For hundreds of years, men dreamed of being able to fly but it took the Wright Brothers to make that dream a reality. Now Orville and Wilbur Wright are being remembered with a line of limited-edition timepieces.
The watches are made by British watchmaker Bremont and are part of line of licensed merchandise bearing the name of the famous flying siblings that includes bomber jackets, sunglasses and bicycles, with more products on the way.
The Bremont Wright Flyer watches were made in a very limited edition of three styles. 300 pieces will be made of the stainless steel model and each carries a price tag of $25,950. The 100 rose-gold models will go for $39,950 each and the 50 white-gold watches for $44.950 each.
Now for the stats: The 33.4mm Automatic movement for the Bremont Flyer has 25 jewels, Glucydur balance, Nivarox CT balance spring and Nivaflex 1 mainspring. Many constituent parts of this watch are crafted at the Bremont workshops in Henley-on-Thames in Great Britain. This fine timepiece has a very efficient double reverser bi-directional winding mechanism capable of achieving 28,800bph and 50+ hour power reserve.
The polished stainless steel, rose-gold and white-gold editions all feature the Bremont Trip-Tick case construction with an integrated decoration ring. The 43mm case has a standard 22mm lug width and a case that is 14mm thick including the crystal.
The rotor of every Bremont Wright Flyer Limited Edition watch will incorporate a bit of the original muslin material that was used to cover the historic 1903 Wright Flyer plane layered between the sapphire crystal window and period-decorated rotor plate.
The exhibition type case back has an integrated domed crystal secured with four polished head screws and engraved markings with the limited edition serial number of each watch.
The metal dial has a black base color decorated with the Wright Flyer date specific “1903” sub-dial and period numerals bearing Bremont’s bespoke SuperLumiNova luminous coating.
The domed anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal is water resistant to 10 ATM or 100 meters. Each watch has an alligator strap with pin buckle that complements the material of the case.
Some of the revenue from the sale of these luxury watches will go to support the Wright Family Foundation and Hawthorn Hill, the Oakwood mansion in Dayton, Ohio, where Wilbur Wright lived. The Wright family opened the home for the introduction of the Bremont Wright Flyer watch and gave tours of the historic residence to the media.
In these days when mankind has walked on the moon and getting to the other side of the country just requires driving to the airport to board a passenger jet, it’s hard to imagine that it’s been a little over 100 years since the Wright brothers took their first historic flight. It’s certainly time that these pioneers were honored with a luxury timepiece that will remind everyone who wears it of their accomplishments.
