When you mentioned "management consultants, generic marketing insight" and "compromise to agree on" all I could think of was the phrase "Ferrari by committee".

Spot-on analysis. People that buy generic watches want the best value. People willing to spend a premium want a brand with a distinct identity and unique watches. It seems to me that the ex-Tudor marketing director tried to make Bremont universally appealing without the economy of scale needed to execute it.

1) the Anglophile in me loved the Ole British Empire vibes of 2023 Bremont. 2) the new Bremont makes Baltic look incredibly creative, sexy and competitive. 🇫🇷 !

As a Marketing professional I feel they didn't do a very good job. It is not clear why you need one of their watches or what makes the brand unique. As a watch enthusiast, I feel this brand is another reason why I tend to stick to watches below $500.

Sharp review! I’ve never liked Bremont. All the faux heritage thing put me right off. But this rebrand and that new Terra Nova line has taken tastelessness to the next level. I find the line and the new rebrand utterly terrible and I actually feel bad for existing owners of Bremont watches.

Exactly right at 12 minutes on the market for $3k field watches. I watched this vid wearing my Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic (paid $500). The Bremont may be a better watch than mine, but no way do i upgrade!

Terrific presentation! I did look at Bremont but opted to stay with my TUDOR Black Bay 41. Great work!

I loved the rebrand so much I went out and bought the old Supermarine s302...

Wearing the Smiths PRS-29A.. for £400.... I think we've become desensitised to prices

Bremont was a strong niche brand with no competition (it was the luxury professional military aviation watch of choice with a religious following. All it needed was cost control to become profitable and then better marketing to expand its market from niche to crossover.

As usual, a fine analysis. At a time when brands should be setting themselves apart from each other (oversaturation of brands in a contracting market), Bremont seems to be charging out of its niche only to disappear into the glut of mid-tier brands doing, saying, and selling exactly the same things in exactly the same way...which is no way to get noticed at all.

Vertex delivers far more for similar money and aesthetics. And yes, where is the common design language? One thing is for certain; if you don’t make a profit you WILL go out of business when the cashflow runs out.

At least when you used to see a Bremont you knew that's what you were looking at. Now one might guess it was some new microbrand that you wouldn't give a second thought to. Then you'd see the price and either shrug, laugh or make a snarky post on Watch Crunch. I always thought they were too expensive for what you were getting, but I could see that if you loved that triptych case ( which I did) , or some other elements to their watches. Or you bought into the story I could see owning one. The white dial Solo was a great looking watch. My problem was that I wanted other watches more and had they been the price of a Farer for example I would have owned one. Your summation was spot on. I do think however that they will fail. They have nothing to offer artistically or value-wise

I think that their value proposition should be between Baltic, Yema and CW. Their prices were always “absurd” the 2024 rebranding answer to our question ”who is buying Bremont?”: no one.

I agree on all points especially the "God made a farmer" commercial...... one of the all time greats of the advertising business. To me, Bremont is Kingsman, that is how I first learned of the brand and at least to me that particular part of their watch line is still very cool.

As someone that works in the branding Arena, I can’t help but think they have lost too much that makes the brand distinctive. Luxury watches need a strong brand story, as the non enthusiast is less worried about COS and more worried about quality feel and look, linked to branding. In a market selling less volume with a race to increase spend per watch, it looks like the marketing consultants used 2022 data.i fear the lack of brand story is more worrying than the product, which is easily improved.

Oh boy.🙄 Here comes the 44mm field watches.

I think you got it spot on. Erase over a decade of brand identity and almost start from scratch with a rebranding, new models, and new narrative and the mass reaction is "meh".. anyways, moving on to see what else is more intriguing. That's not a good reset and restart at all.

Thank you for an insightful & balanced analysis. As a huge fan of old Bremont, I was very disappointed with the rebranding & the new models. You refer to a business strategy built upon selling more watches at lower margin, which as you say is a perfectly sensible approach, but only with the right products. The old clientele, while not profitable, was loyal. Perhaps a more effective execution would have been to deliver a product which retains the existing customers, while appealing to new ones. I want Bremont to succeed and I want to feel the passion of the brand again.

A good analysis. The only Bremont watch that ever caught my eye was the one they used on an ejection seat when testing their ENG300 movement. I don't know if they ever sold that watch, or if it was just a test bed, but they have nothing that interests me now.

