BeSPOKE 07

infamous German Enigma cipher machine made
possible an infinite variety of different combinations.
And as Codebreaker is also equipped with a
rotor, a fundamental component of its automatic
movement, Bremont has decided to incorporate
a fragment of the original Enigma rotor into it.
This tops even the reproduction of one of the
cylinders which made up the so-called Bombe
machine used at Bletchley Park to speed up the
decryption of the Enigma messages. Saving time
was effectively an absolute priority as once the
war began the Germans adopted measures such
as an increase in the number of rotors from 3 to 5
and changed its settings every 24 hours.
But that’s not all. A further ace up Bletchley Park’s
sleeve during the war was the establishment of
a register of decrypted Enigma messages made
in the form of punch cards. Inserted into special
machines these allowed only solutions which
were compatible with the Enigma algorithm
to pass through thus drastically reducing the
number of attempts necessary to decipher new
messages. It is precisely these period punch
cards, with their printed numbers, which appear
on the edges of the case of each Codebreaker
timepiece and indicate its limited edition number.
There will be 240 watches with a stainless
steel case and 50 in pink gold costing 18,500 USD
and 33,995 USD respectively. The crown of each
watch will be decorated with fragments of pine
from the floor in Bletchley Park’s Hut 6 in which
the Enigma codes used by the Wehrmacht and
the Luftwaffe were decrypted.
Codebreaker is the result of the partnership between
this British watchmaker and the Bletchley
Park Foundation. Part of the proceeds will go towards
the restoration of this historic complex in
North East London. Such fund raising operations
are not new to Bremont. Before Bletchley Park it
was the national Royal Navy Museum which benefited
from the sale of another Bremont watch,
the HMS Victory model. And on the subject of
victory, we believe that for those who wear a
cronograph as unique as Codebreaker on their
wrists every day will be a miniature V-Day.
www.bremont.com
ABOVE: THE LIMITED EDITION
NUMBER TAKEN FROM PERIOD
PUNCH CARDS. ON THE FACING
PAGE: THE BACK OF THE CASE
AND DETAIL OF THE UNUSUAL
ROTOR OF THE WATCHES’
AUTOMATIC MOVEMENT.
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