Bremont, the British watch company founded by brothers Nick and Giles English in 2002, has always understood the value of a solid testimonial to endorse its rugged tool watches. From former Royal Marines commandos to UK Special Forces and freedivers to mountain climbers, Bremont is determined to prove that its tool watches can hack just about anything that’s thrown at them. The latest action man to test Bremont’s high-performance dive watch with GMT functionality – the Waterman Apex II – is Laird Hamilton, one of the world’s greatest big wave surfers of all time.

As its name suggests, the Waterman Apex II is the sequel to the limited-edition Waterman Apex watch released in 2022 in collaboration with Laird Hamilton, returning with a beefed-up power reserve and some subtle design tweaks. An American big-wave surfer and genius of crossover board sports (tow-in surfing, stand-up paddle and hydrofoil boarding), Laird is recognised as one of the sport’s most complete surfers.

Bremont is synonymous with pilot watches and expanded its portfolio with rugged adventure tool watches in its Sea and Land collections. Bremont’s Supermarine dive watch materialised in 2009 with the Supermarine S500. Always faithful to the brand’s strong aviation links, the Supermarine was named after the British aircraft company that produced the iconic Spitfire fighter plane.

Using the brand’s patented triple Trip-Tick case, the 43mm diameter and 16.5mm thickness of the case underscore the hardcore tool spirit of this diver. Viewed from the side, you can appreciate the almost vault-like build of the 500m water-resistant case with its helium escape valve at 11 o’clock and the unilateral crown guard flanking the screw-down crown with its black rubber gasket and propeller logo at 2 o’clock. Further enhancing its solidity, the case barrel is treated with a scratch-resistant DLC coating, and the caseback is now screwed-in and decorated with the image of a Supermarine Seaplane. The black ceramic unidirectional bezel has pronounced serrated notches to assist manipulation. It is not, however, a conventional timing bezel, and its 24-hour scale corresponds to the GMT function. Despite its burly dimensions, the short, sloping, rounded lugs make it more comfortable on the wrist (the watch head, without the strap, weighs 115g).

Visibility is a vital feature of a professional dive watch, and the applied indices and hands of the Waterman Apex II are treated to several layers of Super-LumiNova. To avoid confusion in the dark, the hour markers and central hour, minute and seconds hands emit a blue glow, while the arrow-shaped GMT hand now emits a green glow. Such a thick case means plenty of space between the domed anti-reflective crystal and the dial. The sloping Harbour Blue track on the periphery corresponds to the minutes. The matte black chapter ring with the applied hour markers leads to a raised central area embossed with a pattern depicting shark fins swimming through wavy waters. Set against a matte black background, there is a framed date window at 3 o’clock.

In addition to its solid diving credentials, Bremont’s Waterman Apex II is also what is known as an office GMT watch. Unlike the more complex traveller’s GMT, an office GMT allows you to set the 24-hour hand independently to track time in a second time zone, but it can only be adjusted in one-hour increments in one direction. If you’d like to learn more about the differences between office and traveller’s GMTs, don’t miss Brice’s in-depth review. Still very useful for tracking time in another location, the GMT function is indicated by the fourth co-axial hand, now with an orange-framed arrow-shaped hand filled with green lume. Subtle orange accents are also featured on the light blue minutes track and the ‘Waterman’ inscription.

The Waterman Apex II is powered by an upgraded automatic BE-932AV movement with an ETA base protected by a patented anti-shock movement mount. Operating at 28,800vph, the power reserve of this automatic movement has been raised from 38 to 50 hours.

Availability & Price

The Bremont Waterman Apex II is a limited edition of 350 pieces and comes with a choice of three straps: a Harbour Blue or black rubber strap retailing for EUR 5,350 and a stainless steel bracelet retailing for a slightly higher price of EUR 5,800.

For more information, please consult bremont.com.