This imited edition luxury watch is a tribute to that fabled quest for accurate Longitude, which was resolved by the genius of John Harrison who developed the ship’s chronometer and eventually won the 20,000 pounds prize offered by Parliament.

Bremont’s new 40mm wide, big crown watch also costs around 21 grand in rose gold, and 15K in stainless steel. It will go on sale on December 1st.

That red dot in the middle of the dial is the automatic power reserve indicator by the way. It has a distinct retro appeal, it almost looks like a marriage watch, you know where they recase a pocket watch movement, plus it has that polished bezel that reminds me of a ship’s chronometer.

It’s a handsome devil but expensive, despite the British made kudos. A true collectors item in the long run? Maybe.

Here’s the word from Bremont;

Not only does the Longitude house the brand’s first manufactured movement from its new ENG300 movement series but it also incorporates original brass from the historic Flamsteed Meridian Line at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London.

At Greenwich, the brass Flamsteed Meridian line marks the historic position where the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, made his observations and laid the foundations for accurate timekeeping and navigation.

Bremont has made considerable investment into new machinery, staff and training and the firm’s in-house technical team has modified the base K1 calibre, for which it has acquired the full rights to manufacture and re-engineer from Swiss firm “THE+”. The ENG300 series is the result of Bremont re-engineering 80% of the base calibre, including making a number of design improvements, in order to build a proprietary movement to the brand’s unique specification.

VERDICT;

Is a Bremont a good investment? Let’s take a look online and see what pre-owned examples are selling for? We found a 2017 chronometer whoch made just under £7000 at Bonhams, that’s pretty respectable.

Another less impressive result was at the Worthy auction site, where a Bremont Chronometer made just $1600 back in May 2021. Over on eBay we saw a Bremont Solo on sale ( or Offers) at two grand, which is exactly a grand less than the new price, or a 33% depreciation. Assuming it sells of course.

A Bremont ALT-Z model was on offer from a dealer for £3000. Brand new it retails from 5K upwards, depending on spec. That’s a hefty 40% depreciation, again assuming that someone pays the three grand for it.

On that basis you could be looking at dropping about five grand on this Longitude model if you decide to sell it in 3-5 years time. That’s not great is it? Maybe Bitcoin isn’t so risky after all..