In your last video I commented on the similar thought. The competitor watches in their category offer far better value in terms of price, specs, design and also the narrative. Bremont now seems like a brand that once made great pizzas in a well established space and was frequently buzzing on certain days, but now they have suddenly set up shop in a shopping complex offering ‘gourmet pizzas’ (whatever that may be) heavily relied on marketing rather than quality itself. They were good, they still are not bad, but what they are trying to be is difficult to swallow.

I own a blue dial H1 Fury - a pilot with a hint of dress watch - but only because the January sales offered 40% off list. £6k was way too high even though it's a great piece & I'm very happy with what I paid for it. I always thought that their pricing model was 2x the price they should've been, given the brand. This watch is my daily - very accurate, easily on par with COSC

Sadly, I think you are spot on. I really liked the old Bremont and felt they were on the right track with their new movement models. Their old logo looked much better too ☹️

As always you are spot on in your “Meh” perspective. Your comparison of price points and competitors was most instructive

my man you’re the boss in marketing… love your videos. I learn soooo much. Cheers

I am a simple man. I see Wing Zero on a shelf and I hit like.

I find Bremont has positioned themselves in the market that is extremely difficult. I would compare them to the Montblanc (non-Minerva) watches. Most people will rather pay less, or slightly more for a more economical or a more well-refined watch from a more widely known brand.

In 2019, before I developed an interest in watches my wife wanted to buy me a watch for a significant wedding anniversary. I browsed for a while, because David Beckham advertised Tudor I dismissed them as a fashion brand and as James Bond advertised Omega I dismissed them as I have zero interest in Bond or that type of film genre. However after working 40 years in aviation Bremont attracted my attention and, after the AD offered a £500 discount without me even asking, that's what we bought. I've no regrets but I wouldn't give them a second glance now.

At least these watches don’t contain pieces of someone’s writing desk, plane or boat.

100%. Spot on dissection of Bremont past n present. Similarly not so sure about future. Watch community needs your fresh style n substance of thinking. With thanks.

"So I dragged myself back"....18seconds in and Pow! Appreciate you keeping it fun!

Succinct and objective analysis as always. I'll be curious on how existing Bremont owners feel about the repositioning of the brand. Also any affect it has on residual value of past products.

Objective and impartial as always, and it's always appreciated

Looking forward to these bremonts selling 60-70% below retail on the grey market soon

$3000 and a Selita movement: that is a hard NO from me

Mid Week Treat. These kind of business centric ones are some of my favourite videos from your already excellent videos.

Hi Mike, You certainly educated me in relation to Bremont. They are an interesting, albeit poorly marketed brand. Thank you for another great video. You are by far the most informative channel. Kind regards Rob

The first time I did hear the name Bremont is when I did read that they had their watches featured in Kingsman. I got curious and checked their brand and didn't see a single watch that was my cup of tea.

Thanks very much. This was exactly the analysis I was hoping to find about Bremont. I like the look of the Terra Nova but wanted to understand better as there are lots of watches I like in $1000-$3000 range.

I own a number of Bremont watches. Good summary. I agree with you. 👊

The “less English” part is definitely spot on: In all international forums I read, the conclusion after every Bremont novelty that was discussed was basically: “At that price point, you can get a more convincing offer elsewhere” AND “You really have to be a fan of their “Cool Britannia” spiel to spend money on them despite that fact”.

Great video once again! The pricing issue is a big one. I'm far from a marketing genius but if you are going for a safe and boring rebrand you've got to slightly under-price your watches right? To draw people's eyes towards your brand, even if the designs are safe? Right now there is literally no reason to buy a Bremont watch when Tudor and Longines are sitting at those price points producing much better watches with a world famous name on the dial. Also, if you're like me and don't care that much about brand name and just want the best spec'ed watch for the money, CW (among others) absolutely destroys them in the value for money category... So TLDR: Who are they meant to be competing with? Because from my perspective, they're losing to everyone.

Spot on, they have taken a strange turn in the road!

imagine sacrificing profit the last ten year to invest in upping quality and distinguishing aspects to your brand and then settling on a offering that ChatGPT would have come up upon prompting "what doed a generic watch brand look like"?

Nice review. And in agreement: they moved from 1 segment they couldn’t compete in to another they get beaten in. The Supermarine I like (GMT) is $4900 USD. No thanks. Sadly in most likelihood they’ll keep their (largely British) fans but not pull in new ones.

