The New, Accessible and Stylish Briston Streamliner Kennedy Automatic

Briston, a Parisian brand of twelve years, has a new Streamliner Kennedy collection of four watches that focus on contemporary square cases with inspiration from the Art Déco era of the early 20^th century. The overall vibe was otherwise inspired by JFK and his wife Jackie (hence Kennedy in the name) and the traditional Ivy League style they carried before and during his presidency. The HMS Automatic model is our focus (the others have quartz movements) and is unique inside and out with Italian tortoise shell acetate case sides, a 12 o’clock integrated crown and double-layer dials, all for an accessible price. 

Briston founder Brice Jaunet launched the first Clubmaster Classic collection in 2013, which established signature design elements like a square case and use of tortoiseshell acetate (for the entire case on many models), with the acetate primarily used for eyeglass frames before this. His industry background included work with Cartier, Zenith, Baume & Mercier and Raymond Weil. The Clubmaster collection soon expanded to chronographs and divers, and the new Streamliner Kennedy line brings a different aesthetic yet maintains core styling principles, with admittedly a certain Santos inspiration in the whole design, yet some clear Briston elements to make it unique.

The vertically brushed stainless steel square case is 36mm x 36mm and 10mm in height with the aforementioned tortoise shell acetate on the case sides that both looks and feels like real tortoise shell. These lightly curved pieces are secured via a screw on both ends. The crown is uniquely positioned at 12 o’clock with its wide knurling recessed into the case, and the top is set with a lapis lazuli cabochon. A 1.7mm sapphire crystal within a polished bezel protects the dial, and water resistance is rated at 50 metres – suitable for rain or a light swim. The polished caseback features an open round aperture to glimpse the movement. The watch comes with an easily interchangeable 20mm calfskin leather strap in black on the black dial and chocolate on the silver, and Briston offers a wide variety of additional straps for the entire Streamliner Kennedy collection (NATO, metal mesh, faux alligator leather, silicon and more).

There are two dial colours, semi-gloss black or silver, and the outer section sports dual layers for a sandwich dial. Roman numerals at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock and the remaining Arabic numerals are all cutouts with a silver/white or black underlying section showing through (on black or silver dial, respectively). The centre section has a nice guilloché pattern and railway minute/seconds track just inside the main numerals. The dauphine-style hour and minute hands are brushed steel on both dials with Super-LumiNova C1 inserts, while the seconds hand is steel on the black dial and blued steel on the silver dial.

Powering the Streamliner Kennedy HMS Automatic is a Miyota 9039 with 24 jewels, 28,800vph (4Hz) and a 42-hour power reserve. Functions include central hours, minutes and hacking seconds. Introduced in 2018, it’s a true no-date movement (no phantom setting) and part of Miyota’s premium line. Accuracy is rated at -10/+30 seconds per day, but is generally well within those parameters in actual use. Decoration is generally minimal, but it still presents well through an exhibition caseback.

The Briston Streamliner Kennedy HMS Automatic retails for EUR 850 or USD 920, which is well priced for the unique design elements and attention to detail. Preorders are open now, and deliveries will start on May 15^th.

For more information and to place an order, please visit Briston’s website.