Introducing the Bamford x Bremont Watch Collab
The British brands unite on a new limited edition
Not so long ago George Bamford couldn’t get arrested in the watch business.
Or maybe it’s more correct to say the watch business would have liked to have seen George Bamford get arrested.
His company, Bamford Watch Department, made its money by “personalising” very high end watches, notably Rolexes and Patek Philippes. Diamond-like carbon (DLC) – a tough, matt black coating used on industrial drills – became a Bamford trademark, a way to decisively de-bling gold and steel timepieces.
Colourful accents, cartoon characters and Day-Glo sheens were also popular with customers who wanted their already exclusive watch to look even more so.
Produced without the brands’ approval, Bamford was persona non grata within the staid Swiss business, whose acknowledgment extended to pointing out that any customisation voided warranties and was to be discouraged.
But Bamford was ahead of the curve. Since starting out in the early 2000s customisation and personalisation have become big news in luxury. Jean-Claude Biver, the revered then-boss of the LVMH Watch Division, who own Tag Heuer, Hublot and Zenith, called him up in 2017 and added him to the payroll.
Bamford special editions have since appeared in collaboration with everyone from Bulgari to G-Shock, while his own line of more accessibly priced watches, Bamford London, is going great guns.
His latest collab, and there’s more to come this year, is with Bremont.
There’s a synchronicity here – both Bamford and Bremont are British, and have successfully forged a path apart from the Swiss giants.
Bremont is best-known for its pilot’s watches – you’ll search in vain to find a magazine profile of founders Nick and Giles English that doesn’t feature a picture of them beaming next to their 1953 Max Holste Broussard six-seat monoplane – but it has a whole portfolio of other models, too.
Its Supermarine line of diving watches debuted in 2009, named, with a suitably Bremont military flourish, after the Supermarine S6B Schneider Trophy Seaplane, a 1930s British amphibious aircraft that could take off and land on water.
Together Bamford and Bremont have reengineered the Supermarine S500. The new model comes in Bamford’s DLC finish and with ‘California Blue’ Super-Luminova – another of his favourites – across the retooled hands and indexes.
Other elements of the Supermarine design remain intact, including Bremont’s “Trip-Tick” three-piece case, 500 meters of water resistance and the screw-down crown in the unusual position of 2 o’clock.
“I have known Nick and Giles for a while now and we became firm friends when I was moving into my Mayfair office and they were parking a very cool Jaguar in the car park opposite,” George Bamford says. “I always said we should do something together and this project feels right. It represents the blend of two British brands working together.”
The Bremont S500 Bamford Special Edition is limited to 250 watches. It costs £3,995.
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