About time

Bremont Watch Company is committed to nurturing watchmaking skills in the UK. With the help of machine tools from DMG Mori, the company aims to manufacture as many components as possible in-house. PES reports.

In terms of its production, Bremont already manufactures components – including its innovative three-part case consisting of bezel, central body and case back – at its manufacturing facility near Henley-on-Thames. It intends to develop the skills and capability to make as many parts as possible itself in the UK.

Bremont undertakes assembly and maintenance of every watch, checking the accuracy of the watch over a 15-day period and at a temperature range of -40°C to +40°C to achieve daily accuracy of -4 to +6 seconds. Its stringent testing regime is well within ‘Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres’ (C.O.S.C) parameters.

The company has built some impressive partnerships reflecting its aviation roots and its association with sailing, exploring, motorsport, high adrenalin activities and travel, most notably with The British School of Watchmaking, whose mission is to train a new generation of British watchmakers, and Martin Baker, an icon of British manufacturing.

Bremont’s limited edition MB1 watches are supplied exclusively to pilots who have ejected from aircraft using a Martin Baker ejection seat. These watches are designed for a rigorous environment with altitude tests to 100,000ft, salt fog and humidity tests, ejection tests for high
G-forces and vibration tests to simulate the 30-year life of a helicopter.

Matching values

To match the company’s aspirations for a revival of UK watchmaking and the precision and skills necessary to achieve this, its choice of machine tool partner had to have the same values. DMG Mori is recognised as a leader in the design and manufacture of advanced, precision machine tools and its skillset enables it to work in partnership with manufacturers to deliver turnkey solutions.

It supplies CNC machinery to companies making high value components in every sector and is a champion of UK manufacturing, supporting advanced manufacturing through organisations such as the AMRC, the AFRC and the MTC and encourages and inspires young engineers through partnerships with universities and colleges and sponsorship of WorldSkills.

Steve Finn, managing director of DMG Mori UK says: “The UK manufacturing sector is a relatively mature market and there is often little opportunity to work with emerging industries. We are therefore very proud to have been selected as Bremont’s machine tool partner and extremely impressed with its approach to UK watch manufacturing.”

Bremont has a number of DMG Mori machines in its workshop that include an NTX 1000 HSC, NLX 2000/500 and an EcoMill 600. It is to take delivery of a further NTX 1000 at the end of 2018.

Tim Parker, production manager at Bremont says: “We chose DMG Mori machines for their accuracy and reliability. We are working to 3-5µm tolerances manufacturing very intricate parts where quality and precision are paramount.”

The NTX 1000 HSC is used for machining the bezel while the NLX 2000/500 produces the central body and case back. For manufacturing the bezel, Bremont uses the full capabilities of the NTX 1000 HSC, cutting bar fed 316L stainless steel. Machining uses both the main and sub- spindles tapping M1.0 holes and producing 0.2mm grooves to produce a complete part ready for grinding in a single operation.

Parts are 100% inspected for visual defects and critical feature dimensions. Mr Parker continues: “We have 60mm and 45mm diameter 316L bar as stock material and machine away around 70% of the material producing thin and complex parts.

“The rigidity of the machines helps us to achieve good tool life despite the small sizes we use and, the flexibility of the DMG Mori machines and the three-part construction of the watch case makes it easier to change production to suit demand for particular models of watches and evolve manufacturing methods for new designs and limited edition watches.

“DMG Mori worked very closely with us to develop the cutting technology required, helping to build the different machining toolpaths and select the best cutters for our watch cases. They are a very valuable partner in the implementation of the technology.”

Putting in the hours

Bremont is continually evolving new watch designs and demand is growing rapidly as it has boutiques in New York, Hong Kong and London and retail partners worldwide.

Batch quantities of individual parts are small and rapid changeover between different models of watch is easy to achieve with the DMG Mori machines.

Mr Parker explains: “We run 24 hours Monday to Friday with a permanent night shift and the option of working over the weekend if necessary. Material and tooling are on consignment so we always have replacement and special tools available onsite. To operate these hours, machine reliability is very important and we have a service contract with DMG Mori to ensure reliability and to make sure that the machines are in peak condition. When we moved our manufacturing from Silverstone to our new manufacturing facility, DMG Mori worked with us, fitting around an intense schedule of works to get us running again within just two weeks.”

Bremont’s investment in the second NTX 1000 HSC will help it to increase capacity for its watches and also provide extra machining time to develop the manufacture of more watch components in house.

Working in partnership with DMG Mori to create metalcutting processes has helped Bremont to improve its own skills, enabling its engineers to carry out the iterative processes required to make even more complex parts in-house and work towards its goal of manufacturing movements in their entirety in the UK.

DMG Mori www.dmgmori.com

Bremont Watch Company www.bremont.com