[Hands-On] The Bremoir Lexington, Art Deco Done Right

One of the major principles of Art Deco design is to infuse beauty into functional, everyday objects and what better everyday object to do that with than a watch. Bremoir’s Lexington draws inspiration from the iconic Art Deco-styled Chrysler Building in NYC. Angled geometric patterns and intricate details throughout are easily traced from the watch directly back to the building. Whether it’s the angular applied indices or the stepped polished bezel, there’s a lot to take in, but it never seems like too much. What we have is a handsome 39mm watch that offers a nice break from modern design. As a fan of modern watches (mostly because of the lack of hassle) it’s especially nice to not have to go vintage to get the classic Art Deco styling seen on the Lexington. Let’s take a closer look at this unique new watch from Bremoir.

Case

It’s easy to trace the case geometry back to the design seen in the Chrysler Building, and it’s executed well. The tonneau-shaped case features some heavy polished bevels on the sides that carry down into the lugs. Vertical brushing on the sides provides some nice contrast to the polished portions. On the right side of the case you’ll find an intricately designed push down crown. The edges feature a tight coin-edge pattern, while the main surface is conical in appearance. It fits the theme of the watch nicely — much better than a standard off-the-shelf crown would. When looking at the Lexington from the top down, the biggest thing that stands out is the impressive stepped bezel. It takes up a large portion of the vertical thickness of the watch, but remains balanced.

The case itself features vertical brushing, so this stepped and highly polished bezel really stands as an excellent visual element that surrounds the dial. Measuring in at 10.7mm thick, I would say the design of the watch makes it feel a bit more substantial on the wrist than the measurements would imply. It’s got a nice heft to it and the flat sides and substantial bezel give it a nice presence on your wrist.

Dial + Hands

Treatment of the dial is very interesting. It’s based on a sector dial, but has plenty of flair that sets it apart from the more sterile approach that most sector dials take. Around the outside of the dial, each minute is marked with an intricate printed index. Every five minutes there’s a small lumed triangle that surrounds the end of the pointed applied indices. Moving inwards, you’re met with pencil-shaped applied indices for each hour, while the cardinal numbers are rendered as arabic numerals. The typeface used for the numbers is really nice and gives the dial an even more Art Deco appearance. I like how Bremoir uses a brushed metal ring to house the indices. It adds a nice textural element to the dial. In the innermost “sector’, the Bremoir logo resides at 12 o’clock, balanced out at six by the words “self winding”, rendered in a small font. 

To tell the time, a set of polished hands get the job done. Each features a lume-filled section that makes them visible at night. It’s a nice touch that furthers the legibility and function of the watch. The shape of the hands is what I would call a modified pencil shape. The hour hand is a bit shorter, while the minute hand extends just beyond the middle track. One really cool detail is that the point of the minute hand lines up with the small triangular plots of lume at each five minute mark. It’s clear that the little details made a difference to the designer at Bremoir and I just happened to look at the watch at the right moment and notice this small, yet fun alignment detail.

Movement

Inside the Lexington is a Swiss-made STP 1-11 movement. It’s similar in specs to Selitta’s SW200-1 and ETA’s 2824-2, featuring similar performance and architecture. The movement features 26 jewels throughout and beats at a rate of 28,8800 BPH. When fully wound, the watch will run for 44 hours with an accuracy out of the factory of +/- 20 seconds per day.

Visible through the sapphire case back, the STP 1-11 features some nice perlage decorating the various pieces of the movement. Bremoir opted for a custom-design bi-directional rotor that’s adorned with the words “Time Worth Remembering” across the gold-toned surface. It’s also worth noting that the Lexingtons are assembled and QC’d in the USA by Fine Time Solutions.

Strap + Wearability

Bremoir’s Lexington ships on a leather strap made by Delugs in Singapore. They’re constructed with some nice uniform stitching, but I don’t love the choice in leather or colors. The Havana (darker of the two) comes with a dark navy suede that leans purple with contrast stitching. The Montauk Dawn (peachy-salmon with copper accents) ships on a baby blue strap with a slight pebbled pattern. Maybe I’m just a bit more conservative, but either of these would look excellent with a natural leather strap.

Even though Bremoir isn’t making the straps themselves (totally fine, not many manufacturers do in-house straps), they did add their own special buckle. It features the same stepped design seen on the bezel and does a great job of bringing the whole design together. 

On the wrist, the 39mm case is comfortable. I had mentioned earlier that it has a nice heft to it, with the head of the watch weighing in at 71 grams. For reference, a Black Bay 58 Blue clocks in at 65.4 grams, while the Seiko SPB143 weighs in at a chunkier 84.7 grams. Even though the Lexington features vintage-styled design, it has the construction and feel of a modern watch.

Conclusions

It’s refreshing to see a newer brand in the space try something that’s a little bit different. An everyday watch that looks back towards a very specific period of architecture and design is a nice break from the sea of modern divers that many smaller brands tend to gravitate towards. Between the modestly-sized case, interesting step bezel, and handsome sector dial with brushed accents, there’s a lot to like. It’s not often that you see a watch take such specific design inspiration and make it work. The Bremoir Lexington is available directly from Bremoir watches and a few select retailers and costs $985 USD. Bremoir