Fantastic review as always. You mentioned that Bremont hasn't made money for 10 years, and in my opinion, this can't go on forever. I would be interested in a video exploring watch brands that are struggling, whether due to sales, reviews, or changes in global trends. Brands like Bremont, Franck Muller, Hublot, Breguet, JLC, and many others would be fascinating to hear your opinion on why they have fallen out of favor and were they go from here.

I think you are quite right and well reasoned. The Triptik case with a black centre section was a winner to look at, nothing else like it. The ETA movement was just fine and extremely accurate, Rolex standard accurate. The lugs were superbly sculptured and slid under a cuff with ease. Superb watches to wear.

Okay am I the only one who thinks this guy has one of the most soothing voices they've ever heard in their lives? He's got peak Bob Ross /Mr. Rogers vibes

Best video commentary yet!! 🤜

Great analysis. I’m just a watch dork, so what do I know. Maybe Bremont sees the watch space in 4D & these will have more mass market appeal? They’re over-the-top tough-man marketing doesn’t really speak to me.

Excellent breakdown. I hope they can survive this but it doesn't look good for them.

Spot on and best review yet of the new Bremont. I see the short-term business rationale, but beyond that, I see these moves by the new owners as surprisingly, shallow and self-injuring. They most definitely "got lost in the re-branding" as you perfectly summarize.

Its a swing and a miss for me but I don't think the games over yet for them. CW changed their design language after engaging with their customers and Bremont could do the same

“Davide Cerrato with the funny glasses”. My thought exactly

👏🏼Done it again Mike, your breakdown analysis is spot on for me. I just don't think the average person buying their 1st luxury watch will swing over to them, with Tudor and Longines offerings. Most people will not have heard of them, so there on the back foot already, I just can't see them surviving. Bremont, employ Mike!

Never cared about Bremont. Still don’t. But at least it sounds like they’ll be overcharging people slightly less.

Awesome as always!

Bremont is stuck in the middle of the market. Bremont's best bet is to leverage its perceived military standard designs and get the British military as a customer. Christopher Ward is perceived as an innovative company because it constantly comes out with new designs.

Bremonts generally look ok to me. Just not at the price. There's nothing in the spec that justifies over 1500, and nothing unique in the design to justify a premium.

Spot on analysis. I love the "old" Bremont, but for me, they were over-priced. I still want to love them, but I'm struggling to find a silver lining to the re-release cloud.😢

The exam question for me is why would I buy a Bremont watch given what watches are out there? Have Bremont opened up the customer space such that sales will increase? I think current Bremont customers will invest in the new watches but i don't know if new customers will now consider Bremont as a serious option when investing in a new watch.

Love my Tudor Pelagos FXD. As a 21 year Retired Army Combat vet. Tudor has the history, combat proven and quality for the money. Next on the list is the Tudor Ranger or the Doxa Sub 200T. I really like the look of the Terra Nova, but definitely not at the price point. So much better pieces available.

People bought Bremont on the back of the distinctive watches, obtainable luxury and the brand story. The story (the founders) are basically gone. Then they have tried to move market segment into possibly the most competitive segment (as you point out) and alienated the existing "luxury" customer base in the process. The diver is forgetably generic, I do quite like the look of the 2 hand field watch, but would I choose it over Tudor et al in and around that price point - no way. The watches now looks like a "kickstarter" designed brand and they are now stuck between the price points of the industry heavyweights - I can't see how it will work.

The idea of focusing on field watches at their price point was a good one, but the designs don't really speak to me. Conversely, and in a similar market range, I really like what Norqain is doing.

I really liked some if the Bremont military inspired pieces, pricey but worth it. The new line dont speak to me at all, and the pricing is barmy. Its got the feeling of being adrift and i suspect time is short. Great stuff. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Your Gundam Wing Perfect Grade model is looking a little sad and lonely. It needs a PG Zaku II companion. I think Bremont would solve most of their problems by simply equipping all their watches with a SW-300 series movements. If the Terra Nova had an SW-300 and around $2,000, then I'd buy one.

Hi!! Nice video as usual. Would love some of your thoughts on Furlan Marri.

Great analysis

The new Bremont pieces are nice, but not what I'm looking for. I hope the round of private investment, cashing out of the founders, and installation of the money-man"s hand picked CEO works out better for Bremont than it did for Hodinkee.

I actually quite like how some of them look, but I could never justify spending that kind of money on one, far better options for less/similar money. And why an SW200? Some of the nicer CWs (still half the price) have the more refined SW300, so why should your £2500+ watch have the most basic of Swiss movements? I'd love to know how much the markup is on these

I've looked at their watches for years and just could never find a model with that x factor that you would need for that money.

