Bremont certainly thinks so, as they’ve labelled it the Super Marine. At first, you might say that this name owes a lot to it’s 500 meter water resistance rating. However, once you dig into the history of the Bremont company (established 2002; first watch produced in 2007), you learn that they’re a British company, and that Super Marine was actually the company that manufactured the Spitfire fighter plane.
Now that we have that mini-history lesson out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the watch itself. At first, you might be tempted to write it off as another Submariner clone, and it certainly does share some design cues. However, closer examination reveals that this is not just another cheap knockoff. If you purchase one of these watches, you get the following:
- BE-36AE automatic chronograph chronometer (COSC-certified) movement with 38 hour power reserve
- 43mm stainless steel case with 22mm lugs
- Sapphire crystal (AR-coated) surrounded by a lumed uni-directional bezel
- An automatic helium escape valve
- Hours/minutes/seconds, with day and date at the 3-o’clock position
The pricing is another indicator this isn’t a cheap knockoff – it’s running about $4600 at current conversion rates. With the specs above, and Bremont’s motto (“Tested Beyond Endurance”), you can see you’re getting a watch that can stand up to just about anything you can throw at it. It has a clean and familiar style that is classic.
The one thing that is a bit “off”, to me, is with the case design. If you look at the right-hand side of the case, you can see that you have a slight bulge as the case goes up towards the crown. I suppose it helps in keeping the watch from being bulkier than it needs to be, but it does make things non-symmetrical (obviously), and that distracts me some. Then again, it may be one of those features that just fades into the background once you’ve had the piece for awhile. If you’ve got one, let us know!
A few points to consider; 1) the movement is not a chronograph but it is a chronometer. 2) The USD price is $5150 on the rubber strap. 3) The sapphire crystal and bezel use a hardened nine layer ar coating and the markings are lumed below the sapphire insert. 4) the “bulge” on the side of the case is a crown guard and is bolted onto the case, if you look at the side of the case its actually a lovely detail. 5) The case is a three piece construction that uses a very advanced steel hardening procedure resulting in a case hardness of 2000hv (about 7 times harder than standard steel). The S500 has a lot going for it at that price when compared to the IWC Aquatimer (similar price) or even the Rolex Sub (which is far more expensive). It is helpful to mention the size of the watch as well which is 43 x 16 mm.
Thanks for the input. Like I had said, that crown guard just bugged me some, but may be a non-issue for others (such as yourself).