Unveiling the Bremont ‘Codebreaker’ Watch : A unique Limited Edition

Bremont Watch Company works with the Bletchley Park Trust to create the ‘Codebreaker’ a historically and mechanically important Limited Edition Watch.

This evening Bremont Watch Company released information of their partnership with Bletchley Park.

The British watch company, who have previously released exclusive Limited Edition watch collaborations with the Royal Navy and the HMS Victory, the p-51 ‘Fragile but Agile’ aeroplane and the EP120 Spitfire plane, have announced that for 2013 they have teamed up with the world famous Bletchley Park Trust to create their brand new limited edition watch that will incorporate historical artefacts from the park.

The watch is to be called the Bremont ‘Codebreaker’ Watch.

Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire is the historic site of secret British code breaking activities during WWII and the famous birthplace of the modern computer. As the main decryption establishment during World War Two ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted including, and most importantly, those generated by the German Enigma and Lorenz machines.

The Watch

Taking inspiration from the classic officer’s watches of the 1940’s the ‘Bremont Codebreaker’ will feature a stunning and unique Chronometer rated flyback chronograph GMT automatic movement never before seen in the watch making world. Bremont have cleverly incorporated some of the preserved historical artefacts from the original machines and buildings of Bletchley Park; pine from the famous Hut 6, the hub for the operations to decrypt German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe Enigma ciphers; and paper from one of the few remaining punch cards that were originally used to analyse the vast amount of coded data created from the daily Enigma communications. This paper will be encased in sapphire crystal on the barrel of the watch and will identify the number of each watch.

In true Bremont style part of the rotor will be crafted from the wheel of an original Enigma machine. Bremont believes that this is a watch like none other ever created and in addition they will donate part of the proceeds to the ongoing restoration of Bletchley Park.

The watch will be produced in a Limited Edition run of 240 steel pieces and 50 rose gold pieces.

“Bletchley Park has such an amazing place in world history and has not only inspired us to create the beautiful ‘Codebreaker’ watch, but enabled Bremont to help raise funds and profile for the preservation of this important heritage site of which we are so proud”.

Giles English; Co-Founder of Bremont Watch Company

“Mechanically we have made some considerable movement developments and incorporated materials that have never been built into a watch before. By moving the chronograph dials, building a Flyback chronograph function and GMT second timezone we have accomplished a wonderful mechanical timepiece. Both Giles and I were inspired by the ‘Bombe Machine’ and the rotor balance is based on the Bombe’s drums. Each watch will have its limited edition number embedded in the case barrel, which will be made of Bakelite as per the original Bombe machine. Hut 6 is part of the current restoration programme and fragments of floorboards, on which the codebreaking giants, such as Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman walked, have been incorporated into the watch crown”.

Nick English; Co-founder of Bremont Watch Company

Bletchley Park Estate and WWII

Located in the town of Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, England, Bletchley Park is now a heritage attraction run by the Bletchley Park Trust and currently houses the Bletchley Park museum, the national museum of computing and a number of other attractions.

During the years of the Second World War, the park was the site of the UK’s main decryption base and the Government Code and Cipher School (GC&CS) where ciphers and codes of several Axis countries were decrypted. It also housed a secret radio interception station and also a message sending station.

The high-level intelligence produced at Bletchley Park, under the codename Ultra, provided crucial assistance to the war effort. It has been said that the work carried out at Bletchley shortened the war by two to four years and that the outcome of the war would have been uncertain without it. Most amazingly there could be up to 9000 people working in and around the park at any one time and the work going on there still remained secret as late as The Cold War.

Alan Turing, known as the Father of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, was the leading mind behind the breaking of the German ciphers. It was at Bletchley Park where he famously broke the codes that are thought to have ended the war much sooner than was once anticipated.

“You needed exceptional talent, you needed genius at Bletchley and Turing’s was that genius”

After the end of WWII and the Cold War Bletchley Park’s work was nowhere near completed and they went on to be the birthplace of the very first computer – Colossus. This was the worlds first programmable, digital, electronic computer and was built during WWII to speed up the reading of encrypted German messages. It then went on to be the site of the very first search engine. It is true that Bletchley Park did some amazing work that shaped the world we live in now.