There are some watches out there with very, very niche capabilities. Some can alert the authorities to your position with emergency beacons. Others can operate perfectly in zero gravity. There have even been wristwatches made that can survive on the floor of the ocean.
But only one brand has created a watch intended to survive being ejected from a fighter jet. Since 2009, British watchmaker Bremont has maintained an enduring partnership with Martin-Baker, the world’s leading manufacturer of crashworthy aircraft equipment. This week, the two brands have revealed their latest collaboration; the Bremont MB Savanna in Titanium.
And Bremont knows that — for a pilot — weight means everything. That’s why the latest watch to be released by the brand, in collaboration with Martin-Baker, is hewn from ‘Grade 5’ titanium. So, when buckled up around the wrist of an intrepid airmen, pilots can be confident that it won’t weigh them down.
And the practical touches don’t end there. Elsewhere on the reliable 43mm lightweight watch, there are but more functional features to be found. For example: an anti-reflective tactical protective case surface treatment; an advanced ruthenium-plated skeletonised rotor; even the colour palette, inspired by military camouflage and the desert environment, extends to that hard-wearing rubber strap.
Inside the rough, rugged case ticks a modified version of Bremont’s formidable BE-36AE automatic chronometer. With stepped windows, Glucydur balance and Anachron spring, it perfectly fuses function with mechanical beauty — and owes its increased shock resistance to a modified automatic winding bridge.
The chronometers’s talents don’t even end there. The whole movement is supported by a protective, patented anti-shock movement mount, and the inner bi-directional ‘Roto-Click’ bezel is another of the brand’s proprietary innovation. Bremont has afforded the timepiece an impressive 38-hour power reserve — and even thrown in water resistance of up to 100 metres for good measure.
The dial, however, is perhaps our favourite part of Bremont’s latest release. Striking of colour but simple of design, the coloured metal disc features sand-coloured indexes and hands, each liberally coated in Grade X1 Super-LumiNova. And, true to the brand’s ‘MB’ range, the yellow and black loop at the end of the second hand is a direct reference to the ejection pull handle.
“The MB Savanna is an eye-catching piece of military candy and a fitting tribute to arguably the most successful pilot’s watch in the market used extensively by real military squadrons,” says Nick English, co-founder of Bremont.
“Following the success of our MB collaboration we wanted to create a more lightweight model and put it through the full spectrum of MB testing to coincide with the development of the new MB seat programme – ensuring the next generation of the Bremont MB is more robust than ever.”
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