Bremont Martin Baker Watches

What should have been a momentous day for Bremont, the launch of both a watch with an actual piece of the Wright brothers’ Wright Flyer and the brand’s first in-house movement, turned sour after it was revealed that the calibre BWC/01 was not, after all, in-house. This is the story of how the Wright Flyer became the most controversial watch ever, and what that means not just for Bremont, but for the industry as well.

The words ‘dive watch’ and ‘Rolex Submariner’ practically mean the same thing these days. It’s the default choice, and for good reason, a major player in the establishment of the category and just a really great watch to boot. Successive facelifts and improvements have rightly kept it at the top of the food chain for decades. But just because it’s a good choice, doesn’t mean it’s the only choice; here are three more dive watches you should check out before you buy a Submariner.

The Supermarine Spitfire and the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang are some of the most important aircraft to have ever existed, having dominated the skies during World War Two, helping to bring peace back to a world at war. But there’s another aircraft, one you’ve probably never heard of, that’s equally important in a very different way: the MB 3.

A few years ago, at a WWII airshow event, I had the opportunity to sit inside a vintage fighter plane. I was struck by two thoughts: firstly, and probably most obviously, how cool the cockpit looked, with its altimeters, gauges and levers. Secondly, how vulnerable its pilots must have felt when in the line of the enemy’s fire. Add into the mix the roar of the engines, the smell of the fuel and the aircraft’s deep, rumbling vibrations, and it would have made for one thrilling, and terrifying, flight - and would have taken a brave soul to fly it.