Bremont Introduces The Altitude MB Meteor Orange Barrel, Its Latest Homage To The Ejection Seat

There are many things in life for which watches are built, which will never be experienced by owners of those watches and while it goes without saying that most pilot’s watch owners are not, and will never be, pilots and that most dive watch wearers will never dive, the number of folks who will actually need the features of one of Bremont’s Martin Baker watches is a tiny fraction of actual owners indeed. Martin Baker is one of the largest makers of ejection seats in the world, and while ejecting from an aircraft sure beats the alternative, it’s not something you volunteer to do on your day off. Ejection seats can subject the escaping pilot to up to 20 Gs, and the whole sequence begins with the canopy being blown off the aircraft. High ejection speeds are necessary in order to ensure that the pilot clears the aircraft, and Bremont’s Martin Baker series of watches were tested in collaboration with Martin Baker to ensure their ability to tolerate extreme G forces and acceleration.

At first, when Bremont launched its first MB watch in 2009 in partnership with Martin Baker, they were only selling them to pilots who had actually ejected from an aircraft (it is difficult to say categorically how many pilots in any given time period have punched out successfully, although the USAF records ten ejections from 2012 to 2021, with unfortunately one fatality). The MBI watch is still available to any pilot who has ejected from an aircraft in a Martin Baker ejection seat and joined the Martin Baker Tie Club, which entitles the pilot to wear a special tie signifying their membership (and commemorating their successful egress).

RAF Gloster Meteor in March of 1945; image, RAF

However, the same year, Bremont also released the MBII, which is still in the catalog and which has all the technical features of the MBI (the latter is also distinguished by a red case middle and yellow seconds hand). Since then, a number of special and limited editions of the Martin Baker watches have been released, as well as unit watches, and earlier this year, Bremont announced the latest MB watch: The MB Meteor, with a redesigned internal Roto-Click bezel, a 42mm titanium case, and a knurled case middle coated in orange Cerakote (a ceramic and polymer composite). The Meteor watch is named after the Gloster Meteor, which was the only Allied jet fighter to be used in combat operations in World War II. The Meteor has a special place in Martin Baker history; the first successful test of a Martin Baker ejection seat occurred in 1946, when Martin Baker’s Bernard Lynch ejected from the rear seat of a Meteor at 8,000 feet.

The Meteor at 42mm is slightly smaller than the 43mm MBII, and lighter as well, thanks to its titanium construction. Design-wise, it’s almost identical to the MBII, including the seconds hand counterweight, which is in the shape of the handle of an ejection seat.

The Meteor is being launched with either a white or black dial, with applied Arabic numerals filled with blue-emission Super-LumiNova, and they’ll be available on a matching titanium bracelet, a leather and rubber strap, or a Nato-style strap.

As with the MBI and MBII, the Meteor has a two way inner elapsed time bezel; this is Bremont’s 60 click, “Roto-Click” bezel, which rides on four ball bearings.

One of the big selling points of the MB and Meteor watches, is the case construction.

Bremont’s “Trip-Tick” cases are in three parts. The upper section includes the bezel and lugs; the case middle is knurled and usually in a contrasting color, and the screwed down caseback contributes to the 100 meter water resistance. The movement is Bremont caliber BB14-AH, which is a customized version of the La Joux-Perret G100 with a 68 hour power reserve. This is a well regarded workhorse caliber – The Naked Watchmaker has a great tear-down article, and they describe it as, ” … a solid workhorse caliber … the extended power reserve is a differentiating characteristic compared to other, similar movements.” Certainly the movement gives a definite impression of sturdiness – the entire going train as well as the automatic winding train are both under a single 3/4 plate.

The movement sits inside a rubberized antishock mount, and it’s also protected from magnetic fields by a ring of mu-metal (more commonly referred to as soft iron). This material works by providing a preferred pathway for magnetic field lines, which flow around the movement, rather than through it. Silicon components are of course, completely resistant to magnetic fields but soft iron has history on its side, having been widely used in mechanical watches intended for aviators for many decades.

The case middle is coated in Cerakote, which is a very tough ceramic polymer coating applied as a powder and it comes in a quite incredible range of colors. The company has been around since 1984 and there is hardly an industry that doesn’t use their coatings – the aviation industry is a big user of Cerakote (Lockheed Martin is a client, as is Boeing) as well the automotive industry (Lamborghini and Ford, for instance) and Cerakote is used extensively for firearms as well.

Of all Bremont’s watches, the Martin Baker models have the closest direct relationship to aviation, and that connection is built into the basic structure of the watches. The relationship with Martin Baker is now sixteen years old and while there have been a number of variations on the theme, the basics of the MB watches have changed very little and I think they still embody what has always been at the core of the appeal of Bremont’s timepieces – very solid construction and an authentic link to not just vintage, but also modern aviation. The MB watches and the Meteor also represent, if you bear in mind the case construction, protection for the movement, and overall high quality in construction, an excellent value seen against what else is out there in the larger world of mechanical pilot’s watches. That category perhaps more than any other technical watch category, is prone to devolving to purely design connections rather than offering anything with a functional connection to flying. The MB Meteor continues the Martin Baker watch tradition of being the exception to that rule.

The Bremont Altitude MB Meteor “Orange Barrel” : case, grade 2 titanium, 42mm x 12.23mm, 22mm lug width; Trip-Tick construction with knurled barrel; inner soft iron/mu metal ring for protection from magnetic fields with antishock movement mount; sapphire box crystal, and sapphire caseback; water resistance 100 meters. Inner bidirectional Roto-Click bezel operated by the crown at 4:00. Movement, Bremont BB14-AH (modified LJP caliber G100), automatic, running in 24 jewels at 28,800 vph with 68 hour power reserve. Dial and hands: brushed galvanic metal with applied hour markers filled with Super-LumiNova (blue emission); gloss black hour and minute hands, SLN coated; black seconds hand with lollipop tip and pullcord tail. Titanium bracelet, black rubber and leather strap, or black and anthracite NATO strap. Price at launch, $5700 on a titanium bracelet, $5300 on a strap. 

The 1916 Company is proud to be a retailer for Bremont watches; for availability, contact us about the Bremont Altitude MB Meteor Orange Barrel.