As part of its expanding Motorsport collection, British brand Bremont has released of the Bremont Jaguar C-Type, the sixth model made in partnership with the historic British automaker.
The Release
The Bremont Jaguar C-Type nods its head to the Jaguar XK120 C, known more widely as the C-Type (the ‘C’ stood for competition). The curvy C-Type won Le Mans twice, in 1951 and 1953, and was the first race car to use disc brakes. Only 53 cars were made and have sold at auction for as much as $13.5 million. The watch is not limited, and will cost quite a bit less. The case measures 43mm and features Bremont’s Trip-Tick case construction with a grooved PVD-coated midcase. The case is 15.8mm thick, 49mm lug-to-lug, and has 22mm lugs. The case features a long polished chanfer along the side that culminates by turning in along the ends of the lugs, Bremont’s signature lug style. On the 3 o’clock side is a screwdown crown with tire tread grip ensuring 200m water resistance; the crown is flanked by screwdown chronograph pushers. The bidirectional rotating bezel features a black anodized aluminum insert with tachymeter markings. The solid screwed-down caseback has a decorative coin depicting the Jaguar C-Type hood badge. The watch is powered by the chronometer-rated Bremont caliber BE-50AV, an automatic chronograph movement based on the ETA 7750.
The dial of the Bremont Jaguar C-Type features a sunbrust white dial. The central dial is raisde, while the subdials are sunken. The radial subdials feature black markings and hands, with a 30-minute counter at 3 and a running second at 9; the red accent on the 9 o’clock subdial draws inspiration from the original Smiths gauges. The hours on the main dial are in black and only marked from 8 o’clock to 4 o’clock, mimicking a speedometer. The cap on the cannon pinion further mimics that on the center of the dash dials, while the chronograph hand echoes that on the original dash tachymeter. The hour and minute hands are filled with Super-Luminova and shine blue in the dark. At 6 o’clock is a beveled date window with a black stenciled frame. Around the dial is a railroad style chapter ring with minute markings.
Our Thoughts
Bremont is a British brand through and through, and its timepieces are a constant reminder of that. While some of it’s Time Capsule models may stretch credulity despite their cool factors (looking at you Hawking and Wright Flyer), the Motorsport partnerships have always greater authenticity to them. This is because they create a connection to some extant thing by directly working with that thing—there is a clear and present link—rather than seeking to establish a connection with something from the past, which is always a balancing act between authenticity and superficiality. The partnership with Jaguar may have seemed fleeting at its outset, but 6 models in and its clear that it’s a great relationship between two British brands.
The Jaguar C-Type model is basically a white-dialed version of the Bremont Special Edition E-Type 60th, with the solid Jaguar caseback instead of a display caseback with a steering wheel rotor. It’s also a bit thinner than the E-Type LE—and half the price. As with most “inspired watches,” though, it stretches things a bit. While the red tip of the chrono hand and the red arc in the 9 o’clock sub are clearly taken from the dash of the car, the notion that the aluminum bezel “directly references the original aluminum bodywork” seems more like a happy coincidence. I’m also confused as to why one might want to rotate his or her tachymeter scale. Overall, even if it’s larger than I’d prefer, there’s a lot to like with the dial depth and texture, the tread crown, and the caseback. A winner and an easy buy for any Jaguar nut.
Availability
The Bremont Jaguar C-Type is priced at $6,495 and is scheduled to deliver in June 2022. You can find out more and order yours directly from Bremont.