Making watches is an obviously complicated business, with even a simple watch containing 140 parts or more, packed into a space of just an inch wide and just over a tenth of an inch tall. Setting up an operation to handle such tiny components and assemble them into a watch is hard enough, but actually producing those components is a very different matter, particularly if you plan to make them in any numbers. Bremont has pretty much mastered the assembly part of the equation: every watch that exits the brand's Henley-on-Thames facility is tested to at least chronometer standard. But, so far, only a very small number of British watchmakers produce their own parts - including Roger W Smith, which does almost everything by hand, producing just 10 complete watches per year (though of a quality that has collectors from across the world happy to wait years to own one).
Luxury timepiece brand Bremont wants to bring its entire watchmaking process to the UK. The company already assembles its watches in the UK, but with the addition of a manufacturing manager and backing from Jaguar Land Rover and Giles English, Bremont founders Nick and Martin-Baker plan to produce components domestically. Currently, only a few UK-based watchmakers produce their own parts, with some of the required skill-sets “alien to the UK”, Martin-Baker acknowledged. With a watch comprising over 140 parts, a strong understanding of materials is vital. As such, Bremont has sought advice from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre.