Every now and then a watch comes along that is truly unique; a masterpiece of engineering that will be revered for years to come. Often such pieces will become iconic and come to symbolise success, quality and luxury. It is rare, though, that a watch comes along that is truly exciting to everyone in the watch world. It is even more unusual when two worlds collide and aviation welcomes a watch into its hall of fame. But in 2014, this is happening.
A Big Step for British Watch-Making
This year saw Bremont launch their Wright Flyer, the first watch with a Bremont proprietary movement. This movement marks a true coming of age for Bremont, and the inclusion of the BWC/01 movement has also been manufactured (in conjunction with Swiss experts) with such a significant level of British content that ‘London’ is written on the watch’s front-facing plate. As such, it can be regarded as a step forward in British watch-making, bringing us to the forefront of the luxury timepiece market.
Despite this being an exciting and noteworthy moment for British watch-making, the most breathtaking inclusion is nothing to do with the engineering of the watch. As is typical of the Bremont limited editions, the watch incorporates a small piece of history. Within each limited-edition timepiece there is a small piece of genuine material from the Wright brothers' inaugural powered flight resting inside the watches' inner workings.
The Original Wright Flyer
In December 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first flight that was controlled and powered to carry a weight heavier than a human in the Wright Flyer. For the next decade, they worked on their flying machines, and 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the first commercial flight.
Perhaps this landmark anniversary of aviation is one of the reasons why it is so exciting that nestled neatly amongst the winding rotor of the Wright flyer is a piece of the inaugural Wright brothers' flight. The fabric is visible on the underside of the watch and has ensured this particular piece is priced considerably higher than normal for a Bremont timepiece.
In addition, the watch becomes even more valuable when we consider that only 450 pieces will be manufactured. The watch is highly sought after and will be hugely collectable. 300 of the watches will be made from steel, 100 from rose gold and a further 50 from white gold. For those who are lovers of aviation or just lovers of all things British, this is certainly one to keep looking out for.
This landmark timepiece also marks the first step towards another exciting development for British watch manufacturing. Many of the parts will be made in the Henley-on-Thames Bremont workshops. This is just the first step in the process of manufacturing whole watches in the UK.