Bremont U2 watches

The Bremont U-2 is named after the Lockheed U-2, the high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft designed by Kelly Johnson's team at Lockheed's Skunk Works. It first flew in 1955 and is still operated by the US Air Force and NASA. The plane is nicknamed the Dragon Lady, and the watch borrows from it directly: the dial Bremont first showed carried an image of the aircraft and four red crosses taken from its tail, and a dark U beside the 2 o'clock numeral spells out the name.

The case uses Bremont's three-part Trip-Tick construction: a hardened steel bezel and sapphire crystal on top, a separate central barrel and a steel caseback. It is water resistant to 100 m, and the movement is suspended in shock-absorbing material. Under the crystal sits a bi-directional rotating inner bezel, which Bremont calls Roto-Click. It turns in small, distinct clicks and is set with the lower crown on the right of the case. The movement is calibre BE-36AE, an automatic that Bremont modifies from the ETA 2836 and has certified as a chronometer by COSC. The seconds hand ends in a counterweight shaped like the emergency ejection handle used on Bremont's MB1 watches; it is decoration only.

The U-2/SS, U-2/BL and U-2/DLC share a 43 mm steel case under sapphire crystal and differ in finish. The U-2/SS has a black dial and the U-2/BL a blue one, while the U-2/DLC coats the steel case in black diamond-like carbon, a very hard, scratch-resistant coating, and pairs it with a black dial. The grey-dial U-22 came out of a military commission to update the original U-2. It keeps the 43 mm case and takes a 22 mm strap, with a new bezel design and an updated date display. Its inner bezel swaps the U-2's 60-minute scale for a pilot's compass quadrant, and a soft-iron Faraday cage shields the movement from magnetism. Bremont has since retired the U-22 from its catalogue.