Really enjoy your watch commentary… 🙏👍

Nice video and, yes, I detected a bit of arrogance, too. Because they charged high prices before their assumption was they can continue to to do so after a radical rebranding because -- they're Bremont! I did like the old military association and wished they did more for the land, i.e., infantry side of things which is, after all, a far larger market. All the best.

you're being generous. davide cerrato is a one hit wonder with tudor/black bay and got lucky with panerai (not much "design" there), cerrato is no gerald genta. hope giles and nick english cashed out because bremont is dead and buried.

This new Bremont reminds me a lot of Breitling during the early Georges Kern era: ditching the aviation-heavy theme for a land/sea/air direction. During that time, even Breitling had a bunch of stinker releases, remember the Navitimer 8 and the Bentley collabs? Ofc, Kern turned the company around and is incredible profitable today. However, Breitling had advantages that Bremont doesn’t: it has a vast back catalog to draw inspirations from (Bremont doesn’t), and Kern is a seasoned watch CEO (Davide’s roots is design). Time will tell Whether the new Bremont will be successful.

I really enjoy your content.

Bremont were one of the first brands that made me deep dive into the hobby back in 2018 when I saw them at the Bike Shed show in London and then went onto meet Nick and Giles at their Townhouse event. This is a fantastic summary Mike - appears since the VC funding Nick and Giles have been manoeuvred out due to lack of profits and the Wing and in-house movement was a grand but worthwhile goal. VC want quick return so bring in Davide who has a great track record also with MontBlanc. Agree first launches wide of the mark but they are going for younger and more outdoor type so will annoy existing customers and aim for the other market - question is does Hamilton and Tudor and Longines already cover this… interesting they have now joined the British Watch Alliance..

I think the next one with this same problem will be Norqain watches ⌚️

Many interesting points made here, thanks. Time will tell for Bremont, I guess. On field watches, I view this niche as underserved generally. Your point about the relative lack of offerings is well-taken. As few of us are divers and few of us are pilots, my $.02 is that there potentially a much larger market for field watches yet relatively few are offering quality in this genre. My personal preference are for smaller field watches, too. As an example, I'd buy the Ranger if it was more of a direct competitor to the Rolex Explorer at 36mm. As it is, at 39mm, it strikes me as too big for a simple time only field watch. At 39mm I can squeeze in gmt's, dates, and self-winding movements. All the best.

Agree with pretty much everything you said here. I first encountered Bremont back in 2010 and I thought some of their pieces were pretty cool, celebrating Britain's aviation and nautical history (albeit with the heavy shadow of colonialism). Coming from an RAF family I liked the Martin Baker. Whether it was necessary or not, they really shit the bed on the rebrand - the logo for starters. I liked the simple, elegant, propeller logo; the new compass just looks generic, boring, and cheap. Great analysis, subscribed.

You're bad man, Mike. Davide "Funny Glasses" whatsisname is going to stick now! (He should have gone to Specsavers!)

I'm a graphic designer, and the typography on these watches is bad. 3 lines of huge text, with drop caps-not good.

Now my favourite watch based KZfaq channel.

Been watching your videos for a while now, but just subscribed. I like your views about watches but I like your Wing Zero Endless Waltz more.

Bremont was formerly a brand that was intended to be a watch acceptable for strivers moving upward or people who owned better watches who could pay a relatively hefty price for a cultish sport watch and didn’t want a Hamilton, Longines or Seiko on their wrist because those brands were not posh enough. Champagne and not beer was the drink of choice at Bremont soirées for members of the watch community. One should not underestimate Mr. Cerrato but it takes time before a new CEO can begin introducing watches which are solely representative of his vision. One is sort of stuck with whatever is either in the pipeline or compromise jerry rigged “new references” pieced together the best one can. It appears that Bremont chose to launch its new Land, Sea and Air marketing focus and the new logo with only “placeholder” new lower price point product to introduce. In the end, only time will tell if Bremont will be successful. But as far as a successful Land, Air and Sea brand with affordably priced high quality watches with military/aviation roots, Sinn and not Bremont is where I would go. In the end, for Bremont to succeed, they are going to have to attract “new doors” (ADs). Most of the old Bremont ADs who probably sold higher end watches and took on Bremont as their low end brand are gone. In a world awash with too many brands and not enough quality ADs, I don’t see Bremont as attracting the better ADs. They will have to provide very aggressive terms to keep any of their existing ADs and to attract new ADs. Bremont used to be a clubby brand and for the moment it is now is a very “unclubby” brand. Brands do come back and it is probably easier to work with the resurrection of a smaller brand than a larger brand so Mr. Cerrato may have a shot. The silver lining in the cloud is that the English brothers era of Bremont references are likely going to be available at discounted prices in the gray market NOS realm. At deep discounts, this Bremont NOS might prove tempting as the English era Bremont’s were vey nice but overpriced.

