Among the keen reactions to Elliot Brown’s latest launch earlier this month was the following from veteran watch journalist and collector Ken Kessler, who said:
“One of the pleasant surprises for me at WATCHPRO Salon in November was discovering Elliot Brown and the brand’s Beachmaster. I am a sucker for GMTs and this one adds a new look and additional functionality as well. Best of all, it was remarkable value. Bravo!”
Elliot Brown’s relationship with WATCHPRO goes back to the brand’s early days, when it debuted at the 2013 WATCHPRO London Watch Show. Now with a solid reputation for creating military-grade timepieces for organisations including Land Rover, Mountain Rescue England & Wales and the RNLI, Elliot Brown watches are made to stand up to the most challenging conditions.
With the Beachmaster collection, which is available to pre-order for January delivery, the brand has entered a new phase of advanced research and development, presenting a high-performance, automatic GMT with a patented 24-hour click-lock, mission timing, dual time-zones, ceramic divers’ bezel, 56-hour power reserve and 300 metres of water-resistance, thanks to the hydraulically stamped and bolted down caseback.
Brand founders Alex Brown and Ian Elliot were on hand at Salon to talk through the unique mission timing function that uses the GMT 24-hour hand and split internal bezel to count down up to12 hours to mission start and then automatically count up to 12 hours from start time.
The original idea for the complication that is unique to the Beachmaster came from a request from the Royal Marines who wanted a countdown and count-up function without the use of sub-dials.
“It needed to be bombproof yet beautifully considered with our DNA and unique EB design language in abundance,” says an Elliot Brown spokesperson.
The standard hour, minute and seconds hands are used to time events of shorter durations using the 60-minute external countdown bezel. Despite the complexity of the function, the genius lies in how easy the Beachmaster is to set and operate.
The 40mm case is in satin-brushed steel with polished steel highlights or an antique-finish bronze-PVD finish. The sunray black dial has applied indices and lashings of bi-colour Super-LumiNova, all protected by a 2mm domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.
The watch is equipped with a stainless-steel bracelet that incorporates an expanding divers’ clasp, and an additional rubber deployant strap is also supplied. The bands can be switched easily thanks to Elliot Brown’s military grade strap bars.
Powering the watch is the Sellita SW330-2 automatic calibre with 56 hours of power reserve.
The watch comes in bespoke Beachmaster packaging and includes a Beachmaster “challenge coin” exclusive to this timepiece. Originally issued to members of the armed services and law enforcement personnel in recognition of special achievement, contemporary versions such as this often relate to an organisation’s values.
Emphasising the dedication behind the Beachmaster, Elliot Brown’s founders say, “Almost three years since inception, we were still tweaking, honing, adjusting line weights, case details, bezel design, chamfers, under cuts, brushing, polishing, lume colours, hand dimensions and finishes.
“When a process as long and full of so much attention and emotion as this finally comes to a conclusion, and it’s a successful one, the happy emotions come flooding to the surface and despite all the hard work needed to tell the world about our new creation, it’s a moment we’ll always remember fondly.”
Limited to 500 pieces, the Elliot Brown Beachmaster is priced at £2,375.
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