The Williams Racing F1 Team is one of the greats of the sport, and Bremont is entering its third year as their official timing partner with the launch of the new WR-45 Limited Edition Chronograph ahead of the iconic British GP at Silverstone next month.
It’s not everyday you get to tune into a livestream event hosted by the voice of F1, David “Crofty” Croft alongside Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, to launch a new watch model. Earlier this week, this is exactly what Bremont did to launch their new Racing Chronograph, the WR-45.
Livestream events are always a little awkward, mostly due to the lack of an audience and atmosphere, but Bremont made the most of this from the Williams Racing Heritage Centre, with some F1 history in the form of old Williams race cars in the background.
Whilst the watches were the main event, Alex and Logan were the stars, giving us a little insight into the world of elite racing. At one point, Crofty asking them to re-create and mime their qualifying laps of Bahrain (Logan) and Melbourne (Alex) with steering wheels and the drivers commentating their own drive, including gear changes and speeds whilst Giles times them on the new WR-45 was impressive. As an F1 fan, you do forget that these drivers essentially memorise the courses in their heads due to the amount of simulator time they do each week!
Bremont and Williams are both proud British brands, and if you read our article interview with Giles English, Founder of Bremont, then you’ll understand why they are a great fit. British engineering and precision are at the forefront of both brands, and both are striving to put England back on top of their respective industries – Bremont with watch making, and Williams in motor racing. So it’s no surprise that their latest release partners nicely with Williams, and takes inspiration from the team and car itself.
Limited to only 244 pieces, nodding to the number of times Williams has achieved podium positions over the years, the WR-45 takes inspiration from this season’s Williams Racing chassis, the FW-45, hence the name of the Chronograph. The 43mm chronograph brings in a new case design to the Williams Racing range whilst maintaining its tachymeter function and uses Bremont’s immediately recognisable 3-piece Trip-Tick® case construction which has been DLC treated.
The dial continues the black motif, all but the seconds hand sub-dial at 9 o’clock which is a splash of white with the electric blue of the Williams Racing team colours on the seconds hand. This blue is punctuated throughout the dial in a nod to the Williams team.
The almost monochromatic design is further enhanced by blue emission lume filled indexes, minute and hour hands along with a triangular 12 hour marker on the dial ring which is framed in red and reprises the vibrant red sweeping seconds hand, a fitting tribute to the racing red seconds hand often found on early 20th century rally timers.
The WR-45 Chronograph shows the automatic movement through the display case back. The rotor showcases yet another nod to the Williams Racing collaboration with he black DLC coated, skeletonised rotor, inspired by the racing car rims and displaying the Williams Racing logo. The movement is a modified Calibre 13 BE-53AV, which is based on the Calibre 13 BE-53AE movement inside the WR-22 Chronograph, however, this now includes an increased power reserve up to 56 hours, which should be plenty as an everyday wearing watch, or safe to put down for a day or so and pick back up and put it back on the wrist.
The new WR-45 is also 100m water resistant, so it’s fine for water sports and general use, however, the Alcantara strap may not love this! It’s also Chronometer certified, rated to ISO 3159 certification like all Bremont pieces, so it’s been tested in 5 positions and accurate to -4/+5 seconds per day. At 43mm in diameter, 50mm lug to lug and 16mm thick, it’s a chunky watch, but if it wears anything like the WR-22, then most average wrist sizes should be able to pull it off.
Final Thoughts
The new WR-45 is a good looking watch and nice ties into the Williams racing brand. With subtle design cues that point to the band and the cars themselves, if you’re a racing fan, then this may be one chronograph that you should consider. Having met Giles in person, I can say that Bremont is a brand that stands by their products and are producing some great watches. Whilst the movement in the WR-45 isn’t one of their new ENG300 series, it’s Chronometer certified, good looking and a will be perfectly fine for everyday wear. Oh and did we mention, each of the 244 watches come with an actual wheel nut from one of the Williams race cars, not a bad piece of memorabilia!
Reference: WR-45
Specification
- Case: 43mm, 16mm thick, 50mm lug to lug
- Case: DLC coated Stainless Steel with Bremont 3 piece Trip-Tick® case design
- Dial: Black metal dial with applied indexes, filled with Super-LumiNova® (Blue emission)
- Crystal: Domed anti-reflective sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating
- Water resistance: 100m (10BAR)
- Movement: Modified Calibre 13 1/4’’’ BE-53AV, pivoting on 27 jewels, vibrating at 28,800 vph (4Hz)
- Power reserve: 56 hours
- Bracelet: Black Alcantara strap with DLC pin buckle
