Horologii

Bremont MB Viper Watch Review

It wasn’t all that long ago that Bremont launched a range of H1 Generation timepieces, a series of luxury watches named the Bremont Supernova, Bremont Fury and Bremont Audley fitted with the British watchmaker’s first ever in-house calibre. The ENG300 movement promises chronometer-levels of precision thanks to the testing applied by Bremont’s H1 Timing Standard. In a separate matter, you also have the Bremont Martin Baker watch collection, a range of durable pilot’s watches designed in partnership with the Martin Baker British Aviation Company, a company responsible for supplying 70% of the worlds Air Forces with fighter ejection seat technology. Now Bremont combines the durability of their Martin Baker watch with the precision of their ENG300 movement with the launch of the Bremont MB Viper Limited Edition.

As with all of the designs within the Bremont Martin Baker series, the new Bremont MP Viper watch is put through a rigorous schedule of environment testing conditions. These are the very same that Martin Baker employees across their suite of fighter injection seats. Named HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Testing), the tests are completed in a laboratory by Martin Baker and involve subjecting the watch and the ENG300 movement to Live Ejection Testing, Zoom Temperature Climb Testing, Extreme Temperature Endurance, High Altitude Testing and Salt Fog Testing. To ensure the Bremont MB Viper Limited Edition could survive these conditions, they first developed a functional and minimal casing to house a shock isolating mount that could be fixed to the cockpit ‘dashboard’ of a Martin Baker live ejection simulator. After that, the casing was developed with forced carbon fibre lugs so it could be affixed to an ejection manikin’s wrist and most importantly, the movement was protected by Bremont’s patented Anti-Shock movement mount.

Since the Bremont MB Viper is here, it’s safe to assume the watch passed these tests with flying colours, becoming one of the most durable and high-precision Bremont watches to ever grace our wrists. It’s an interesting looking piece that’s for sure, but it will undoubtedly appeal to collectors who are interested in tough pieces of kit that have real testing credibility behind them. It also makes history as the first Bremont Martin Baker watch to house their ENG300 movement.

Bremont Co-Founder Nick English comments on the launch of the Bremont MB Viper Limited Edition: “When Martin-Baker first approached us in Bremont’s very early days, it wasn’t a branding exercise, it was with a vision of creating the definitive aviation watch. The testing that they could offer was something previously untried or tested in this industry, it was entirely unparalleled. It’s truly remarkable what these 2 mechanical timepieces can actually withstand. For me it really is the ultimate pilot’s watch and it’s exciting to still be testing the boundaries of the possible with such an innovative and technically excellent British business at the centre of aeronautical and military engineering. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve created together, and interestingly, much of the Bremont MB Viper testing was carried out in conjunction with the Martin-Baker Mk18 seat in the Korean KFX Fighter ejection test programme. The Mk18 seat can also be found in other fighter aircraft like the F-16 ‘Viper’. This new limited edition is pioneering for Bremont with its use of the ENG352 movement, and it’s a timepiece we are incredibly proud of. It really is tested beyond endurance.”

So how does the Bremont MB Viper watch wear on a non-manikin wrist? Although it’s aesthetic is overly tool-like and appears heavy in design, that’s actually far from the truth. The watch wears amazingly lightweight on the wrist thanks the high-performance, aerospace material that make up the case such as aluminium and Grade 5 titanium. The Trip-Tick case design includes a 43.5mm matte DLC Grade 5 titanium case with a protective carbon coating and an anodised 6082 aluminium case middle. The latter is beautifully coloured in vibrant orange and secured by 4 corner Torx® screws which alongside the screw down crown ensures a 100 metre water resistant rating. The case back is also screwed and incorporates special hollows to further reduce weight. We’re also warranted a view of the in-house movement through the back’s exhibition glass. Completing the exterior, the Bremont MB Viper comes with two canvas straps, one in orange and another in black.

For the dial, Bremont elects a bright white display which contrasts strongly against the rest of the black and orange design. It sports two chevron-decorated hands for the hours and minutes whose design nods to the signature ejection pull handles seen on fighter ejection seats. According to Bremont, this feature was actually inspired by some of the very early unreleased MB prototype designs and unlike all other MB models, the MB Viper features a straight red seconds hand, mimicking that which was used on the test instrument. The dial also features green emission Superluminova across the dial ring and on the tips of the hour and minute hands.

Inside the Bremont MB Viper Limited Edition, the self-winding ENG352 calibre is protected by a patented anti-shock movement mount for increased shock resistance and is equipped with an anti-magnetic silicon escape wheel, free sprung hairspring with inertia weight timed balance and KIF shock protection. We’re promised a decent 65-hour power reserve, a frequency of 25,200bph and a total of 22 jewels. You can admire some of the latter through the exhibition case back including decoration like rhodium plated bridges with a gold-plated automatic bridge and the skeletonised Bremont oscillating rotor.

If you’d like to learn more about the new Bremont MB Viper watch and secure one of the 300 limited edition pieces for yourself, head over to the Jura Watches website here. Alternatively, get in touch with the team by calling 01335 453453 or send us a message at help@jurawatches.co.uk.

Specifications:

  • Case Size: 43.5mm
  • Case Material: Matte black DLC treated Grade 5 titanium with orange anodized aluminium case middle
  • Bezel: Fixed, orange anodized aluminium
  • Glass: Flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment
  • Crown: Screw in
  • Case Back: Exhibition
  • Water Resistance: 100 metres
  • Movement: ENG352 automatic winding, in-house
  • Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
  • Power Reserve: 65 hours
  • Jewels: 22
  • Frequency: 25,200bph
  • Dial: White with Superluminova hands and numerals
  • Strap: Canvas in orange or black
  • Buckle: Titanium pin
  • RRP: £5,495
  • Limited: 300 pieces