The Sleek, Flight-Ready Bremont Altitude Date

British watchmaking company Bremont has made some key changes in the last couple of years, not least bringing on a new CEO in 2023, Davide Cerrato (well known for releasing the Tudor Black Bay in 2012 and for working at Montblanc and Panerai). A new direction was revealed at Watches & Wonders 2024 with an updated logo and a broader overall strategy. The Heritage propeller logo was replaced with the Wayfinder compass, which symbolises a new focus on three collections: Altitude (air), Terra Nova (land) and Supermarine (sea). Bremont was founded by brothers and pilots Nick and Jiles English, so pilots’ watches are still a big part of the brand, and the 2025 Altitude Date perfectly represents its history and future with a new yet familiar design.

The Three Pillars

Bremont isn’t reinventing the wheel as this new direction is an expansion of its strengths, not a rebranding or reboot. It’s based on three pillars as mentioned – Altitude, Terra Nova and Supermarine. Air and sea have been part of Bremont for many years, with pilot’s watches dating back to its founding in 2002 and dive watches dating back to 2009 with the launch of the S500 diver. Terra Nova launched in 2024 and introduced a field/adventure collection to the portfolio. Both Terra Nova and Supermarine debuted with solid cases that didn’t include the iconic, three-piece Trip Tick design that’s helped define the brand.

Some fans were unhappy with the omission, but the Altitude collection in 2025 brought updated Trip Tick cases to the new pilot’s watches, confirming that the design was never on the chopping block. The Altitude Date has a sleeker, more contemporary aesthetic than the no-nonsense pilot’s watches it replaces (such as the Solo and AIRCO Mach 1), but the brand’s core DNA remains clearly evident.

Back to the Trip Tick case

The case of the Bremont Altitude Date, made of 904L stainless steel, has a satin and polished finish, and comes in at 39mm in diameter and 11.19mm in height (47.17mm lug-to-lug) – an ideal size for the majority of wrists, and it wears a bit larger than the measurements suggest. It has a nice weight, satisfyingly substantial without being too heavy. The 20mm 904L bracelet design is among the best I’ve seen in quite a while.

The curved, one-piece links taper from the case to the signed, hidden butterfly clasp with improved articulation and comfort. It’s sleek and contemporary, and a great complement to this new generation of pilot’s watches. The only downside would be the lack of micro-adjustments, but I was able to size it well regardless, and it comes with quick-release levers for an easy swap to the optional black nubuck leather strap with white box-stitching. The links are also secured with screws rather than pins, making adjustments easier.

Looking at the case sides, the three-piece Trip Tick design returns again in a clean, streamlined form without the traditional ridges, matching the contemporary aesthetic. This distinctive barrel has a black DLC finish and is slimmer than older models. A box-style AR sapphire crystal protects the dial, and a sapphire exhibition caseback displays the Swiss automatic. The crown is signed with the new Wayfinder logo (more on that below), and it is water-resistant to 100 metres.

Martin Baker-inspired dial

The matte black dial has a subtle brushed finish that looks cool and further minimises reflections, and a silver variant is also available. Most models in the Altitude collection share a dial aesthetic based on the long-standing partnership with British aircraft ejection seat manufacturer Martin-Baker (since 2007). The specific Martin Baker model in the collection is the updated MB Meteor, the only watch (from any watchmaker) designed to withstand an emergency ejection from a jet fighter. The dial similarities start with the applied stencil Arabic numerals with Super-LumiNova and move to the lollipop seconds hand counterweight that mimics an ejection seat ripcord.

The ripcord pattern frames the dial-matching date window at 3 o’clock as well. The black hour and minute hands are filled with Super-LumiNova, along with the five-minute markers on the minute/seconds track at the outer flange. Dial legibility is excellent day or night, making this an ideal pilot’s watch or just a great daily driver. The final piece of the puzzle is the aforementioned Wayfinder logo at 12 o’clock, which replaces the traditional Heritage propeller logo (although it can still be found on certain models within Bremont’s portfolio). This compass design better aligns with the brand’s broadening direction and vision, while the propeller focuses more on legacy models.

Gunmetal Grey Automatic Movement

Powering the Altitude Date is the BB14-AH automatic, based on the La Joux-Perret G100. It has 24 jewels, beats at 28,800vph (4Hz) and features a sizeable 68-hour power reserve. Functions include central hours, minutes, hacking seconds and date. Seen from the exhibition caseback, the movement is decorated with Côtes de Genève and has a stealthy gunmetal grey finish with a signed openworked rotor. The BB14-AH is suspended within a flexible rubber mount for significant shock protection and has anti-magnetic shielding via a soft iron ring (same principle as a Faraday cage). All watches are assembled at The Wing, Bremont’s end-to-end manufacturing facility in Henley-on-Thames (Oxfordshire), about an hour outside London, which we visited in this video.

Final Thoughts

Bremont’s Altitude Date is an impressive evolution of previous pilot’s watches like the AIRCO Mach 1, modernising every aspect without abandoning the core DNA. A slimmer Trip Tick case and redesigned curved steel bracelet look and feel fantastic on the wrist, while the overall dial design is now shared among most models within the Altitude line – the specialised and limited Altitude Skeletonised Perpetual Calendar GMT is an exception. There’s plenty of Super-LumiNova on the dial, and overall legibility is excellent, and the dial-matching black date window is a must for me (a white one would be out of place). And as Rolex can attest, 904L stainless steel is always a pleasure with a quality and sheen that’s superior to 316L. An understandable point of contention for some is the new Wayfinder logo, but I prefer the look over the Heritage propeller and agree with its symbolism – a universal navigational image to match the three new collections. To each his own…

Availability & Price

The Bremont Altitude Date, a watch from the permanent collection, retails for GBP 3,950 or USD 4,550 on the steel bracelet and is reduced to GBP 3,700 or USD 4,250 on the leather strap. Not exactly accessible, but also not bad for what’s being offered, particularly with the new modernised design and La Joux-Perret-based movement. For more information, please visit Bremont’s website.