Concorde flies again – at least, in the form of the Supersonic wristwatch created by Bremont to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic supersonic airliner. The first manually-wound Bremont, the timepiece takes design cues from the aircraft, as well as featuring actual metal from British Airways Concorde Alpha Bravo.
Once the flagship of the jet set, the Franco-British Concorde supersonic airliner is now a museum piece, though one that has yet to see a successor. The result of a high-tech program that was only rivaled by NASA's Project Apollo, Concorde could cruise at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph or 2,180 km/h) while carrying up to 128 passengers in first class comfort.
Concorde was not only a technological showpiece, it was also supposed to be the harbinger of a new era of supersonic passenger travel that was to be as revolutionary as the invention of the jet engine itself. Unfortunately, the aircraft's high operating costs, rocketing fuel prices of the 1970s, and often malicious environmental regulations that restricted it to only a few intercontinental air routes put paid to the revolution. The result was high praise, but empty order books.
In the end, only about a dozen Concordes were built, and their only buyers where the French and British state-run airlines, Air France and British Airways. Despite these setbacks, Concorde was embraced by the rich and famous as it flew across the Atlantic faster than a bullet at an altitude of 11 mi (18 km) from 1979 to 2003, when a tragic accident and a changing economy led to their retirement.
Working with British Airways, Bremont created the Supersonic using donated original metal from the airline's G-BOAB Concorde, or Alpha Bravo – the last of the aircraft still owned by the company and the third delivered to the fleet in May 1976. It then went on to set a distance record of 4,565 miles (7,347 km) flying from Washington DC to Nice. This was followed by inaugurating the London-New York-Seattle Concorde charter service, and it carried the England squad home from France from the 1998 World Cup.
Boasting a style that evokes the 1970s, the Supersonic watch comes in a choice of cases, with the sunburst Sunray Silver White dial representing the Concorde's distinct reflective paint. At 12 o'clock is the eight-day power reserve indicator and the seconds are shown in a subdial at six o'clock. Meanwhile, blue hands pay homage to Concorde's British Airways livery.
Under the sapphire crystal on the reverse is a decorative ring made from the metal from Alpha Bravo etched with the aircraft's number and registration, years of active service, number of supersonic flights, and top speed.
The Bremont Supersonic is powered by a modified 33-jewel BE-11M manual caliber, has a rated frequency of 21,600 vph, and sports a Glucydur balance and Anachron balance spring with Nivaflex mainspring. It's sealed in a 43-mm stainless steel, white gold, or rose gold case with front and back anti-reflective scratch resistant sapphire crystals and is water resistant to 10 ATM (100 m, 330 ft). The strap is of Connolly leather in Concorde blue/blue or a crocodile/brown alligator strap with matching pin buckle.
The Bremont Supersonic is available in a limited edition of 300 stainless steel, 100 white gold, and 100 rose gold pieces. Prices range from US$12,495 to US$23,995.
The video below introduces the Bremont Supersonic.
Sources: Bremont, British Airways