If you've ever met Nick or Giles English, you know that the brothers always have a smile. And why not? After all, the founders of the British watch company Bremont have finally moved into their brand's new expansive manufacturing facility after a year-long delay caused by the global pandemic. Among its first fruits are the 40mm Supermarine S302 GMT diving watch—one of the very first Bremont models to emerge from this ambitious new facility.
Before diving into specific impressions of the watch itself, it's worth taking a moment to consider the Wing—Bremont's new manufacturing site in Henley-on-Thames, which plays a central role in the brand's long-standing goal of restoring the UK's prominence in the watch industry. A true triumph, the vast vision of the Wing, developed over five years (not counting pandemic-related delays), certainly suggests that Bremont does not intend to follow the path laid by any of its contemporaries.
Designed specifically for watch production, its eco-friendly design (where excess heat from machining processes on one side of the building is used to heat the rest of the building, as one example) sets the foundation for a brand with fully carbon-neutral ambitions. It also aims to trace as many elements of its watches to their origins under the Wing's roof. So far, cases are crafted from durable bars of Norwegian steel, vivid red jewels are set into the movements, and these movements are then decorated with Bremont's own touches, including traditional perlage, skeletonized rotors, and patented anti-shock technologies. Final assembly and quality control also take place at the Wing, though the brothers hint that much more will happen here in the near future.
All of this marks a long-awaited step toward the next level of manufacturing integration for Bremont, and a very good step for better informing and serving the end consumer, especially in an industry where the origin and assembly of components are often shrouded in mystery.
Considering all this, perhaps this is what makes the new S302 such an impressive value proposition. Priced just over $4,000, you get a time-tested Swiss GMT movement ebauche (ETA 2892 base, which in this case has been tuned and certified as a chronometer), operating in fully British tool watches made in the UK. Are there cheaper GMT watches with the same movement?
Certainly, and this is a familiar refrain when it comes to Bremont. But we don't buy watches just for their movement—we buy them for the sum of their parts. And in the case of Bremont, you're buying a watch for the quality and complexity of its case construction, the ease of wearing the watch itself, and the simple fact that for most of the last decade, the brand has been bringing originality, discussion, and a certain stubbornness back to British watchmaking—and all of this is worth supporting if these values matter to you.
Visually, the new S302 GMT closely resembles the standard Supermarine S301, with its robust 40mm profile and signature ribbed DLC-coated shroud protecting the hardened steel mid-case. And while Bremont releases it as a GMT watch, it retains the traditional 60-minute scale on the unidirectional ceramic bezel, allowing it to be considered a dive watch rather than a traveler’s or pilot’s watch with coincidental excess water resistance.
It may seem like not much, but if you analyze similar models from Monta, Oris, Bell & Ross, Tudor, and even Breitling or Omega (if you stretch the budget a bit), you can find a surprising number of bidirectional 24-hour bezels, some even equipped with an important independently adjustable hour hand—a combination that allows you to easily transition from one time zone to another.
But in the end, if you're planning a long vacation diving in distant turquoise waters, a quickly set GMT will suit you just fine, and you really only need time zones: home and local time, to keep up with daily dive boat meetings.
SPECIFICATIONS: Bremont Supermarine S302 GMT Diver
Brand: Bremont
Model: Supermarine S302 GMT
Dimensions: 40mm (thickness 12.5mm, lug-to-lug 49mm)
Water Resistance: 300 meters
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Crystal/Lens: Sapphire
Movement: BE-93-2AV (ETA 2892 GMT base), chronometer-certified, automatic movement with date and adjustable 24-hour hand
Frequency: 4 Hz
Power Reserve: 40 hours
Strap/Bracelet: Leather
Price & Availability: Starting at $4,195 on a cream-colored strap, as shown
At a considered size of 40mm, the new S302 slightly breaks with the tradition of Bremont divers previously equipped with GMT watches, such as the recent Project Possible and the now sold-out Endurance, both of which were 43mm. The wrist fit hasn't changed significantly (the 40mm Supermarine is 2mm thinner and only a millimeter shorter lug-to-lug), but the dial opening has been reduced, as has the lug width, now 20mm. The result is a watch that remains fully modern but visually small enough to appeal to those who prefer the classic sizes of mid-century prototypical tool watches.
Personally, I prefer the applied dial elements, the unique crown position at 2 o'clock, and the crown guards, along with a slightly more aggressive style of the larger 43mm GMT versions, but what the S302 lacks in the aforementioned models, it more than makes up for with charm thanks to the orange crown ring and cream-colored hour markers. They also strike me as the perfect watches for understated adventures—I would take them to Baja for freediving or overlanding without hesitation, where the matte dial, matte lugs, and sides, and the noticeable absence of the ubiquitous Swiss "luxury" label at the 12 o'clock marker are collectively an advantage.
The Bremont Supermarine S302 GMT watches are available on a leather NATO strap, a two-piece leather strap, or a stainless steel bracelet, with a starting price of $4,195 on a leather strap. You can learn more about the Supermarine collection and find your own at bremont.com.
