British brand Bremont is well known for its pilot watches, but it also does a good line in pieces specifically designed to function in what the RAF boys of old liked to call ‘the drink’.
In keeping with the brand’s tally-ho, aviation-inspired bent, these dive models go by the name of “Supermarine” (as in the aircraft manufacturer that made the Spitfire fighter) and can be had in variations ranging from standard three-handers to chronographs, GMT models and the ultra-tough S2000 that’s said to be good down to a depth of 2,000 metres.
But should you be heading to Hawaii any time soon (or if you’re just looking for an excuse to go), the obvious Bremont Supermarine to take is the special edition S300 Kaimu.
It’s named after Hawaii’s Kaimu beach, a dramatic stretch of coastline on the Big Island that was once famous for its fine, jet-black sand but which was destroyed by the 1990 eruption of the too-close-for-comfort Kilauea volcano.
Despite the devastation wreaked by the lava flow – which totalled Kaimu town – a new black sand beach (called New Beach) is gradually forming on top of the 50 or so feet of lava that covered the bay, and local people have fringed it with sprouted coconuts in order to slowly bring the place back to its former beauty.
The 40mm Bremont Supermarine S300 Kaimu recalls the beach through its black, textured dial and black ceramic dive bezel insert – and is designed to plumb the depths down to a lung-crushing 300 metres.
£3,395; bremont.com
By Simon de Burton. Simon is a journalist and author who writes for the FT’s How to Spend It, British GQ and Boat International, among others
