Small Talk NICK ENGLISH

The co‑founder of Bremont established the British watchmaker alongside his brother Giles (left)

Tell us about the Bremont Longitude.

It’s an important watch not only for Bremont but for British horology. Longitude houses a Bremont-manufactured movement called ENG 300, which was made at our new 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Henley-on-thames. The ENG 300 is the first mechanical movement made on British shores in more than 50 years.

Why is it important that Bremont pays tribute to Britain?

Some of the most glorious watchmaking the world has ever seen came from Britain. Go back a few centuries; we helped solve the conundrum of accurate timekeeping at sea when we set up the first chronometer testing and regulation facility at the Royal Observatory.

Bremont is known for incorporating important historical artefacts into its watches. How did you mould a section of brass into each Longitude?

We were very keen to integrate parts of Flamsteed’s Meridian Line from the Royal Observatory into each watch. The brass beam is used to mark the area in which John Flamsteed, who was the founder of Greenwich Observatory and the first Astronomer Royal of England, charted the position of stars in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was smelted down and then machined to place perfectly into Longitude case backs.

What don’t we know about Bremont?

We have an exciting new generation of watchmakers and technicians who have been trained under our internal apprenticeship scheme. These specialists come from numerous industries, including Formula One and even bomb disposal.