The Bremont MKII Chronograph
It’s no secret that watches and cars are the salt and pepper of luxury lifestyle. Earlier this year at BaselWorld, two British mechanical manufacturers teamed up and introduced two new watch collaborations. Bremont cemented its partnership with Jaguar by creating the MKI and MKII (this on the heels of producing six Bremont Lightweight chronometers in honor — one each — of the lightweight E Type racing cars).
The two new watches pay tribute to the 1961 E-Type that was introduced by Enzo Ferrari in 196. At that time, it was considered the fastest production car. In order to capture both the beauty and the speed of the Jaguar line, Bremont worked closely with Jaguar’s Director of Design Ian Callum, and took design inspiration from the signature dashboard speedometer and tachymeter — incorporating the look into the new Bremont Jaguar MKI and MKII watches.
The new watches are inspired by the previous six Lightweight watches and by the car dashboard instrumentation
Specifically the MKI black dial highlights the “red line” (high-speed) quadrant between 3 and 4 o’clock that is reminiscent of the tachometer on the dashboard the car (the red line quadrant ranged from 60-70 mph onto car). The slimmer polished stainless steel 43mm case with double-domed crystal houses a movement based on Bremont’s self-winding proprietary BWC/01 automatic movement by La Joux-Perret and now with date added. Additionally, there is a sub-seconds indication at 9:00 for a harmonious appeal. The back of this timepiece also proves to be reminiscent of the Jaguar E-Type Lightweight line as it provides an open look into the self winding BWC/01 calibre through the three-spoked E-Type steering wheel automatic winding rotor. The MKI retails for a smooth $10,950.
The reverse side of the watch with steering-wheel inspired rotor
Meanwhile, the MKII, in similar layout to the MK1, features the date at 6:00 and the Jaguar logo above the date, but the MKII is a chronograph with two subdials at 3:00 and 9:00. This chronometer watch houses the automatic BE-50AE movement customized by Bremont. The design incporerates a sublet red line on the 60-minute counter that pays homage to the legendary E-Type’s tachymeter.
Bremont MKII Jaguar chronograph chronometer
The 43mm stainless steel case is made entirely in the United Kingdom by Bremont using its three-part ‘Trip-Tick’ technology, and incorporates a “tire tread” winding crown topped with the Jaguar logo.
Both watches are sold with perforated racing straps indicative of the 1960’s. Neither are limited edition pieces, but they will be limited simply by annual production to keep them as special as the cars that inspired them.
The Jaguar that offers the inspiration for the watch
