Bremont has just unveiled its latest limited edition that commemorates the British Royal Air Force’s centenary in 2018. Called the Bremont 1918, this chronograph is available in stainless steel, rose gold, and white gold variations, each with a different dial color.
This stylish watch incorporates material from an unprecedented four exceptional historic aircraft which fought with the RAF during major campaigns of both world wars. It comes with a 43 mm case, powered by the caliber BE-16AE, which means 28,800bph, a 42-hour power reserve, 100-meter worth of water resistance and a COSC certification.
The dial itself is multi-level, with sunken sub-dials for running seconds and the 30-minute counter, and a lower outer ring of Arabic hour numerals, applied luminescent pips, and a “railroad” minute track. At first glance, it is easy to confuse the dial for that of a moonphase chronograph due to the indicator at 6:00 – but that is in fact the AM/PM indicator. This indicator has been designed to depict the Spitfire dogfighting in the Battle of Britain in the AM and the Avro Lancaster bomber on a night mission in the PM.
There are the usual sub-dials at 3:00 for the 30-minute chrono counter and at 9:00 for running seconds. The Arabic markers are applied and the baton shaped hour and minute hands are filled with SuperLuminova. Despite the large 43mm case size, a significant portion of the dial area is taken up by the telemeter scale, and while thematically it is fitting, it may prove distracting to some wearers in practice due to the increased clutter.
Another contentious choice is the date window, which is in the infamous 4:30 position.
All variants ship on an alligator strap with the stainless steel version retailing for a price of $11,495, rose gold for $21,495, and white gold for $22,995.
A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the 1918 will go to the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA), which has supported current and former RAF personnel for almost 90 years.