New Bremont LE.....

[gwells]

if they had said " made exclusively for Bremont, etc". no would would have said a word.

true dat.

[ericf4]

I still love the brand and the watches...regardless of this latest blow up, I would not pop 25-45k on one....that's still a bit nutters...

[toxicavenger]

Anyone heard from Mikey?? I don't want him to jump off of a building after hearing this news.

[AntonioPD]

As someone who's followed the brand closely I never got the idea that this was the "Holy Grail" in-house movement the English bros are shooting for. Still, they clearly made a marketing misstep; but sometimes a good recovery is better for a company than not making a mistake at all. Here's hoping G&N get it right.

[craniotes]

Nick's gonna pop in Red Bar this Wednesday with the Wright Flyer in tow, so needless to say, I'll be hearing it straight from the horse's mouth (after which I shall dutifully report back here).

For those of you who can't wait quite that long, Ben at Hodinkee told me that Nick's planning on visiting his office tomorrow morning to film a response to this debacle. Should be interesting...

Regards,
Adam

[matt.wu]

Nick's gonna pop in Red Bar this Wednesday with the Wright Flyer in tow, so needless to say, I'll be hearing it straight from the horse's mouth (after which I shall dutifully report back here).

For those of you who can't wait quite that long, Ben at Hodinkee told me that Nick's planning on visiting his office tomorrow morning to film a response to this debacle. Should be interesting...

Regards,
Adam

Looking forward to it. I still love the folks. Hope they can sort it all out, honestly.

[Sidheguitarist]

Bedshitting aside, I am looking forward to an AC report on the timepiece in question. Be sure to get as many pics as explanations, if you would.

[jimyritz]

Nick's gonna pop in Red Bar this Wednesday with the Wright Flyer in tow, so needless to say, I'll be hearing it straight from the horse's mouth (after which I shall dutifully report back here).

For those of you who can't wait quite that long, Ben at Hodinkee told me that Nick's planning on visiting his office tomorrow morning to film a response to this debacle. Should be interesting...

Regards,
Adam

=============

Look forward to your report AC

[Joe C]

Nick's gonna pop in Red Bar this Wednesday with the Wright Flyer in tow, so needless to say, I'll be hearing it straight from the horse's mouth (after which I shall dutifully report back here).

For those of you who can't wait quite that long, Ben at Hodinkee told me that Nick's planning on visiting his office tomorrow morning to film a response to this debacle. Should be interesting...

Regards,
Adam

Great Adam....gives us the dope on what is going on there at Bremont.

[belligero]

It won't exactly take Scotland Yard's finest to get to the bottom of this one. The only mystery is why their site continues to refer to the movement as "in-house" when it clearly isn't.

[mattjmcd]

I came late to this party. Most of what I've read online and on the fora is confused garbage, in terms of signal to noise. It looks to me like Bremont should've been more clear but everything I've seen from their end makes it pretty obvious that the movement is an evolutionary step and not a full on in-house effort.

For me it boils down to this:

1- watch looks aces
2- prices are truly insane, but...
3- as Wu noted, this is not a watch for a normal audience. It's a philanthropy effort. So...
4- the movement scandal seems real, but way overblown by the longtime skeptics
5- I think that they are telling the truth about a disgruntled insider, but that angle is irrelevant. They should hush up about that IMO. Maybe tell those people who need to know. Otherwise it's dirty laundry and sounds like sour grapes.

I hope they recover. It's hard to know them and still conclude that they meant to dupe their fan base.

[CGSshorty]

I came late to this party. Most of what I've read online and on the fora is confused garbage, in terms of signal to noise. It looks to me like Bremont should've been more clear but everything I've seen from their end makes it pretty obvious that the movement is an evolutionary step and not a full on in-house effort.

That is revisionist history. They NEVER stated it was an evolutionary step until they were called out. I love Bremont as much as anyone, but let's not automatically give them a pass because they are (truly) great guys.

[mattjmcd]

I came late to this party. Most of what I've read online and on the fora is confused garbage, in terms of signal to noise. It looks to me like Bremont should've been more clear but everything I've seen from their end makes it pretty obvious that the movement is an evolutionary step and not a full on in-house effort.

That is revisionist history. They NEVER stated it was an evolutionary step until they were called out. I love Bremont as much as anyone, but let's not automatically give them a pass because they are (truly) great guys.

I'll stipulate...

DOes anyone have some info on the text on their site and/or their press materials prior to this issue coming out?

[AntonioPD]

I came late to this party. Most of what I've read online and on the fora is confused garbage, in terms of signal to noise. It looks to me like Bremont should've been more clear but everything I've seen from their end makes it pretty obvious that the movement is an evolutionary step and not a full on in-house effort.

That is revisionist history. They NEVER stated it was an evolutionary step until they were called out. I love Bremont as much as anyone, but let's not automatically give them a pass because they are (truly) great guys.

You make a great point; from Giles's video comment (and perhaps others) it would not be obvious that this is an evolutionary step to anyone who has not followed the brand closely. But those of us who have heard the English Brothers state a zillion times that "In House" is a long-term goal might take the imprecise comment in context (at least I did.)

