A monumental year for Bremont and British watchmaking

A New Year message from Bremont Co-Founders, Nick and Giles English:

 

As 2021 draws to a close we wanted to reflect on what has been one of our busiest and most ambitious years since the founding of Bremont in 2002.

It’s been a year filled with great excitement and huge achievements. From the opening of The Wing in Henley-on-Thames, our Manufacturing & Technology Centre in the heart of the British countryside to the launch of our own movement series, the ENG300, fulfilling a lifelong ambition of ours to bring watchmaking back to British shores. The building of The Wing required considerable patience, time and investment however the 35,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility for manufacturing mechanical watches is a dream realised and represents another leap forward for British watchmaking, the scale of which hasn’t been seen in the UK since the 1970s.

The Wing

In addition to The Wing we continue to expand our retail portfolio and this year we are proud to have opened 5 new brand boutiques in Shanghai, Manchester, Bluewater, Birmingham and Bristol - driving our ambition and fuelling our passion to tell the Bremont story through bricks and mortar across the globe.  

Our Ambassadors and Partners have continued to test themselves and our watches beyond endurance to achieve yet more remarkable feats. From Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja MBE scaling 14 of the world’s highest peaks in record time to the Rolls-Royce ‘Spirit of Innovation’ breaking the world record for the fastest flight from an all-electric plane. Equally we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the RFU and partnered up with Williams Racing for an electrifying F1 Season which we were thrilled to witness first-hand at Silverstone, joined by our good friend Harrison Ford.

 

Harrison Ford

We’re proud to work with such an exciting variety of talent and brand partners, pushing us to create watches that challenge and excite us and this year was not short of new launches. From the lauded Supermarine Chrono fronted by our action-man Ambassador Jason Fox to the elegant diamond-set Lady K, inspired by our father’s sailing boat that he painstakingly built for our mother when we were children. The desert-inspired titanium MB Savanna continues our successful partnership with Martin-Baker with our watches enduring the same rigorous testing programme as their flight ejector seats – do have a play with our online MB Configurator to build your own bespoke MB over the holidays! And this Autumn we proudly launched the Limited Edition Longitude, arguably our most historic and important limited edition to date which features brass forged from Flamsteed’s Meridian Line at Greenwich and most importantly housing the ENG376, our first Bremont manufactured movement.

Limited Edition Longitude

Having demonstrated excellence in, and commitment to, the development of British manufacturing through investment, education and apprenticeships, we were thrilled to win the ‘Made in the UK’ award at the Walpole 2021 British Luxury Awards. Bremont also took home ‘British Watch Business of the Year’ at the WatchPro Awards and we’re immensely proud to have been awarded the Silver Armed Forces Covenant for our support of the Armed Forces and their families. To receive these prestigious awards during a year of such significant milestones has been an honour.

None of this would be possible without you - thank you to our friends and customers who have supported and encouraged us every step of the way. Our successes are yours and we have so much more to share with you as we look ahead to our 20th anniversary in 2022.

Stay safe and enjoy spending time with your loved ones this festive season. We look forward to seeing you in 2022 and wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.

Nick & Giles English

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