Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic Tactical Black Review

Late last year we reviewed the new Terra Nova Turning Bezel Power Reserve from Bremont which was one of the new models that Bremont showcased during Watches and Wonders that showed a new direction for the brand. While the Terra Nova series was the most bold of the new collections from Bremont in terms of brand identity, Bremont also launched a new series of Supermarine watches with one of them being the Supermarine 300M Date. The watch we're going to look at today is one of the newest versions of the Supermarine Date series, but this version is done in full black ceramic and features 500 meters of water resistance.

Before we get into the details of the new Supermarine we'll be taking a closer look at today, let's first go over a quick history of Bremont. If you'd like a more in-depth history of the brand please click on our above review of the Terra Nova Turning Bezel Power Reserve where we took a closer look at the brand.



Bremont was founded in 2002 by brothers Nick and Giles English as a means of combining their lifelong passions of mechanical engineering and aviation. The name Bremont was actually the last name of a farmer in France that helped the brothers after they made an emergency landing in their 1930's biplane in his field. Antoine Bremont took the brothers in after the landing and shared with them his love for mechanical watches. The brothers were so grateful to Antoine and promised to one day repay his act of kindness, which came in naming their soon to be formed watch brand after him.

Sadly one of the main events that lead to the founding of Bremont was the tragic crash of a WWII Harvard aircraft that severely injured Nick and took the life of their father Dr. Euan English. Creating Bremont was a way for the brothers to create a legacy that combined their passions. Thus Bremont was founded and focused on producing robust, expertly engineered timepieces that took inspiration from aviation.



Over the following two decades Bremont would go on to become a favorite amongst collectors of both British made and aviation based timepieces. Bremont watches were known for their toughness and as the years passed Bremont moved more and more of their manufacturing process back to the UK. The culmination of this process was when Bremont opened "The Wing" which is a 35,000 square foot facility that does case manufacturing, movement modifications, finishing, assembly and testing in house. This was a massive investment in the future of British watchmaking by the brand.

The biggest evolution in the brand's history came in 2023 when Davide Cerrato was appointed as the new CEO. A long time veteran of the watch industry with successful stints at Panerai, Tudor and Montblanc, Davide's arrival brought with it the notion that something was going to change. And change it did with Davide launching a new identity for Bremont complete with a new logo and new collections.



While some long time champions of the brand felt a bit left behind with the relaunch, personally I felt the rebranding and new models were a breath of fresh air. Bremont not only launched new collections but they also reduced some pricing and also put an emphasis on technical performance along with looking to do more in-house.

The watch we'll be looking at today is probably my personal favorite watch from the relaunched era Bremont. The Supermarine Full Ceramic Tactical Black takes the Supermarine collection and just turns everything up to 11, this includes a larger case and higher water resistance. Bremont also crafted the case fully out of black ceramic, which is one of my favorite case materials.



Initial Thoughts

When the Supermarine arrived the first thing I noticed about the watch was its stunning black ceramic case. I own a few black ceramic watches and they are all either satin or polished in finish. The case of the Supermarine is brushed which isn't typically something you don't see with ceramic watches. The PVD treated titanium bezel is satin on the other hand and all chamfers are polished. Having all three finishing techniques on one case is stunning in my opinion. Bremont could have easily just made all the finishes satin and called it a day, but they went the extra mile and combined three finishing types into an amazing end result.

The next thing I noticed was the beautiful black dial. At first glance as well as looking at the press pictures the dial just looked to be a static black dial. When the watch is in your hands and you really start looking at the dial you notice that the dial is actually a gradient black. The inner dial is slightly lighter in appearance and fades to a deep black as you approach the minute track. It's a subtle touch but really adds some nice personality to what could have been a very monochrome black watch.



