My Visit to Bremont Boutique - Royal Exchange

Royal Exchange in London

On our recent holiday, we landed in London.  It just happens that two Bremont Boutiques are located in London.  Naturally, along with the touristy sites, I wanted to visit the Bremont Boutiques.  First up, Royal Exchange.

Entrance to Royal Exchange

For those unfamiliar with this part of the city, it is the luxury business district.  As you can tell, I was way under dressed for the area.  Damn tourist.  We were greeted at the door by a door man.  Once you are inside, the plaza is surrounded by boutiques like Omega, Bulgari, and Tiffany & Co.  

Bremont at Royal Exchange

Bremont from South Entrance of Royal Exchange

If you walk in from the front (West Entrance) of the building, the Bremont Boutique is located in the middle on the right.  It is a small store, about the size of a one car garage.

Bremont Chronometers and 'the seat'

I spent some time with Paul Gray as we talked about the brand and I just geeked out over all the watches, accessories, and memorabilia. 

Martin Baker ejection seat

I wanted to purchase something, perhaps a key chain or strap, while it was at Bremont. I had some questions on whether the Seattle strap.  At one point, the website stated that the strap would not with with the deployment clasp.  Paul fitted the strap to my watch and explained that it worked, but because of the stiffness of the material, it does not curve to the wrist as easily as leather or rubber.

Paul Gray, General Manager at Bremont Boutique

I was amazed at the speed and ease of how Paul worked that watch tool to swap straps.  As we we talked he recommended that I purchase the strap from the New York Boutique as it would be cheaper.  So, I did not get the strap...yet.

Of course I have to get a photo with Martin Baker

We spent about a half hour in there.  Before we left he gave me a Bremont ball cap, newsletter, magazines, and a wealth of knowledge about the brand.  Thanks, Paul!

My Bremont in front of Bremont

If you are a fan of Bremont and happen to be in London, I recommend a visit to the Bremont Boutique, City of London, at Royal Exchange.

Thick business cards

12 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange

London,  EC3V 3LQ

England

+44 (0) 207 220 7134

royalexchange@bremont.com

For more information visit Bremont.com

FUCK YOU, STOP CALLING ME - November 2015

When it gets to this time of the month, I get kinda excited.  Are we able to make it a telemarketer-free month?  It is rare, and has happened, usually during holiday.  Ah, but not this time.

24 November 2015
   949-440-1374  Irvine, CA - Just in time for Thanksgiving.  This year, I am thankful for Caller ID, as it allows me to ignore these fucking telemarketers.  I wonder if telemarketers work on Thanksgiving...not like they have family or friends.  I guess we will find out in a few days.  Anyway, fuck you, like a turkey getting stuffed.

Bremont Loot

Prizes from Alt1tude Forum

Remember that Halloween Competition I entered?  Well, I won!  Here are the prizes.

• Bremont keychain with knurled orange barrel as seen on the Martin Baker range of watches.
• Bremont polo shirt with embroidered logo on chest and sleeve
• Bremont newsletter

During my visit to Bremont, I almost purchased one of these keychains and even asked about shirts.  They did not have any shirts and I did not get the keychain.  More on my visit later.  I guess it was a good thing I did not get those items then.  Winning free stuff is better than buying that same stuff.

Again, I would like to thank jwalker9 and everyone at Alt1tude for putting together the event. Special thanks to Mike Pearson and Bremont for providing the prizes for the competition. 

Depeche Mode is English Heritage

English Heritage logo

I was recently in England and visited Stonehenge, the rock formations made famous (at least to me) by English band Spinal Tap, with their hit song Stonehenge. 

Spinal Tap performing Stonehenge with dancing Druids

I saw signs for English Heritage around the 'lobby' and gift shop area.  English Heritage is a registered charity organization that looks over the National Heritage Collection, founded in 1983.  From their site: 

English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War bunker. Through these, we bring the story of England to life for over 10 million people each year. We are a charity, no. 1140351, and a company, no. 07447221, registered in England.

While I have been to England a few times before, I had never noticed this agency before.  What really caught my eye was the logo.  It reminded me of this:

Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe

Take a look at Depeche Mode's 2009 album cover for Sounds of the Universe.  What?  Yeah, that is what I thought. 

Sounds of the Universe is Stonehenge

Check out the overhead hot of Stonehenge.  I mean, you have a circle and it looks like it could be rubble...fallen stones.  Heck, they pretty much lines up perfectly.  Sounds of the universe...stars...astronomy...the sun...sunset...winter and summer solstice...English band...English country side.  I think we have something here.  We would have to ask Anton Corbijn or someone from Depeche Mode to confirm.  But it seems to me that Sounds of the Universe is Stonehenge!  No!  I mean, yeah...it could be. 

What I am getting at is this.  Take a closer look at the DM logo.

Sounds of the Universe are DM logo designed by Anton Corbijn

What?  I know!  It looks a lot like the English Heritage logo.  Yes, this totally means that Depeche Mode is indeed English Heritage.

I Am the New Face of Bremont

Okay, I am not the face of Bremont.  But, there is (or was, depending on when you read this) a competition on the ALT1TUDE forum to post a Halloween themed Bremont photo.  There are cool prizes for the winner, so it will be worth it to enter.

The things I do to try to win a contest

 My idea was to 'become the face of Bremont'.  Simply put, I will paint my face to look like the face of a Bremont ALT1-C.  Ha ha, face...get it?  I rushed to the 99 Cent to pick up some face paint, hoping that there will be some supplies in stock.  Looking for Halloween supplies on Halloween, I am sure there are plenty of supplies.  Luckily, there were a few packs of cheap 99 cents face paint left, enough to do what I need to do.  Here is the process:

Mixing face paint and colour matching

For 99 cents, you get some cheap stuff and not a lot of options as far as colour.  I wanted to match the anthracite of my watch, so I had to mix the paint to get a grey.

Applying the base colour

Once the colour was mixed, I dabbed it on with a makeup sponge.

Painting the whites

You cannot get last-minute-99-cent makeup in silver.  I used a thin coat white over the grey (that way it mutes the white) to represent the silver parts of the watch.

Lettering backwards

This was the fun part, painting the words.  Using my watch as reference, I had to reverse the image in my head first, then paint it using a mirror.

Adding the logo

Trying to match font is hard, especially with a crappy brush.  I did my best.  Note that I have the older version of the watch with the original logo and Swiss Made on the dial.  So, 'Swiss Made' is on my chin, instead of 'London'.

Painting numbers

Painting the numbers on the side of my face was tricky, as it was harder to see out of the corners of my eyes, versus looking straight into the mirror. Oh, and there is that reversing issue, too.

Smaller details in black

Once done with the white paint, the cheap brush is cleaned and on to black paint for the numbers on the sub-dial and date.  I had to go back and paint some markers along the circumference of the dial.  Final touch is the red on the chronograph second hand.

Finished

This project took me about two hours.  I think it turned out okay...definitely an improvement to my regular face.  Hoping to win something in the competition.