Mr Porter sells limited-edition Bremont Codebreaker watch online

ONE of the biggest questions facing the watch industry is whether or not it can sell its products online.

The Bremont Codebreaker limited edition

TO date the world’s fine watchmaking companies have been slow in embracing ecommerce and tend to look on it as a place where people only buy fake and grey market products. The question is: would a customer be willing to part with $20,000-plus in an online transaction? The men’s online retailer Mr Porter certainly seems to think so.

The online menswear retailer — coincidentally owned by one of the biggest watch and luxury groups, the Swiss company Richemont-has been selling the British watch brand Bremont since late last year. This year, however, it upped the ante with its watch offering and is selling Bremont’s limited-edition Codebreaker watch online for 28,733 (about $53,160). Granted, Mr Porter is probably not expecting it to be a volume seller, but its decision to offer such a precious and expensive item for sale online is a sign of confidence in online watch sales (its sister site, mind you, has no problem selling $20,000 Valentino dresses online).

Bremont is a relatively new player in the watch business and was established by brothers Nick and Giles English in 2002 with its first models launched in 2007. The company specialises in pilots’ watches and now makes its timepieces in its own manufacturing facility at Henley-on-Thames, which opened at the beginning of last year. According to Giles English, the company chose to partner with Mr Porter because it “is able to deliver the right luxury platform and level of client service that is very important to Bremont”.

The Codebreaker is limited to 300 pieces. It has a self-winding movement with a 46-hour power reserve. The 43mm case is made from stainless steel with a sapphire crystal case back. mrporter.com

02 QUALITY TIME

When the Clifton collection of men’s watches by Baume & Mercier launched last year, they were an immediate hit. The design of the 2013 Clifton collection was inspired by a vintage timepiece from the 1950s and was initially available only in larger sizes (cases 39-43mm in diameter). Earlier this year at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, Baume & Mercier released some smaller sizes in the Clifton design for women. The 30mm-diameter women’s collection comes in five models (one with a mother-of-pearl dial and diamonds is pictured here with a 41mm model). Four are available in steel with a polished and satin-finished bracelet. Of the four steel models two are powered by mechanical movements and two are quartz. The fifth is a mechanical model in a two-tone version with an 18-carat red gold bezel and a steel and red gold bracelet. Stockists: baume-et-mercier.com

03 EVENING DRESS-UPS

A dress, or evening, watch for a man usually means something small, elegant and with Roman numerals. It’s not something that many men tend to invest in these days, with the preference being for all-purpose watches. Leave it to Hublot to turn the idea of a men’s dress watch on its dial. The Hublot Classic Fusion Tourbillon Night-Out watch is possibly the best interpretation of an evening watch we’ve seen recently. First, with a case diameter of 45mm, this is not exactly a dainty timepiece. The case is made from polished ceramic with a black lacquered dial set with 10 baguette diamonds (a nod to its origins as a dress watch). An opening in the dial at 6 o’clock reveals the flying tourbillon and the watch movement was made entirely in-house at Hublot. The watch strap is made from shiny black calfskin, which is sewn on to rubber for extra comfort, it has a five-day power reserve and is in a limited edition of 30 pieces. hublot.com

WISH LIKES:

HERMES CAPE COD ROCABAR

The dial of the Hermes Cape Cod Rocabar is inspired by a Hermes silk scarf design.

The Swiss-made, self-winding movement has a 50-hour power reserve. The case in white gold measures 36.5 x 35.4mm.

The watch is available in four colours (yellow not pictured here) in a limited edition of six for each colour.