Finally the last thing I noticed during my initial time with the Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic was its NATO style fabric strap. Typically I'm not a fan of NATO straps since they add bulk to larger watches, don’t let the case back sit on your wrist and typically are way too long and you have to fold the strap back on itself. While the strap on the Supermarine still adds bulk to the case and also doesn't allow the case back to sit on your wrist, Bremont did something interesting with the fastening technique. Unlike a traditional NATO strap, the Supermarine uses a loop and Velcro solution to secure the strap. This reduces the excess strap and also provides endless adjustments. My most worn personal watch is an IWC GST Aquatimer 2000 on a Velcro fabric strap for the very reason that it allows such precise sizing adjustments. The black and grey color scheme also compliments the watch perfectly and the Velcro also provides deployant like safety, stopping the strap from fully opening when putting it on or taking it off.

Technical Specifications

Now that we've gone over my initial thoughts of the Supermarine, let's take a look at the technical specifications of the watch. The Supermarine is pretty much in my goldilocks of sizing at 43 mm of case diameter and 50 mm lug to lug length. The watch being fully crafted out of ceramic and coming on a fabric strap weighs just 87 grams with a thickness of 14.1 mm when accounting for the NATO strap and 13 mm when the strap is removed. On my 7.25 wrist with a 55 mm flat area these measurements are just perfect.



The Supermarine uses a slightly domed sapphire crystal with an applied anti-reflective coating. Under the crystal clear sapphire is the gradient black dial we spoke about earlier. Bremont uses applied indices with round markers for 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11, with an arrow at 12 and larger pointed black indices at 6 and 9. Finally 3 has a shortened square hour marker next to the blacked out date window. All the hour markers are filled with white Super-Luminova that glows blue in low light. The hour, minute and seconds hands are crafted out of polished black gold and also have matching lume applied to them.

Around the outside of the dial is a minute track printed in white with 60, 15 and 45 printed in orange. The Bremont branding and Wayfinder logo are found at 12 o'clock and "Supermarine" and "1640ft – 500m Automatic" are found at 6. All the text is printed in white except "Supermarine" which is done in orange. Also at 6 o'clock "London" is printed in orange where you would typically find "Swiss Made" on say a Swiss produced watch.



Moving on there is the PVD treated titanium uni-directional rotating bezel done in a mixture of brushed and satin finishing. The face of the bezel is done in a satin finish while the dive scale is brushed with a lumed point at 60. The bezel requires 120 clicks to complete a full rotation and does so with a satisfying click and has zero back play. It could be said that having a black dive scale limits the ability for the Supermarine to live up to its full dive watch potential, but for aesthetic sake it makes total sense. You do however have a lumed point at 12 for reference in low lighting. Finally the bezel is nicely scalloped offering great grip, which I imagine would be more than enough to operate with diving gloves.

Looking at the profile of the Supermarine's case you can see a gentle curve that follows the shape of your wrist. The finishing of the case is done with horizontal brushing with the chamfers being a high polish. On the left hand side of the case there is a centered integrated helium relief value indicating that this watch is a serious dive watch well worth its 500 meter water resistance rating.



On the right hand side of the case is the PVD treated titanium screw down crown. The crown is partially protected by organic crown guards that rise up to about one third of the crown. The crown is nicely scalloped and topped with the Bremont wayfinder logo. Once the crown is unscrewed you can manually wind the automatic movement in the resting position. Pulling the crown out to position one allows you to set the date and position two stops the seconds hand and lets you set the time. Pushing the crown back in causes no jump in the seconds hand and screwing in the crown does not require any extra care to get the crown to catch and screw down.

Turning the watch over shows the screw down PVD treated titanium case back with an engraving of a map of the world. If you opt to have your Supermarine come on the NATO style strap this decoration is mostly covered up. Covered by the case back is the caliber BE-92AV which is a modified automatic movement using the Sellita SW-200 as its base. The movement beats along at 28,800 bph (4Hz) and has a power reserve of 50 hours, which is much more than a normal SW-200 showing some of the modifications made to the movement by Bremont.



Sellita SW-200 and SW-300 movements have typically been extremely accurate movements for us in the past. Also with the series being based on hugely popular ETA movements, most watchmakers can service and repair these movements easily. On our timegrapher the BE-92AV movement recorded an accuracy of -3 seconds per day when averaged out over several different positions. This is once again amazing accuracy and well within chronometer specifications.

