Bremont opens its new Manufacturing & Technology Centre

Enthusiasts of the wing open their own “Wing”. Bremont’s new 35,000 sq. ft Manufacturing and Technology Centre harnesses the brand’s watchmaking heritage on home turf.

Bremont has a clear vision to reinvigorate Britain’s watchmaking past on UK soil. The Bremont brothers, Nick and Giles English have dedicated over a decade to distilling the essence of British watch manufacture, uniting their love of all things aviation with quintessential timekeeping. The brand has done a phenomenal job so far, but its work is far from done. The growing manufacturer is evolving and when it comes to large scale British watchmaking - Bremont is now at the height of its success and the top of the leader board, laying claim to the largest manufacturing facilities in the UK. Its name is “The Wing” – Bremont’s new Manufacture & Technology Centre.

Bremont is the single largest mechanical watch manufacturer in Britain. It is now amongst some of the top chronometer manufacturers in the world and what’s more, it has its roots firmly anchored in British land. Luxury watch collectors all over the country were longing for a prestigious brand to come onto the scene before Bremont opened its doors in 2007. To make the manufacturer stand out even more, each timepiece has a story to tell and a strong message conveying the importance of quality and reliability as fundamental values in timekeeping.

The company has collaborated with other renowned British manufacturers in the past, creating some highly collectable timepieces. The Martin Baker MB-I series, for example, designed exclusively for qualified ejection seat personnel, the U-2 watch collection designed for military Air force crew and the brand’s Supermarine models, equipped to withstand immense water pressure. Bremont has also created some memorable limited-edition models incorporating slices of real British history into their designs. The Codebreaker watch, for instance, featured real artefacts taken from Bletchley Park and the recent Hawking’s models boast a real piece of wood taken from the desk that Professor Hawking’s used to sit and study at. It’s clear just by looking at Bremont’s ever-growing catalogue of luxury watches that attention to detail is paramount in creating a timepiece stamped with a true British fingerprint. To promote the best of British watchmaking, “The Wing” located in Oxfordshire’s Henley-on-Thames, will also double up as a boutique for enthusiasts and is set to create more solid foundations for future work with local suppliers in the hope to develop more of its own in-house parts under one roof.

Since the new “Wing” signifies growth and expansion for the British manufacturer, Bremont expects to create more jobs with an expected lift of 20% in staffing. The growth of the team will include specialist watchmakers and skilled craftsmen, as well as innovative designers and new apprentices who will embark upon Bremont’s specialist in-house training. Managing director, Chris Reynolds explains this in a little more detail:

“We genuinely wish to invest in ourselves, in high-quality local UK partners and suppliers. We wish to reduce our reliance on others and own our supply chain as much as technically possible. To reinvigorate British watchmaking is the snappy, slightly simplified tag line.”

The launch of Bremont’s new Manufacturing & Technology Centre couldn’t have come at a more poignant time on the one-year anniversary of Britain’s first day of lockdown back in March 2020. A few months delay in the opening of the facilities is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to highlighting some of the difficulties Bremont has experienced throughout the pandemic. The new centre comes just in time, however, for the brand’s 20th anniversary and on reflection of this, Nick and Giles have dug out their previous mission statement drawn up over a decade ago. It outlined the following vision:

“To make exquisitely engineered mechanical timepieces on British soil, with the lofty objective to reinvigorate the nation’s horological past using our adventurous spirit, a passion for detail, desire to innovate and dedication to the highest quality of customer service and satisfaction”.

Clearly, the Bremont brothers can look back at this mission statement with a strong sense of accomplishment and yet have no reservations when it comes to being honest about the difficulties faced on their journey in breathing new life into a culture that has lost much of its skillset (particularly where engineering is concerned within aviation, mechanical and timekeeping fields). The architecture and design of Bremont’s new Manufacturing and Technology Centre took a total of 5 years to plan. From wide open spaces dedicated to watch machining to a couple of floors donated to assembly and aftersales - the entire plot has been thoroughly and carefully considered. Some of the proceeds from public admission fees (once the facility officially opens up after the pandemic) will be donated to various charities that the Bremont Brothers have worked with both in the past and present. Despite lockdown restrictions, plans for new Bremont watch releases have been well underway. Although unable to showcase these at Basel this year, new models such as the Bremont Supermarine Chrono, the Argonaut Azure and a brand new Supermarine S302 model are expected to create a stir as they begin to find their way into our display cabinets at C W Sellors Jura Watches. Collectors far and wide have been itching to resume that all-important hands-on experience with their favourite watch brands in our boutiques in the same way that avid watch fans have been anticipating the opening of Bremont’s new watchmaking centre. Bremont’s new releases have also gone live on our e-commerce site at Jura Watches and are already creating huge interest.

Bremont’s 35,000 sq. ft purpose-built watch manufacturing facility is expected to open up huge potential for the Henley-on-Thames brand and its many future collaborations with equally-renowned British-based manufacturers. For all the details on up-and-coming watch releases from Bremont, you can follow our online news page here or call and enquire about our latest models with a member of our sales team on 01335 453453.