Discussion
I did the Bremont tour on Wednesday with my brother. It is excellent, we were there for about 3 hours.
Kicked off with tea or coffee and a general watch chat with Tom, our host who has recently come out of the luxury watch trade.
Then a brief introduction video, a walk through of how watches work and the various inventions in time keeping that came out of the UK - I think this can be as detailed as you like, he certainly knew his stuff.
Then a tour of the manufacturing facility, the various special projects they have under taken and the watch manufacturing and servicing areas.
No hard sell, there is a chance to try things on (I tried on the Longitude and a few others) and you can buy there if you want to (the guy prior to us bought a Longitude).
We both thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s £25 a person and the money goes to charity.
Kicked off with tea or coffee and a general watch chat with Tom, our host who has recently come out of the luxury watch trade.
Then a brief introduction video, a walk through of how watches work and the various inventions in time keeping that came out of the UK - I think this can be as detailed as you like, he certainly knew his stuff.
Then a tour of the manufacturing facility, the various special projects they have under taken and the watch manufacturing and servicing areas.
No hard sell, there is a chance to try things on (I tried on the Longitude and a few others) and you can buy there if you want to (the guy prior to us bought a Longitude).
We both thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s £25 a person and the money goes to charity.
Went for this tour today. On the whole it is a very good tour and well worth the £25 admission. What I would say is that the actual manufacturing operation at The Wing is relatively small with only a limited number of machines. It was still interesting to see how the components are produced though. There was very little in the way of hand work going on so don’t expect to see rooms full of “artisans” hand finishing movements, it’s not that kind of operation yet.
It was nice to see that the company seem to be taking the whole ethos of bringing as much of the process in house very seriously, but it is obviously a very gradual process for a company of their size.
Had the chance to look at watches with the opportunity to buy at the end.
It was nice to see that the company seem to be taking the whole ethos of bringing as much of the process in house very seriously, but it is obviously a very gradual process for a company of their size.
Had the chance to look at watches with the opportunity to buy at the end.
Do they happen to divulge how much of their watches are actually made in England?
I guess there’s no 60% rule in the UK like in Switzerland so they can do what they want to some degree, but if they could tell me that 99% of their watches were fully fabricated and assembled in England they’d probably get a sale from me.
I find it quite disappointing that large amounts of the parts of premium Swiss watches are made in China (or Asia as a whole).
I guess there’s no 60% rule in the UK like in Switzerland so they can do what they want to some degree, but if they could tell me that 99% of their watches were fully fabricated and assembled in England they’d probably get a sale from me.
I find it quite disappointing that large amounts of the parts of premium Swiss watches are made in China (or Asia as a whole).
Crumpet said:
Do they happen to divulge how much of their watches are actually made in England?
I guess there’s no 60% rule in the UK like in Switzerland so they can do what they want to some degree, but if they could tell me that 99% of their watches were fully fabricated and assembled in England they’d probably get a sale from me.
I find it quite disappointing that large amounts of the parts of premium Swiss watches are made in China (or Asia as a whole).
They are very honest about this. I think because they got a lot of blowback from the Wright Flyer. I guess there’s no 60% rule in the UK like in Switzerland so they can do what they want to some degree, but if they could tell me that 99% of their watches were fully fabricated and assembled in England they’d probably get a sale from me.
I find it quite disappointing that large amounts of the parts of premium Swiss watches are made in China (or Asia as a whole).
55% of the weight of the ENG series movement is manufactured in the UK (which is the base plates and bridges, basically) and the rotor is modified in the UK. The cases are made in the UK.
Also, for the new movement, the calibration is done in the UK.
Plus of course, the vast, vast majority of their watches are swiss movements at the moment.
It's a slow burn for sure.
The Swiss rule is liberally interpreted.
As above. They appeared to very clear about what was made in the U.K. They didn’t have any option as it was all there in front us. They said they try and source as much as possible from within the U.K. in terms of components and finishing (rhodium plating is done in Switzerland) but for obvious reasons that has is limits. Vast majority, if not all, of the manufacturing and assembly/service staff were from the U.K.
They seemed to make a point of saying they could have done things better in the past and are obviously still very aware of the very negative impact the whole “in house” fall-out had.
They seemed to make a point of saying they could have done things better in the past and are obviously still very aware of the very negative impact the whole “in house” fall-out had.
Thanks, that’s interesting. And I guess those ‘Swiss’ movements they’re using aren’t 100% Swiss either. Isn’t their law something like 60% by finished value? As opposed to 60% by weight? I guess, given the low cost of producing things in China, that the bulk of a Swiss movement could be Chinese? Or am I being cynical and unfair on the Swiss watch industry?
Still, I like that they’re being open and honest about where things are produced. Which is more than can be said for the Swiss!
Still, I like that they’re being open and honest about where things are produced. Which is more than can be said for the Swiss!
Edited by Crumpet on Wednesday 12th January 21:32
Crumpet said:
Thanks, that’s interesting. And I guess those ‘Swiss’ movements they’re using aren’t 100% Swiss either. Isn’t their law something like 60% by finished value? As opposed to 60% by weight? I guess, given the low cost of producing things in China, that the bulk of a Swiss movement could be Chinese? Or am I being cynical and unfair on the Swiss watch industry?
Still, I like that they’re being open and honest about where things are produced. Which is more than can be said for the Swiss!
Correct, by value. I don’t think you’re being unfair. Still, I like that they’re being open and honest about where things are produced. Which is more than can be said for the Swiss!
Edited by Crumpet on Wednesday 12th January 21:32
Seeing all the cases being made and the polishing etc is very cool.
I can see an S302 or something in my life. The 40mm cases wore nicely on me.
It sounds like you’d enjoy the tour.
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