REVIEW: Hands On With The New Bremont Supermarine GMT Diver

We go hands on with Bremont’s newly released Supermarine GMT Diver, the S302. With a bright and vibrant blue/green bezel and blue rubber strap, we think this could be a quiet hit for the British Brand!

Bremont’s new Supermarine GMT collection was launched last month, a refreshed and refined range under their new CEO, Davide Cerrato. We covered this release (which you can read here) with three models, including a Jet Black, a Blue/ Green on blue rubber, and the limited edition Ocean in grey with Bremont’s new brand ambassador, marine biologist, shark and marine conservationist – Ocean Ramsey.

Since taking the helm at Bremont, we’ve been keen to see what Davide Cerrato would do as his first move when it came to the actual watches, and with a focus on their core lines, the first to be given a refinement was the Supermarine collection, starting with the S302 Diver GMT.

Bremont is one of those brands that you want to win. They’ve a great origin story, and this for me is a major part of what makes a watch brand appealing. Why does it exist and what was the rationale for it being started outside of it being a business? And for those older brands, take away the heritage factor, what does it stand for today in the 21st century? 2023 is a very different time to 1923 and even 1823, so their “raison d’etre” back then is most probably not what it is today.

Bremont being only 20 or so years young, it’s modern and relevant to today. For Nick and Giles English, a major passion and mission to bring back British watchmaking to the fore, blended with their love of flying and admiration for the armed forces comes through in all their pieces. Just look at the Fury, a modern interpretation of a pilots watch designed for the wearer of today. If you’re not familiar, you can read our hands on review here.

Initial Thoughts

Writing up the release article for the new Supermarine GMT Diver collection, I was quietly impressed with the look of these and the direction Davide was taking with them. Whilst still the same proportions as the original S302 GMT, they somehow were more refined. So whilst in Melbourne last week on business, the Watch Advice team dropped into the Bremont Boutique on Collins Street to see these in person. And being keen to test one out, the team at Bremont kindly lent us the Blue Green variant.

It is a very good-looking watch, and the way Bremont has designed the piece with the blues and green just works. There is something about blue and green that go together well. The rubber strap is also super soft, but not in a bad way – I’d put it in the same category as the Omega Seamaster rubber strap. More on that later. Slipping it on the wrist for the first time, it did wear well, partly due to the lugs and rubber strap, so having it on the wrist for the week I was hoping it would stay that way.

The Design

The new Supermarine GMT Diver collection as mentioned, has had a design refresh under Davide Cerrato, and whilst the case shape and size hasn’t changed, the new design has, which gives this piece a more svelt look. Bremont have also done a good job in adding the blue rubber strap that is molded to the case, and as it’s not chunky, it slims the case’s appearance down on the wrist.

The most noticeable change is obviously the colour. The blue and green aluminium bezel stands out and is fresh, which for us here in Australia will be great in summer. Unlike the previous generation GMT Diver, this bezel is uni-directional, taking it more away from the GMT realm, and placing it in the divers realm. The 120-click bezel also plays into this fact, so makes it easier for small adjustments based on dive time. The action on the bezel is good, not super smooth, but with enough tactility to know that it’s solid and will do the job.

The S302 GMT Diver utilises Bremont’s Trip-Tick®case, which is built in, yes you guessed it, three parts. The caseback, the middle black DLC case barrel, and the steel upper case with the bezel attached. It’s not your conventional design but in this instance with the 40mm diameter sizing and 13mm thickness, it works well.

How It Wears

I’ve been wearing this piece for the past week, and up here in Brisbane it is starting to get hot and humid so having a divers watch with a rubber strap was great. I don’t have anything smaller in my collection than 41mm, so the 40mm on rubber appealed to me initially and thankfully its proven to do the job over this past week.

As mentioned, the strap plays a big part in this. It’s soft and pliable, which is exactly what you need in the warmer weather. And with a solid buckle and dual strap minders, it’s not going to go anywhere once secured. And even when done up snugly on the wrist, which I did in the pictures below, it’s not annoyingly tight. If you want to wear is slightly looser, it works too as it still grabs the wrist and doesn’t move around too much.

The 13mm case height and tapered lugs that bend down, allowing the strap to fit to the wrist means it sits nicely on top of my 17.5cm wrist. Whilst some purists may say that 13mm is on the thick side, this watch doesn’t feel it at all. And lets face it, this is a piece that is probably not going to be worn under a long-leave shirt. However in saying this, my Tudor Black Bay Generation 3 is approximately the same thickness, and it slips under a cuff fairly easily.