Another great analysis. Likewise, I always thought Bremont was an expensive meh. Now they are even more meh. I would definitely by a CW or put a bit more and get a Tudor. I also agree that if I want to go on the more affordable route, Hamilton is a much better choice. Also, why change the logo? Just because the focus is changing there isn’t necessarily a need to change logos. The original propeller was much nicer. CW did that because they were new and trying to get to the cool one they have now. I think Bremont has become a brand doesn’t know where it wants to go to. It is as lost as the Mercedes F1 team is. 😅

Tudor had really pushed many middle luxury brands as afterthoughts. Tudor provides excellent quality in all sports watches slat a reasonable price. They are really hard to beat when it comes to value. If you buy a watch to wear it and are not concerned about selling for profit you can’t go wrong with Tudor. If you want to sell after a few years you will almost get your money back.

For me, Bremont would always be and only referring to their Martin Baker collab range. I think that what their unique feature. Their other ranges were not really distinctive and make it just “another watch” in an already crowded price range

I visited Bremont too at Watches & Wonders. I bought my first Bremont 15 years ago. They were really charming at the display but my heart sank when I saw this new direction. I think it’s a big mistake.

I would say I agree with your assessment of Bremont---they don't have their own identity. They're trying to be in every watch category(land,sea and air) as if that will solve their problem; i.e., wanting to cover all categories while still attempting to be expensive. As you rightly pointed out,there is nothing distinctive about them,other than having a penchant for spending too much money quickly and then charging high prices to cover spending too much. They need to create something very distinctive that says, "this is who we are" . Hanhart comes to mind--they create pilot watches for the most part, and they do it well. Bremont,otherwise, is nothing more than an expensive Timex.

The watches are all right. They don't stand out on the design, so they should with their attractive price.

What are your thoughts on Bremont, despite the new air, land and sea launch, continuing to actively market models under the old propeller logo in parallel? I got an email from Bremont via their mailing list just 3 days ago pushing a diver with the old logo on the watch face (but the new compass rose logo at the top of the email). Is this a new Supermarine reference but they've ditched the new compass rose logo altogether due to negative customer reactions? Is it a new reference but within an old line, and they are now planning to push parallel lines using old and new logos respectively into the future? Or is it an old reference, and Bremont are just trying to clear their back catalogue in parallel with the air, land and sea launch ? As a marketing and branding strategy it seems to me both very confused, and very confusing, and potentially very counter-productive. What do you think?

I feel the same way about Longines.

As a fan and owner of the "old" Bremont watches...they've definitely lost a customer. Having seen the new pieces - I disagree on the quality aspect. I feel, especially with the Tera Nova that they feel cheaply constructed and poorly finished. Definitely agree that this space they've decided to dive into is hyper competitive and there are so many better offerings especially below from the multitudes of microbrands that offer so much more value, build and uniqueness.

Bremont reminds me quite a lot of Norqain, which is also a very generic draw by numbers watchbrand.

Great points, totally agree, bremont looks like a compromise to me

The new CEO seems to think he will turn Bremont around. We shall see.😊

I don’t think the fact that there’s other competition out there that’s a little more or a little less will be the deciding factor. There’s always competition. The question is do the watches have the chops to persuade people to pull the trigger. I myself saw one of the new GMTs from Bremont in black with orange accents and I had that “must have it” feeling. The 16mm Case thickness scares me a little but I’m not dismissing it. I have thought for years that they are an interesting brand but they’re not going succeed if they priced themselves like Rolex with no heritage. I think this is a good move for them. I don’t think they need to rebrand the logo. Their land and Sea watch could easily have propellers on it as far as I’m concerned. I own a beautiful Breitling super ocean with wings under the 12 o’clock position and it’s just fine. I don’t mind the new logo though. We will see what happens. At least they have a plan and they’re trying to make the necessary changes to be successful. I hope they are.

At the very least give him a consultancy position, Bremont!

What happens to Bremont Is not as bad as some say. It's even worse.