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Bremont Watch Company and Bamford Watch Department join forces to launch new S500 model
By Gabriel Power | 29 April 2022 | Lifestyle, Style
With an eye-catching design and storied history, the Bremont S500 Bamford Special Edition is a must-have for luxury watch fans
The Bremont S500 Bamford Special Edition is, in almost every way, quintessentially British. It's the brainchild of some of the finest minds in UK watchmaking; its eye-catching blues are based on those of the Royal Air Force; the advertising campaign surrounding it has drawn inspiration from the iconic aesthetics of British espionage cinema of the 1960s. Think The Ipcress File.
But one facet of its production is rather groundbreaking for these shores; it is the first time two British watchmaking brands have collaborated on a project. And yet its inception is wholly unsurprising as the byproduct of a friendship between George Bamford, founder of Bamford Watch Department, and Bremont co-founders Nick and Giles English.
Unveiled during an event at Bamford's chic London studio, hidden in a sidestreet in leafy Brompton, this stunning design is a sight to behold. Its DLC coating, which gives the bezel and case a jet black sheen, allows the blues of the hands, indexes and California dial to pop with an exhilarating vigour. This shade of blue itself is also a first for both brands, using Bremont's trademark British Royal Air Force Blue as a jumping off point for something with a little more vibrancy and zest, which George Bamford and the English brothers affectionately dub California Blue, rather fittingly.
The piece is the latest in Bremont's S500 collection, which was first introduced in 2009 as the brand’s first mechanical dive watch, describing it as "designed to not only be incredibly tough but also beautifully engineered". This Bamford Special edition S500, like those that came before, measures 43mm and is water resistant to 500m, while also featuring Bremont’s signature Trip Tick case construction which houses the Modified Calibre BE-36AE. This design is limited to just 250 pieces.
"I have known Nick and Giles for a while now, and we became firm friends when I was moving into my Mayfair office seven years ago, and they were parking a very cool Jaguar in a car park opposite," George Bamford said of the collaboration. "I always said we should do something together and this project feels so right."
"Our signature black with a raised ceramic bezel and unique arrow hand, as well as the California dial, work so well on one of their iconic watches," he added. "I love the California dial and the integration of two styles. I feel it represents the blend of two British brands working together."
Bremont co-founder Nick English added: “The S500 Supermarine is an icon of our brand and it’s been hugely exciting collaborating with George to produce this special edition.
"Projects such as this provide so much design inspiration, and it’s been an incredibly natural process with George sharing so many of the same interests, from aviation to automobiles and vintage military timepieces. We’re proud to be pioneering a British watch collaboration of this sort and we’re equally as proud of the result, a watch that sublimely fuses the Bremont and Bamford design aesthetic.
