14 June 2017

Interview with Bremont’s Nick English

Exceptional performance and design, and passionate about aviation? Bremont is our kind of watchmaker.

Bremont produces beautifully-engineered timepieces, tough enough for military pilots. Using bespoke parts and creating limited quantities, the designers ensure that each piece is handcrafted to ensure it becomes one of the most reliable and robust watches available.

I recently sat down with Bremont’s co-founder, Nick English, to find out more about the company, their aviation connections, and their stunning products.

So Nick, how did you get involved in aviation?

It started with my father, who was a pilot. My brother Giles and I would accompany him to airshows when we were young. We were then sponsored through university by the Royal Air Force and have both done a fair bit of flying over the years.

Do you have a favourite aircraft to fly?

Yes, it would have to be the Mark IX Spitfire.

How does aviation play a role in Bremont and your watches?

It’s a huge part of it. Aviation is coded into the Bremont’s DNA by default – and our love of readable, robust and beautifully-engineered watches certainly has strong appeal to air crew.

How are your watches different from other brands?

Our engineering quality and development process are unsurpassed and we’ve worked with a number of partners, such as aviation company and ejection seat pioneer, Martin Baker to achieve this.

We’ve produced a watch that has been thoroughly tested to military extremes. I cannot think of another luxury mechanical watch brand that can say the same.

Impressive stuff! Is there a specific model you’re particularly proud of?

Some of our very exclusive limited editions. A couple of years ago, we designed and carefully manufactured a timepiece that contained original parts of the 1903 Wright Flyer, the first powered aircraft to fly on that historic day on Kittyhawk Beach. How can you not have a feeling of pride when you hold this historic watch for the first time?

Your watches are particularly popular with pilots of course.

Yes, a large proportion of our business is the production of special and bespoke watches for the military sector. Military pilots buy watches of this quality as part of the kinship within their squadron, but also as an heirloom to hand down to future generations.

Bremont also has an official watch partnership with aviation giant Boeing. To have access to their material research and manufacturing expertise is nothing short of phenomenal. This relationship has gone on for a few years now and has led to some fascinating innovation within the watches, like the case metals used – which again appeals to pilots and flight crew alike.

Like PrivateFly, Bremont is a British brand that has expanded to the US. When did you first make the move?

We first entered the US market in 2008 – it was a very organic move for us.

How do you find the watch market different in the US, versus the UK?

The US market as a whole is much harder to penetrate, predominantly due to the sheer size of the country. We’re lucky to have the home advantage here in the UK, but we’ve seen nothing but admiration for British brands since we’ve been out in the US. So that’s a great benefit to us.

So finally, what exciting ventures does Bremont have coming up?

We’re looking at building a big new manufacturing facility in the UK, so that’s very exciting. Our manufacturing locations are currently spread over a number of different sites near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. But we’re looking to consolidate them under one roof soon. The ability to see a bar of metal going into a machine at one end of the factory, and a watchmaker assembling the parts at the other end is a very exciting prospect indeed!

To learn more about Bremont & their watches, visit their website at bremont.com.

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