This year at Baselworld 2015, we had the opportunity to review the new Bremont ALT1-ZT Zulu Time. The ALT1-Z Zulu has been been part of the launch collection since 2007 and since then it has been an iconic Bremont timepiece over the years. Well this time, this iconic Bremont watch gets a facelift. The ALT1-Z Zulu is a model which was designed with aviators and world travelers in mind and features direct aviation inspired design cues such as the artificial horizon indicator. ‘Z’ stands for Zulu Time and allows the wearer to display local time together with the official world time standard. Championed by one of TV’s most adventurous travelers, Charley Boorman, who certainly tested his ALT1-Z beyond endurance for the TV documentary series Long Way Round with Ewan McGregor, Bremont was thrilled to hear him remark, “That first watch I had was a grey ALT1-Z and it did its job perfectly”. Unsurprisingly, then the Z has proven to be widely popular amongst the military squadrons Bremont works with, a significant and ever-increasing part of the Bremont business, and further to feedback from this sector Baselworld 2015 sees a new version launch in the form of the ALT1-ZT.
This is the first time that the design of the watch has been revamped since the Z series launched in 2007. This time the ALT1-ZT boasts a cleaner dial with new applied superluminova, index markers on the dial and the 24hr function has been moved to the bezel for greater clarity. Greater detailing around the stepped subdials with micro lines has been made to give the dial more depth. In the pictures below you can see clearly what changes were made. The new black dial is matte and nicely finished with the stepped subdials.
Functionally the ALT1-ZT has the same features with the introduction of the roto-click bi-directional inner rotating bezel. The GMT hand combined with chronograph functionality measuring seconds, minutes and hours make this model ideal for travel. For additional clarity Bremont deploys the same hand design as the MB series, including the second time zone marker, which has been so effective on the MBIII. It is the first time black hands with full white superluminova can be seen in this range.
The red hand on the running seconds register at 9 o'clock provides perfect contrast and a great visually appealing element to the dial. In Giles English —Bremont Co-Founder— words: “We have always loved the chronograph layout of the ALT1-Z and the 24hr function that we added makes it a very practical watch. We wanted to simplify the design a little with the ALT1-ZT but add more detail in, keeping that military aviation look. We do not often use applied indexes on our aviation watches but we felt that this detail would work here. This is definitely a watch I will have in my collection.”
As with most core range pieces the ALT1-ZT has a stainless steel case made to an exceptional hardness of 2000 vickers which is seven times that of an average stainless steel watch case. The convex sapphire crystal is equally as hard and has nine layers of anti-reflective coating applied to both sides of the glass for increased legibility. The high standard of finish and attention to detail seen in everything from the hand-cut and engraved winding rotor in the sapphire crystal case back to the meticulous machining of the three-part Trip-Tick cases take considerable time and skill to apply. The crowns are also very nicely finished with black caps with the Bremont propeller logo.
Visible via the display case back on this watch, the beating heart inside the new Bremont ALT1-ZT is the same calibre that has been in this collection since 2007. The movement is a modified calibre 13 1/4” BE-54AE automatic chronometer with 28,800 vph, 42-hour power reserve and a Bremont molded and decorated rotor.
Fitted with a supple black leather strap with beige contrast stitching and deployant buckle, the watch wears true to its 43 mm case size. The deployant buckle is signed Bremont.
Comfortable, sporty and way cleaner —when compared to the other ALT1-Z Zulu pieces— in terms of design, the new Bremont ALT1-ZT is a handsome looking watch but relatively pricey for what you are getting. While the look of the other ALT1-Z Zulu pieces seemed way too busy for many, we feel that the watches had a stronger military aviation DNA in them when compared to the super clean look of this new watch.
Sticker Price $6,595 USD. For more info on Bremont click here.