To expand on Master Wu's point about the "Two Bremonts," those who can afford this LE watch either:

1. Love Bremont so much the movement debacle doesn't matter
2. Love Aviation History " "
3. Or both

But the "little guys" who, as in my case, are struggling to justify spending $4-6K on a watch, want to feel good about the company from which they are taking product. For me, this incident doesn't dampen that feeling at all, as long as Bremont recover with the style and company ethos they've shown in the past.

[belligero]

I'll stipulate...

DOes anyone have some info on the text on their site and/or their press materials prior to this issue coming out?

Prior? It's still right there on the main page.

[JP Chestnut]

I'll stipulate...

DOes anyone have some info on the text on their site and/or their press materials prior to this issue coming out?

Prior? It's still right there on the main page.

Yeah. I'm finding it hard to understand how people are giving them the benefit of the doubt. It was clearly listed as "in house" not "evolutionary", and they really haven't done much to officially set the record straight.

I'm not sure how much more blatant it could be. Perhaps if they added a or

[JBZ]

I'll stipulate...

DOes anyone have some info on the text on their site and/or their press materials prior to this issue coming out?

Prior? It's still right there on the main page.

If you go to the page for the watch, it's now being referred to as a "unique movement," but this screen shot reflects what's still on the main page of Bremont's website. My guess is they revise it in the near future.

[mattjmcd]

I'll stipulate...

DOes anyone have some info on the text on their site and/or their press materials prior to this issue coming out?

Prior? It's still right there on the main page.

So, there have been no changes to the website or press materials? Serious question on my part. This is why I am a little confused. I would've assumed that the company went back and scrubbed the old contents and replaced them with what I am reading now when I look at the website.



This was taken approx 90 seconds ago and reflects what I've seen elsewhere. Again, I assume they've made changes in the past few days, but with people here and elsewhere insisting that Bremont have made no changes, and were still saying that the movement was "in house"... well, it had me scratching my head.

I am vexed by the seemingly stupid marketing here, and I am truly amazed that they were outed so quickly. Oh well, perhaps not all will end in ruination for them, if they can recover gracefully. Back in 2010, Peter Roberts was featured in an extensive interview for QP in which he dissected the TAG/Heuer 1887 and the Breitling B01. TAG/Heuer came off looking pretty good in that piece, as I recall. Maybe they ought to ring him up and see if he will reprise his role as neutral analyst to explain exactly what Bremont does with the new movement.

[jimyritz]

I'll stipulate...

DOes anyone have some info on the text on their site and/or their press materials prior to this issue coming out?

Prior? It's still right there on the main page.

If you go to the page for the watch, it's now being referred to as a "unique movement," but this screen shot reflects what's still on the main page of Bremont's website. My guess is they revise it in the near future.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
so they changed their web site...manufactured in London with its Swiss Partners...
modified movement made for Bremont, not in-house...

Surprised by the choice of words considering how smart the guys are who run Bremont...

[JP Chestnut]

... explain exactly what Bremont does with the new movement.

I think it wouldn't hurt for Bremont to at least state what they claim to be doing in specific terms. What exactly do they do that makes this movement "unique" compared to the Arnold and Son movement that looks almost identical, and has the same PR? Also, why would they make a "unique" movement that's so much smaller than their cases when almost all of their watches are 43mm?

[mattjmcd]

... explain exactly what Bremont does with the new movement.

I think it wouldn't hurt for Bremont to at least state what they claim to be doing in specific terms. What exactly do they do that makes this movement "unique" compared to the Arnold and Son movement that looks almost identical, and has the same PR? Also, why would they make a "unique" movement that's so much smaller than their cases when almost all of their watches are 43mm?

Dude, seriously? Isn't there enough to be unhappy about here? I think the answer to that is kinda obvious..?

[JP Chestnut]

... explain exactly what Bremont does with the new movement.

I think it wouldn't hurt for Bremont to at least state what they claim to be doing in specific terms. What exactly do they do that makes this movement "unique" compared to the Arnold and Son movement that looks almost identical, and has the same PR? Also, why would they make a "unique" movement that's so much smaller than their cases when almost all of their watches are 43mm?

I think the answer to that is kinda obvious..?

Because the movement's origin and design aren't at all unique or exclusive to Bremont and is designed to fit in a variety of case sizes? That's the only rational I can see.

[gwells]

or they want the flexibility to create a smaller watch at some point in the future.

[matt.wu]

I just got off the phone with Mike. But I'm in other meetings now, so I'll post an update later. Basically, they're hoping to clear the air once the Hodinkee piece airs.

I did tell them, at the very least in the short term, to scrub any of the in-house wording from their marketing materials and website. It's such a loaded and closely scrutinized term in the watch world, it does them no good to try to even explain it away. Just apologize for the misunderstanding, explain that no malice was meant, and move forward with it branded as a unique movement.

[gwells]

agreed. and honestly, if they'd have done that right away, as soon as they were getting called out, a lot of this bruhaha would have died down fairly quickly. the botched Q&A they did just made it worse.