The Supermarine has a lug width of 22 mm which is just right for a watch with a 43 mm case diameter. The watch can either be ordered with a black rubber strap and pin buckle or the black and grey NATO style strap. Our review unit came on the NATO strap that is actually hand woven on 18th century Jacquard French looms. Given this information, it's a bit of a surprise Bremont charges the same for the rubber and NATO strap variants. Naturally there is no taper on the NATO strap and as discussed earlier Bremont uses an interesting loop and Velcro system to fasten the strap. I much prefer this system to traditional longer NATO straps with pin buckles. I find traditional NATO straps cumbersome and also there is the risk of dropping the watch when putting it on, the Velcro on Bremont's strap actually stops the strap from fully opening creating a deployant style safety effect.



On The Wrist

When looking at checklist of things I like to see in a watch, the Supermarine checks most of them off and it isn't too much a surprise that it resembles a few watches in my personal collection. First off the Supermarine has a case diameter of 43 mm and even more importantly a lug to lug length of 50 mm. Most watches under 50 mm of lug to lug length feel a little small on my wrist for my preference. I just find a watch with 50 mm or slightly longer lug to lug length just feels right on my wrist. Also being a larger watch being crafted out of a lightweight material like ceramic really helps out when it comes to the weight of the watch. I'm not a huge fan of stainless steel, so seeing a watch in titanium, ceramic or carbon is a huge plus for me. For those with smaller wrists than my 7.25 inch wrist, Bremont also offers non-ceramic Supermarines with smaller case sizes.

With all that being said, the Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic wore like a dream. The 87 gram weight made the watch virtually disappear when on wrist and never did a whiff of wrist fatigue pop up. The endless adjustments of the Velcro strap also meant that the watch fit like a glove even during a period where we had both hot and cold weather here in Austin. A quick adjustment of the Velcro was all it took to make the watch once again fit perfectly if my wrist swelled or contracted. While not being a huge fan of NATO style straps that sit between your wrist and the case back, I never really noticed this while wearing the Supermarine. I never felt that the watch was top heavy or favored either side of my wrist either, it mostly covered the flat 55 mm wide area of my wrist evenly.



Having a black dial that uses white hour markers and hands makes the Bremont Supermarine an extremely legible watch. The Supermarine easily passed my legibility test of telling the time at a glance while driving. The only thing that could have made it more legible would have been to use large Arabic hour markers instead of shaped markers. Also in low light the Super-Luminova glows strong and suggests the watch should do well in situations where much light isn't available such as diving.

During my time with the Supermarine I wore it fairly frequently. Besides my normal errands and going out to dinner and drinks, I also wore the watch out to my wife's family ranch just outside of town. The Supermarine just seemed at home out at the ranch and looked the part with the NATO strap. It was a very warm day and the Velcro strap really came in handy dealing with the near 90 degree temperatures. The watch felt just at home going out and running errands as well. With my typical dress of a black t-shirt, shorts and sneakers the design aesthetic of the Supermarine Full Ceramic fit in perfectly. This is probably the reason I own a few all black ceramic watches in my personal collection. I feel the Supermarine could also be an excellent and fun Summer watch if paired with a white or orange strap.



The Supermarine also got noticed quite often when I was wearing it out. I guess the look of an all black watch on a fabric strap now draws people's eyes. Maybe because now people know about Richard Mille and can register that a nice watch can be in an alternative case material on a fabric strap. A few people did come up and comment on the watch and I also showed it to a few friends of ours. Most people just loved the blacked out look of the watch and commented on how lightweight it was.

Value and Position in the Market

The Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic has a retail price of $6,450 which prices it in the range of many premium timepieces. For that price you are getting a stunning and well crafted ceramic case with some PVD treated titanium pieces and a full 500 meters of water resistance. The movement isn't in-house or manufacture, but is has been modified in-house by Bremont and has a decently longer power reserve and runs extremely accurate. Now like with every review we do is a good time to look at some other ceramic watches from top manufactures and see how the Supermarine stacks up feature and value wise.



