Bremont competes with Rolex, Omega, and IWC without a fraction of their history. Here are the stories they tell.

When storytelling is mentioned in a commercial setting, the very first thought that comes to many people’s minds is ‘origin story’.

And sure, it’s an important story to tell. It helps prospects and customers get a sense of what drives the company, the motivation that led to it being formed, and answers the general ‘who are these lot?’ question.

But using only the origin story is treating the storytelling as a nice-to-have add-on that lives on the About us page or on an introduction slide in the pitch deck.

Storytelling is a powerful competitive edge that not many companies recognise. Fortunately, some do. These companies understand that there are many other stories hidden in a business that are worth telling, and they use them the way others use data – as proof of character and exceptional craft. That distinction sets them apart as a brand people remember and talk about.

In this issue…

I am going to show you a company that has understood this better than almost anyone else in their market.

Let me introduce you to Bremont, a UK company that doesn’t have a 100-year-old history, yet they compete – effectively – with some of the most prestigious brands in the luxury watch market.

Consider what they are up against. Rolex has been making watches since 1905, Omega since 1848, Breitling since 1884. Then there is Zenith (1865) and IWC (1868) too. These brands have heritage you cannot buy, century-old reputations, and generations of loyal customers.

When a new British watchmaker turned up in the early 2000s and said “we’d like a seat at that table, thank you very much”, the industry’s response was essentially: good luck with that.

And yet here Bremont are selling watches from £3,000 to well over £10,000. Stocked alongside those very Swiss giants.

How?

You guessed it – by telling remarkable stories.

Bremont’s storytelling

Richard Palk, who previously led Bremont’s Head of Customer Marketing, is refreshingly direct about why storytelling matters:

[Storytelling is] absolutely essential! With luxury brands in general, and with luxury timepieces in particular, the end customer’s purchase decision is generally very considered, with brand truths and authenticity being critical top-of-mind drivers, as well as product truths and excellence.

Bremont weaves in their story even into your experience of visiting their headquarters. The Wing is a two-storey structure styled after an aircraft wing, making the connection to aviation evident. Inside, vintage touches, watch displays, an actual Martin-Baker ejection seat (more on that later), and a production floor with sample components to illustrate how the company designs and builds its timepieces…

But there is something else.

Something far better.

The HQ tells you who Bremont are, but what comes next tells you far more about what they stand for and why that matters.

Every single watch they make carries its own story. And I don’t mean a marketing story – a real one.

The story of the Martin-Baker watch

The Martin-Baker series has an extraordinary story of the rigorous testing the watches underwent to ‘survive’ an ejection-seat escape. The story takes you through all the design alterations and considerations that went into building the watch with each testing failure. You can even watch the ejection test on YouTube!

But here is the part of this story that will stop you in your tracks.

There is a version of this watch – the MBI – that you simply cannot buy. You cannot buy it because Bremont will first verify whether you have actually survived an ejection from a Martin-Baker seat. Your ejection seat serial number is checked. If it checks out, you get one watch, engraved with your ejection number and fitted with a distinctive red barrel. One ejection, one watch. No exceptions. The owners of the MBI include US senators, CEOs, and chiefs of six air forces. None of them particularly wanted to qualify.

Pretty spectacular, but Bremont doesn’t stop there.

The story of the Supernova Chronograph series

The latest Supernova Chronograph series has another impressive story, and this one is still being written – quite literally. This story is about the Supernova watch going to the Moon (and staying there integrated into the chassis of Astrolab’s FLIP rover) in the second half of 2026. Its story describes the rigorous Spacecraft Protoflight Qualification testing, to ensure the watch is up for the job.

But this story does something else that’s remarkable. Something that goes beyond the romance of it. Bremont invites you to follow the story as it unfolds. You can sign up for updates on the story, which is a bold move but also a genius one too. A live story keeps people coming back. It gives Bremont a reason to communicate that isn’t a product launch or a sale. Every update from the mission is a reason to open an email, visit the website, and think about the brand. The story becomes an asset that compounds over time. Plus the watch you buy today is a ticket into that ongoing narrative.

Still, as spectacular as it sounds, perhaps the most extraordinary example of all predates both of these stories.

The story of the Codebreaker watch

Bremont has one more incredible story I’ll mention. The one about the Codebreaker watch and how it is connected to the codebreakers of Bletchley Park who decoded the German Enigma machine during the Second World War. The connection is direct: the pine wood from the floor of Hut 6 at Bletchley Park is incorporated into the watch’s crown, the rotor of the watch contains materials from the Enigma machine itself, and tiny pieces of actual punch cards feature on the watch as well. Which means that what you are essentially buying is more than a tribute. You are buying an artefact, and that is a distinction no competitor can manufacture.

The competitive advantage of storytelling

Step back for a moment and consider what these stories are actually doing for the business.

A luxury purchase is rarely rational. Nobody needs a £6,000 watch. What their customers are buying is a feeling, a story they can tell about themselves, an object that carries meaning beyond its function.

Bremont’s Swiss competitors sell meaning with heritage. After 150 years, the name on the dial carries the weight of generations of buyers who came before you, and that is an extraordinarily difficult thing to compete against.

Unless you find a different game to play entirely.

Bremont’s stories create an emotional claim on the buyer that is entirely theirs. No other watch can tell the Martin-Baker story. No other British brand is sending a watch to the lunar south pole this year. These stories are not available at any price to a competitor. Their stories don’t say “trust us, we’ve been doing this for centuries.” They say “nothing like this exists anywhere else.” And in a market where distinction is everything, that is a more powerful claim than longevity.

That is what a competitive edge from storytelling looks like.

Each story removes Bremont from direct comparison with its competitors. You cannot compare the MBI to an Omega Seamaster. You cannot weigh the Codebreaker against a Rolex Datejust. The stories make the watches categorically distinct, and a product that cannot be directly compared cannot be directly undercut.

That is more than branding – that is strategy.

Stories as a strategy for your business

Most businesses treat storytelling as something that happens around the product. On the website, in the brochure, at the bottom of the About page. Bremont treats it as something that happens inside the product.

That’s the approach worth thinking about – what stories are we building into what we do?

The stories that create genuine competitive advantage are hiding somewhere less obvious than the About us page. It can live in how something is made, in a partnership that has real meaning behind it, in a material or a method or a moment in your company’s history that you’ve never thought to mention because it just seems like the way things just are.

Bremont found theirs – several, actually – and they used them to walk into one of the most heritage-saturated markets in the world and earn a seat at a table amongst giants.

The question is (two, actually): what are your stories, and do you use them to your advantage?

Action step

Take a moment now and jot down a story from your business that carries meaning. 

Here are a few prompts to help you get started:

• Is there a customer you went above and beyond for, with an outcome that says something unique about how you work?
• Is there an object, tool, or material you use that has a backstory?
• Have you partnered with someone that reflects your values or sets you apart?
• Is there a process in your business that’s different because of lessons learned the hard way?

Reflecting on questions like these can reveal stories hiding in plain sight, stories that go deeper than your company’s beginnings.

If you like, share what you discover in the comments. Not only does this help you spot strengths you might have overlooked, but it could also inspire others.

Until the next story,
Dot