Bremont’s Martin-Baker watches, perhaps above all others, epitomize the mission of co-founding brothers Nick and Giles English.
Martin-Baker is a British aviation company responsible for supplying 70% of the world’s Air Forces with fighter ejection seat technology.
A collaboration with Bremont was first muted in 2007 and led to the launch of the MBI in 2009.
As a pilot watch, it chimed with the Bremont brothers’ passion for aviation.
And, as a watch designed to withstand the same extreme forces as a Martin Baker ejector seat, it married with the watchmaker’s promise to make incredibly rugged and reliable timepieces — tested beyond endurance — and carries an inscription on every dial proclaiming its Anti-Shock Automatic status.
Martin Baker editions also have a bit of a British quirk: a counterbalance on every seconds hand in the color and shape of the hi-vis yellow and black handle pilots would have to wrench if they ever needed to eject.
And, of course, this was two great British engineering businesses coming together with a shared vision to bring precision manufacturing, at scale, back to these shores.
The collection has evolved over the past five years and is now in its third generation, the MBIII, which has seen the addition of a second time zone GMT hand.
This week Bremont, now under new management, has added a 50-unit limited edition to the MBIII line in the form of a black-on-black stealth edition.
Its dial is the same as a 100-piece limited edition Armoured watch in a monochrome palette, but the Stealth piece has a smoked glass case back exposing the modified BE-93-2AV (based on an ETA 2893-2) automatic chronometer GMT movement within.
The MBIII Stealth brings a covert look to the collection with a DLC-coated steel 43mm Trip-Tick case.
Inside, the watch has the usual anti-shock movement mount and Faraday ring to minimise the impact of shocks and jolts on its timekeeping accuracy, as well as the effects of magnetism.
Fans of the Bremont logo before the rebrand introduced with the Terra Nova and Supermarine watch collections earlier this year will be comforted to see the old badge with its aircraft propellors on the dial.
Having taken a mauling on social media when the new Bremont logo was unveiled at Watches and Wonders in April this year, the business appears to have won back support for the MBIII’s continuity design.
“Now that’s more like it, the Bremont we know and love,” commented Andy.P.Broadhead on Instagram.
The MBIII measures 43mm x 14.5mm and is worn on a textured rubber strap made to look like padded fabric.
It is on sale now for $5,450