Anyone who’s been shot out of an ejection seat will tell you, it’s not fun. And when travelling at speed, you have both massive horizontal and vertical G-Forces at play, which results in some pretty bad injuries for the pilot, and if the watch isn’t up to the task, will probably need replacing!
A month or so back, Giles English was in Australia doing the rounds and coincided with the Australian Grand Prix (Bremont are the watch sponsor for Williams Racing) and Watch Advice had the chance to catch up with him at an intimate gathering in Sydney (which you can read about here). At that event, Giles gave us a first look at two new watches that we’re being slated for launch in May – the MB Viper and the Vulcan.
Whilst we were sworn to secrecy and asked politely to not take photos or videos, I did commit these watches to memory eagerly waiting on their debut. Finally, after much anticipation, the MB Viper and Vulcan have landed, and the star is in my mind, the MB Viper. It’s not just another aviation styled watch, the MB Viper is special…
The MB Viper
Bremont has a close partnership with ejection seat manufacturer, Martin-Baker and together have worked on the MB series of watches that are fully tested in an ejection scenario, able to withstand the forces and impacts a live ejection from a fighter jet places on the watch and movement. And for those unlucky enough to go through a live ejection from their plane, find themselves lucky enough to be able to purchase one of Bremont’s MB1, the watch that is only available to pilots who have ejected and live to tell the tale! Talk about a catch 22!
The MB Viper is a watch that is born from the testing facility for the MB ENG300 movements, and I mean quite literally! The MB Viper is the saleable version of the test instrument for the ENG300 movement used to gain the Live Ejection Test certification, as well as MFOS Crashworthy Testing, Extreme Temperature Endurance, Vibration Testing, Altitude Testing and Aircraft Carrier Deck Testing.
To this end, Bremont initially developed a functional and minimal casing housing a shock isolating mount that could be fixed to the cockpit ‘dashboard’ of a Martin-Baker live ejection ‘simulator’. The test instrument was then developed further with the addition of forged carbon fibre lugs so that it could be affixed to an ejection manikin. Most importantly, the movement, protected by Bremont’s patented Anti-Shock movement mount, passed with flying colours and maintained impeccable time.
The 43.5mm matte DLC Grade 5 titanium case employs a protective carbon coating and features an anodised 6082 aluminium case middle. Whilst perhaps not the prettiest watch, but a fun watch, it does showcase a different design direction for Bremont. It is a true embodiment and representation of what the brand has achieved in its design, engineering, and manufacture.
This is the first MB model to house an ENG300 series movement which is visible through its flat exhibition case back. The self-winding ENG352 calibre boasts a 65-hour power reserve with silicon escape wheel, free sprung hairspring with inertia weight timed balance and KIF shock protection. The movement features rhodium plated bridges with a gold-plated automatic bridge and is encased by Bremont’s trusted rubberised AntiShock mount that was developed back in 2009 when the brand first started working with Martin-Baker.
Thoughts On The MB Viper
Having had the pleasure of see the MB Viper first hand, and a chance to play around with it for short while, I can say that this is a fun watch. Whilst the origins of this watch are quite serious, and for pilots who end up with a MBI even more so, this watch when in the wrist isn’t. It is Bremont taking a chance and designing and developing something that normally wouldn’t see the light of day, and I think this is a good thing. And being limited to only 300 pieces, you probably won’t see too many in the wild, or something like this again!
Specifications
MB Viper – 300 Piece Limited Edition
- Case: 43.5mm, lug to lug 51.9mm
- Thickness: 10.8mm thick
- Case Material: Matte black DLC treated Grade 5 Titanium. Bremont Trip-Tick® case construction with orange anodized aluminium top bezel
- Case back: Matte black DLC treated Grade 5 Titanium with integrated flat exhibition crystal
- Dial: White metal dial with seconds track. Hours marked with Super-LumiNova®. Chevron patterned Hour and Minute hands with pointer tips infilled with Super-LumiNova®
- Crystal: Flat anti-reflective, scratch resistant sapphire crystal.
- Water resistance:100m / 10bar
- Movement: Bremont ENG352 calibre self winding movement. 22 Jewels, Silicon escape wheel, free sprung hair spring with inertia weight timed balance & KIF Shock protection
- Power reserve: 65 Hours
- Strap: Black canvas strap with complimentary orange canvas strap. DLC treated Titanium pin buckle.
