The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[Newcomer]

I'm a bit shocked Hodinkee couldn't convince them to drop the date. You know they tried.

Haha as strong as Hodinkee is in the watch world, I have to imagine their input only went so far with Hermès.

 

[pmeis]

Haha as strong as Hodinkee is in the watch world, I have to imagine their input only went so far with Hermès.

It seems like it went pretty far, just a bit strange to stop there. I suppose it would have caused them to remove the date function from the movement, which was probably more of a modification than just changing the colors.

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

To a purist, the only thing worse than a date window is a "ghost" date (date-setting function with no date). I imagine it was cost-prohibitive to modify the movement to remove the date entirely.

 

[Newcomer]

I typically am not the biggest fan of poorly executed date windows but I appreciate the matching date wheel. For me, I do like to know the date, and this would be far more offensive if it didn’t match and had a standard, say, arial font.

And I agree with @Ambulance Chaser - a “ghost date” is an inexcusable offense.

 

[Dino944]

That’s fair. I’m just a sucker for off white anything, and light neutrals (in fairness, I almost exclusively wear whites, creams, beiges, and tans).

Well if those are your favorite colors, I can see the appeal of this version of the watch. I think the only tans or beige things I have are khakis and one watch strap. I prefer blue, black, gray, brown, green, for colors on almost everything, be it clothing, cars, or watches. Cheers!

 

[pmeis]

I typically am not the biggest fan of poorly executed date windows but I appreciate the matching date wheel. For me, I do like to know the date, and this would be far more offensive if it didn’t match and had a standard, say, arial font.

And I agree with @Ambulance Chaser - a “ghost date” is an inexcusable offense.

In theory it was certainly an odd choice, but when I owned the watch it did not bother me in practice.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Congrats on this pickup @Thin White Duke, especially after all the acquisition troubles. Wear it in good health

You're right, Bremont probably doesn't get much love here, but a buddy of mine recently got one of their GMTs and he seems really smitten with it.

And I think I saw somewhere that they had opened (or were about to open) a new manufacturing site in the UK? The brand definitely has grown on me.

Thanks Keith.
Like I said above Bremont so often seems to come ‘close but no cigar’ for me. I like GMT functions, one of the more useful complications. They did a Boeing GMT chrono which I once saw go on eBay for $3.6 k. I was tempted as I’ve never seen that model go for such a low price before or since. It has a similar narrow bezel which I like, GMT, chrono, but the 4 o clock date plus ma-hoo-sive chrono pushers killed it for me.
Still in search of a diver with day and date, 60 minute bezel, subtle GMT 24 scale on the flange, maybe chrono as a Swiss Army Knife watch. Bremont came close with the Kingsman but no bezel!

 

[Neville Southall]

Congrats on a great pickup, @Thin White Duke!

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

And the Hodinkee Hermes H08 LE is sold out. I kind of liked it, but not enough to pay a $1500 premium over the regular model

 

[Newcomer]

It is for sale at Hermes

 

[Gerry Nelson]

Back in blue:

 

[Thin White Duke]

Congrats on a great pickup, @Thin White Duke!

Cheers George.
Nice to see a couple of people with some admiration for Bremont. They’re clearly a defined aesthetic not for everyone but variety is the spice.
Love your smurf too. Is it yellow gold or TT? My daily beater is the SS sub which was originally black but I converted to smurf blue dial and bezel.

 

[bdavro23]

Cheers George.
Nice to see a couple of people with some admiration for Bremont. They’re clearly a defined aesthetic not for everyone but variety is the spice.
Love your smurf too. Is it yellow gold or TT? My daily beater is the SS sub which was originally black but I converted to smurf blue dial and bezel.

I recently met a man (originally from the Bay area) with perhaps the largest and most valuable watch collection I will likely ever see. Pateks, Langes, lots of JLC, as well as a handful of Bremont. As the story goes, he bought one of the watches they make for people who have used a plane ejector seat on the secondary market. These are obviously hard to get. He subsequently bought a couple other Bremonts and really enjoyed the brand.

One day, he was driving through town and saw a vintage E-type Jag broken down on the side of the road and as a classic car owner, stopped to help. It turns out to be the two brothers who run Bremont, and he drives them to the watch shop they were headed to and helps them get their car mended. They of course talk watches and he tells them of his Bremont collection and is invited to visit them in England. He of course goes and during his visit they ask how they can repay his kindness. THey settled upon a piece unique, twice over: They make him an MB1 watch despite not being a pilot (nor having ejected form a plane), and add yellow accents in place of the traditional red.

He had a number of stories of dealing directly with manufacturers, but this one was pretty special.

 

[Nickd]

Amazing the difference that a strap change can make.

 

[Dino944]

I recently met a man (originally from the Bay area) with perhaps the largest and most valuable watch collection I will likely ever see. Pateks, Langes, lots of JLC, as well as a handful of Bremont. As the story goes, he bought one of the watches they make for people who have used a plane ejector seat on the secondary market. These are obviously hard to get. He subsequently bought a couple other Bremonts and really enjoyed the brand.

One day, he was driving through town and saw a vintage E-type Jag broken down on the side of the road and as a classic car owner, stopped to help. It turns out to be the two brothers who run Bremont, and he drives them to the watch shop they were headed to and helps them get their car mended. They of course talk watches and he tells them of his Bremont collection and is invited to visit them in England. He of course goes and during his visit they ask how they can repay his kindness. THey settled upon a piece unique, twice over: They make him an MB1 watch despite not being a pilot (nor having ejected form a plane), and add yellow accents in place of the traditional red.

He had a number of stories of dealing directly with manufacturers, but this one was pretty special.

Great story! I guess they are big fans of the E-Type as they have have the automobile and have made "E-Type" edition watches, which resemble the gauges in the car. A friend who owns several vintage cars, bought an E-Type Bremont watch when he was searching for the right E-Type car. He hasn't bought the car yet, but he has since sold the watch. I believe he had a few problems with the watch, so in that respect it was good practice for owning an original E-Type car