Andy Webber by email who will be happy to help you make the most of this opportunity.
