When I introduced the new Bremont and its field line and revamped diver line, the ire was as fresh as the news itself. I stand by what I said then: Bremont’s rebranding was abrupt, haphazard, and generic, and it left most people confused. Four months later, there’s still a lot of uncertainty around Bremont. Even the brand’s biggest fans are waiting for what’s next. The only thing that’s come since is the release of a Terra Nova with a tourbillon, which felt painfully like corporate box-checking. The Terra Nova collection was introduced to round out the brand’s Sea-Air-Land approach, and its constituent watches were ostensibly meant to be worn outside, on adventures. A tourbillon on full display doesn’t exactly command its wearer to go hiking or climbing or overlanding. The rest of the collection does a far better job, though, and in my opinion, it’s led by the Bremont Terra Nova Chronograph.
We’ve already reviewed three of the other four Terra Novae: the Turning Bezel Power Reserve, the 38, and the Dual-Time Tourbillon. I’ve given my thoughts on the tourbillon, and I think the TBPR is too cluttered. The 38 and the 40.5 Date are fine in my book, keeping things simple and functional and offering the Terra Nova in a range of sizes. That range is furthered by the Terra Nova Chronograph, which measures a reasonable 42.5mm. One of the biggest criticisms of the Terra Nova line was its generic design. With a name borrowed from a previous GMT model housed in the old Supermarine case, the new Terra Nova case design is blocky and angular with a satin-brushed steel case with only a whisper of a polished chamfer along the edge. It is generic in many ways, but it was meant to be. Courting a wider audience with less niche designs was the entire point of the brand refresh.
The Terra Nova measures 48.8mm lug-to-lug and 14.8mm thick with a sapphire crystal and 100m water resistance. All told, it is not an enormous watch for a chronograph — the bulkiness comes much more from its shape than its dimensions. On the quick-release leather strap with which my review piece was fitted — and which has a lovely custom buckle — I certainly felt all that bulk on the wrist. (A friend I met with while I had this for review tried it on and found it overwhelming on his 6.5in wrist — the strap didn’t even have enough holes to give a snug fit.) But swapping straps around, I found that when fitted to an elastic nylon strap or rubber, I got a better fit on the wrist. I imagine the brand-new Terra Nova bracelet allows for the same feeling. While the watch can also be purchased on a NATO option, I’d reckon it’s best avoided as it will only intensify the chonk.
The watch has a large and very satisfying crown embossed with the brand’s new compass logo. It’s easy to grip, has great winding action, and whizzing through dates sounds like a muffled machine gun. The chronograph pushers are crisp but the start/stop at 2 o’clock required more force to actuate than I would’ve preferred. The pushers feature thin chamfers along their edges, but as with those on the case, they’re almost invisible and do nothing to change the overall aesthetic.
The differentiating element of the case is the 48-click compass bezel. If you’re not familiar, a compass bezel can be used to determine your current direction by aligning the hour hand with the sun, then rotating the bezel so that South (Northern Hemisphere) or North (Southern Hemisphere) is positioned midway between the hour hand and 12 o’clock. It’s not a perfect method, but it’s nifty and it reaffirms the Terra Nova as a watch made for adventure.
The dials of the Terra Novae have come under much scrutiny, particularly the busyness of the TBPR and the logo size on some of the models. I think the Chronograph, though, gets the balance right. It benefits from the expectation of dial clutter that comes with a chronograph but doesn’t abuse it. The Bremont logo is rightly sized at 12 o’clock and the 3 lines of text at 6 o’clock are only offensive in that Bremont is not actually located in London (it’s a good 30 minutes outside the M25 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire). Plenty will immediately and without consideration balk at the encroachment of the subdials into the hour markers, but I’ve never been much bothered by such things, and in any case, the violation here is so minor as to be irrelevant.
The polished hands catch the light at times, and the chronograph seconds is curiously offered in a polished gold tone. It is slightly differentiated from the hour and minutes hands, but in neither tone nor finish does it complement the 30-minute chronograph counter at 3. It’s neither good nor bad, it simply is. The white against black used on the sunken, snailed subdials and particularly the molded 3D lume used for the hour numerals make reading the watch a snap. The font for the numerals recalls old railroad watches and the 3D lume the puffiness of painted radium. I think the use of Old Radium lume here is a good stylistic choice, giving the watch a warmth it would otherwise lack, and I found the Super-LumiNova application even and bright throughout. Overall, I found legibility to be excellent in all light conditions.
Concealed under a snap-on [GASP] caseback with an embossed map of the world, the Terra Nova Chronograph is powered by what Bremont calls a “Modified Caliber 13 1/2″ BE-50AV.” The key part is the BE-50AV, an automatic chronograph movement. Bremont is unclear as to what the base movement here is, but based on the 27 jewels, 56-hour power reserve, and 28,800 vph, it’s almost certainly the Sellita SW510 BH a. It’s unclear, though, how this may have been modified, as the specs presented by the brand and Sellita are identical. (This type of opacity isn’t unique to Bremont by a long shot, but that doesn’t make it less annoying.) Though from a brand that was pushing British movement manufacturing with its ENG300, it’s not terribly impressive to see a run-of-the-mill chronograph movement, it’s ridiculous to expect or demand that a brand build something in-house or even customize an off-the-shelf movement when something as proven as the SW510 exists.
I still think the entire Bremont saga can best and fairly be described as a debacle. I still think the Terra Nova is a bit too plain and — accepting that it is going to exist — could have been designed to incorporate the elements that have defined Bremont for years. I still believe that turning a brand around doesn’t have to involve sacrificing what made that brand special. In spite of all of that, I found myself enjoying the Bremont Terra Nova Chronograph. The $5,400 USD price tag seems galling to someone with foreknowledge of the brand and a deeper understanding of watches, but for the casual luxury watch shopper, it conveys quality and exclusivity in a watch that most such shoppers will find appealing. There’s plenty to nitpick, but if the mission at Bremont was to create a chronograph that is solidly built, functional, and looks at home in the great outdoors, I’d call the Terra Nova Chronograph a success. The Bremont Terra Nova Chronograph is priced at $5,400 USD on leather or NATO and $5,700 on a steel bracelet. For more information, please visit the Bremont website.
