After a year of promoting their new Henley manufacture – The Wing – Bremont has finally announced their first, in-house, British-made movement with the ENG300. And in a style that’s become a signature of the brand, they’ve done so in the historically-inclined Longitude Limited Edition.
First, the movement. Since they started, Bremont’s made a few watch collectors unhappy with their use of ‘in-house.’ They were one of the more egregious when it came to signing off third party movements as their own. Over the past few years however, they’ve been working to change that, pumping £20 million into a 35,000 square foot manufacture.
The result is the ENG300 Calibre. And yes, the name is a bit on the nose.
The Bremont ENG300 Calibre
The ENG300 isn’t entirely new. It’s based off an older Swiss model, the K1, but not only do Bremont own the rights to the movement, they’ve made some serious improvements. Those improvements include a 65-hour power reserve, a full tungsten rotor and a seriously good-looking layout. It’s a stunner.
Now, the ENG300 isn’t 100% produced by Bremont. No matter how hard they try, that will never be practical on any kind of industrial scale unless you’re Rolex. But the vast majority is, and the entire thing is assembled in Henley, so it’s about as close as you can feasibly get. Would I like to see them growing sapphire sheets? Sure. But I’ll give them a pass for now.
The Bremont Longitude Limited Edition Collection
As for the new movement’s debut… well, you can probably extrapolate a fair bit about the new limited edition from its name: Longitude.
Created in partnership with the Greenwich Royal Observatory, home to Britain’s greatest contribution to timekeeping (and navigation) in John Harrison’s famous marine chronometers, the watch is an ode to the Prime Meridian.
The Bremont Longitude Limited Edition in Stainless Steel and Rose Gold
It includes the red globe you can find on the observatory itself, designed to be seen by sailors to help keep time, lines of longitude across the dial and, because this is Bremont, a piece of brass from the original Meridian marker. It’s a good-looking piece and for me what Bremont does best, similar in its classical look to the old Victory watch, the piece that started their obsession with cannibalizing relics.
The Longitude is available in three variations – steel and rose gold with anthracite dials and contrasting small seconds and white gold with a silvery white dial. I prefer the pared-back white gold myself, but it’s a toss-up between the other two.
The Bremont Longitude Limited Edition in White Gold
Honestly though, if it weren’t for the ENG300, this would be just another Bremont limited edition, lovely but by now par for the course. With, it’s something else entirely. Perhaps more interesting though will be to see how they begin integrating their new movement into the wider collection – and how much it’ll pump up their prices.
Price & Specs:
Model: Bremont Longitude Limited Edition
Case/Dial: 40mm diameter x 12.5mm height, stainless steel, rose gold or white gold case, anthracite (stainless steel/rose gold) or silver white dial (white gold)
Water Resistance: 50m (rose and white gold) and 100m (stainless steel)
Movement: Bremont ENG376 calibre, automatic, 22 jewels
Frequency: 25,200 vph (3.5 Hz)
Power Reserve: 65h
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds at 9 o’clock, power reserve indicator at 6 o’clock, date at 3 o’clock
Strap: Alligator leather
Price/availability: £14,995, limited to 150 pieces (stainless steel), £20,995 (rose-gold) and £21,995 (white-gold), each limited to 75 pieces, available December 2021
More details at Bremont.