First up is the Seamaster Diver 300M from Omega which is made out of black ceramic and has a case diameter of 43.5 mm. The Seamaster has significantly less water resistance than the Supermarine at 300 meters but does run on an in-house caliber with 55 hours of power reserve. The Seamaster Ceramic is a good deal more than the Supermarine at $9,500.

Next is the Tudor Black Bay Ceramic which is also crafted out of black ceramic and has a case diameter of 41 mm. The Black Bay only offers 200 meters of water resistance which is less than half of what the Supermarine offers. The Black Bay does run on a manufacture caliber (produced by Kenissi) which offers 70 hours of power reserve. The Black Bay Ceramic also comes in a little under the price of the Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic at $5,300.



Moving on we have the Big Pilot's Watch 43 Top Gun from IWC which has the same case diameter as the Supermarine and is also crafted out of black ceramic. Being a pilot's watch, the Big Pilot only has a water resistance of 100 meters and is powered by an in-house caliber with 60 hours of power reserve. The IWC is also much more expensive than the Bremont at $10,500,

Finally we have the Laureato 42 mm from Girard-Perregaux which has a 42 mm and is made out of black ceramic. The Laureato is a sports watch and not a true diver and as such only offers 100 meters of water resistance. The Laureato runs on an in-house movement with 54 hours of power reserve as well. The Laureato does come on a full ceramic bracelet which does add a good deal of expense to the watch which retails for more than three times the cost of the Supermarine at $20,300.



As you can see when you look at watches with full ceramic cases from top watch manufactures the prices start to become rather expensive. The Bremont Supermarine is nearly the least expensive watch of the five watches we compared and it also has by far the deepest water resistance. I also really prefer the look of the Supermarine over the others, even though I personally own two larger Top Gun black ceramic IWCs, the smaller Big Pilot never clicked with me. The Tudor might be a little less expensive, but it offers less than half the water resistance and is a more of a mass produced timepiece. The Seamaster is a great watch, but the pricing seems a little high in my opinion. All things considered I feel that the Supermarine really fared well in the above comparison.

Closing Thoughts

So in the end is the Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic Tactical Black for me? Given the perfect sizing of the watch along with being made out of lightweight and high tech ceramic I would say it totally is. I also love that Bremont did just that little bit more by raising the water resistance all the way to 500 meters and also including an integrated helium relief value. I don't see the movement being based on a Sellita base as being a negative either, they are reliable and very accurate movements that most watchmakers can work on. The brand story and history of Bremont are also very interesting to me and I'm actually a fan of the recent relaunch.

So then would I recommend the Supermarine Full Ceramic to somebody looking for an alternative to the tried and true luxury dive watches like the Submariner and Seamaster? If somebody is like me and ok with a larger watch I totally would. I do understand that trends are moving smaller, which I'm not a huge fan of, but the Supermarine is a serious tool watch with impressive specs which justify a larger case. Also Bremont doesn't have a full mass production operation like some of the larger brands, so it's nice knowing the watch received a little more human touch than its purely mass produced rivals.



The Bremont Supermarine Full Ceramic is now the second watch I've reviewed from the post relaunch Bremont and in my opinion moves the bar up higher from the previous Terra Nova Turning Bezel Power Reserve. The move to a full ceramic case and just the overall fit and finish of the Supermarine is extremely impressive. I was really intrigued by this watch when I first saw the press release announcing it and have been more than pleasantly surprised with it both in hand and on the wrist. I'd really like to thank Bremont for sending us this watch to review and can't wait to see what they have coming out next!

For more information about the Supermarine Full Ceramic please visit : Bremont

Technical Specifications

Reference Number: SM43-DT-BKCER-BK-N-S

Retail Price: $6,450

Case Size: 43 mm

Lug to Lug: 50 mm

Thickness: 14.1 mm (On NATO Strap) / 13 mm (Watch Only)

Weight: 87 Grams

Case Material: Black Ceramic

Bezel: PVD Treated Titanium

Strap: Black and Grey NATO Style Fabric Strap

Movement: Caliber BE-92AV (Sellita SW-200 Base) Automatic Movement

Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Date

Power Reserve: 50 Hours

Water Resistance: 500 Meters