Bremont Watch Company will be working with The National Museum of the Royal Navy (Portsmouth) to create the limited edition Bremont Victory Watch. Each mechanical retrograde watch will be made with original parts of HMS Victory built into it.

HMS Victory is the only remaining 18th Century ship anywhere in the world and remains the oldest serving warship still to be in commission- she still retains her own Captain, offices and crew and flies the flag of the Second Sea Lord, Commander in Chief Naval Home Command. Laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765; she is most famous as Lord Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.In 1922 she was moved to a dry dock at Portsmouth, England, and preserved as a museum ship. She continues to be flagship of the Second Sea Lord and is the oldest naval ship still in commission.

HMS Victory as with any ship has had constant work carried out on her over the years. The ship sustained considerable damage after the battle of Trafalgar and had a major re-fit in 1814 and 1888 and then in 1903 following an accident where she was almost sunk on her mooring as a result of being struck by another boat. In 1910 the Society for Nautical Research was set up and in 1922 she was placed into dry dock where she currently stands. Many years of exposure have taken their toll on HMS Victory and in 2010 a major refit was commissioned to preserve her for future generations. To commemorate Nelson and HMS Victory, Bremont is producing a totally unique watch that will include parts of oak timber and copper from the original ship. Part of the proceeds of each watch will go towards the refurbishment and preservation of the ship.

Giles English “Nelson went to my school and as a boy he always fascinated me, I remember clearly the first time I visited HMS Victory. Over the last few years both Nick and myself have been working with the Royal Navy Fleet air arm Heritage and that’s when we heard about the restoration of HMS Victory. With no hesitation we approached the Navy and discussed the possibility of creating a watch using original parts from the ship. Not only did we want to make the watch unique but we also want it to be a horological masterpiece.”

Giles Gould of The National Museum of the Royal Navy, “We take any relationship such as this very seriously and we have to be very confident that both HMS Victory and Nelson will be honoured correctly. We have never released original wood/copper that is as old as this and we think what Bremont is building is an amazing tribute. Victory means a lot to us and the Navy and the fact some of the proceeds of the watches sales are going towards the preservation of the Ship all help preserve her for future generations.”

The Bremont Victory watch will be launched on HMS Victory on the 12th July, 2012

Bremont Victory Watch – Technical Specification

Rose Gold: Victory/RG or Stainless Steel: Victory/SS

  • Movement
    BE-83AR chronograph with retrograde seconds and retrograde date. Diameter 13 1/4″, height 7.90mm, 39 Jewels, three-legged Glucydur balance with Nivarox 1 mainspring 28,800 bph. Incabloc shock protection and 46 hour power reserve. Perlage and blued screwed decoration with hand crafted stainless steel and copper rotor.
  • Functions
    Sweep hours, minutes, retrograde seconds, retrograde date, sweep chronograph seconds, 30-minute counter and 12-hour counter.
  • Case
    Hardened stainless steel or 18 carat rose gold Bremont Trip Tick case construction with original hand engraved copper PVD treated inner barrel (material from HMS Victory). Case diameter 43mm, lug width 22mm and case thickness 17mm.
  • Case back
    Hardened stainless steel or 18 carat rose gold case back with integrated hand etched sapphire crystal. Case back inlaid with original oak from HMS Victory.
  • Dial
    Etched metal dial with off-white ground colours and treated steel hands.
  • Crystal
    Domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal.
  • Water resistance
    Water resistant to 10ATM, 100 metres.
  • Strap
    Louisiana crocodile leather