Whilst in my eyes it was potentially on the smaller side, it wasn’t tiny. And I know as I’m writing this and you’re reading this, you’re probably saying that 40mm is not small. Which you’d be correct, but when you are used to slightly larger pieces, it takes a little while to get used to anything smaller. However, in the third-person perspective, it looks good and about right on my wrist.

The Movement

Powering the new Supermarine GMT Diver is the Bremont Modified Calibre 11 1/2’’’ BE-932AV automatic movement. All Bremonts are certified chronometers, rated to ISO 3159 standard vs most Swiss-made chronometers which are done via the COSC. So you know the movement is solid and won’t let you down. Over the week, I set this to my phone and the watch only lost around 2 seconds per day. So well within the Chronometer standard of -4/+6 seconds per day.

As this is a GMT, you can track the time zones accurately via the Caller GMT function, i.e you can set the GMT hand independently compared to the local time via the hour and minute hand. Pulling the crown out to the first position, you turn the crown clockwise, and the GMT hand moves around in half-hour increments. Turn the crown anticlockwise and you have a quick set date. The turning function of the crown could be tightened up a little however as there is a lot of give per turn to get to the next half hour.

Being a GMT, the 24 hour bezel works as it should, albeit in one direction due to the focus on being a diver GMT with the 120 click bezel. Having 120 clicks vs a 48-click bezdel doesn’t really affect the offset time too much as you can still turn it to the hour or half-hour offset times with 5 clicks to get to the half hour, 10 for the full hour.

Hiding the Modified Calibre 11 1/2’’’ BE-932AV is the etched caseback, with the Supermarine plane the watch is named after. I’ve mentioned previously that I’m not a huge fan of casebacks with etched or raised motifs on them as they can irritate the wrist, but I honestly didn’t have much issue with this. At least it wasn’t noticeable enough to warrant mentioning it here.

Final Thoughts

This is the third Bremont I’ve reviewed this year after the Fury and the Martin-Baker II. The more I get into the Bremont brand, the more I understand it, and where Giles and Nick English and now Davide Cerrato are taking the brand. The goal to bring back British watchmaking to the fore is well underway at The Wing (Bremont’s HQ in Henley-On-Thames).

The new Supermarine GMT Diver collection is the first indication of Davide Cerrato’s intentions – to refine Bremont’s core collections and develop these for modern collectors. This model in particular, the Blue Green GMT Diver is just that. A vibrant and good-looking piece that wears well. The sizing is in proportion, and won’t look out of place on larger wrists, and even those with 15.5cm wrists could pull this off.

If I was being super critical, I’d love to see a quick change strap setting on these pieces, especially when you can opt to have the rubber or leather strap or steel bracelet with this model. The blue rubber looks the best, and the way it’s been designed I personally wouldn’t put anything else on it, but should you want to swap it out for the brown leather or the steel bracelet, then I feel this would go a long way given watch culture these days.

The other thing to consider on this piece is the price point of $6,200. This to me feels fair for a good-looking, nicely designed GMT Dive watch with 300m water resistance and Chronometer rated. Bremont’s are super robust as well, so you can get out and about with them, it’s what they’re designed for. But this is a hotly contested price category, and in the $5,000 – $7,000 AUD price point there are plenty of options out there. However, less so when you look at the specs and design. The closest I feel is the Tudor Black Bay GMT for $6,280 as Tudor offers fantastic value for money across their entire range. But it is thicker, and larger and not to everyone’s tastes. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised with the Bremont Supermarine GMT Diver, and feel this could be a quiet hit for the brand here in Australia.

Reference: Bremont S302 Supermarine Diver GMT

Specification

• Case: 40mm, 13mm thick, and 49mm lug to lug
• Case Material: Hardened stainless steel Trip-Tick® case construction with scratch resistant DLC treated case barrel
• Bezel: Bi-colour blue and green aluminium uni-directional 24 Hour bezel with an inner soft iron anti-magnetic Faraday cage to protect the movement
• Dial: Blue textured dial with Super-LumiNova® (Blue emission) filled hands and indices
• Crystal: Domed anti-reflective, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal with 9 layers of anti-reflective treatment.
• Water Resistance: 300m (30ATM)
• Movement: Bremont Modified Calibre 11 1/2’’’ BE-932AV automatic chronometer, pivoting on 25 jewels and beating at 4Hz / 28,800 VPH.
• Power Reserve: 50 hours
• Strap: Blue integrated rubber strap with stainless steel pin buckle

Australian Recommended Retail Pricing: $6,200 AUD

Available through Bremont’s Collins Street Boutique in Melbourne, Hardy Brothers in Sydney and Brisbane and online at Bremont.com