I love a brand that knows who they are, and what they want to offer. Brands that don’t start product design with a market test, but with a vision. With their first two models, Bremoir made a clear statement: Art Deco is our playground. Those first two watches, the Lexington and Eastern, shared a beautiful case and differentiated themselves with their bezel and dial designs. With their third model, the South Beach, Bremoir has taken a new direction, though one that stays true to the brand’s Art Deco inspiration.
The case of the Lexington and Eastern was an interesting and ingenious design, but still fairly traditional in its overall shape. Despite both watches leaning towards the field and dress watch categories, the case was shaped like a skin diver, but with a more graceful design. The South Beach is a riskier endeavor, and an uncommon one – rectangular cases aren’t common these days outside of luxury watches, and they certainly aren’t common in the microbrand market.
While I can’t speak for the entire consumer base, I love the design. Although I have long been a fan of rectangular-cased watches, likely influenced by the Cartier Tank my mom wore my entire life, they can be bland. Flat case flanks abound, though some models add flare with arced profiles connecting the lugs. There is no such arc to be found on the South Beach, but Bremoir drew from the stepped profile common in Art Deco architecture to create visual intrigue on the case flanks. When I saw early renders of the design, I was concerned the watch would be, to put it bluntly, chonky. Fortunately, I was wrong, as the stepped design visually minimizes the watch’s height – already a scant 8.7mm by my measurement, and an anticipated 8.3mm for the final version – by drawing your eye to the smaller outer step, which adds minimal additional width.
The contrast between the outermost rectangular surface, which is satin finished, and the polished area of the main case, furthers this effect. I’d be curious to see a version of this design in which the outer step follows the curved upper line of the case, rather than its current orthogonal design. Bremoir noted that the outer flange on the production version of the case will be a bit more curved than the iteration I had for review, which would bring more harmony to the side profile.
The top-down view of the South Beach has a stronger presence, owing largely to the design of its sides, which are corrugated along the upper span. That surface detail begins and ends at the lower edge of the lug tips, and is a not insubstantial 3.7mm in breadth, per side. On production versions of the South Beach, the detail will wrap around the underside of the lugs, replacing the current sharp termination with a rounded surface more fitting of the model’s architectural inspiration. These crenellated buttresses give the South Beach an identity distinct from the archetypes of the style, the Cartier Tank and JLC Reverso, and are executed with commendable precision.
The broad-shouldered appearance of the case belies its modest sizing. Rectangular watches often defy their dimensions, and I was surprised when my measurement of the South Beach’s case checked in at 29.8mm wide and 41.1mm long. On the wrist, the South Beach has the visual presence of a 36-38mm rounded-case watch, which I appreciated with my 7.5” wrists. Much as I like the look of rectangular-case watches, they often wear too diminutively, and not in a flattering way, but as if I were an ogre wearing a human child’s timepiece. Perhaps I am such a creature, and refuse to admit it, but the South Beach’s wrist presence helped me maintain the self-illusion a bit longer.
It would be fair to assume that such a visually prominent case would distract from the South Beach’s dial, but Bremoir did well to give the latter plenty of its own visual flair. There will be two colorways at launch, the Surf Club and Riptide, the former of which I had in hand. Both are attractive, but I prefer the vibrant colors of the Surf Club, with its gold small seconds subdial, framed in pink, and a light blue minute track surrounding the inner hour ring. When I think of South Beach, I envision the panoply of colors on the district’s historic buildings, which the Surf Club better evokes. The blued hour, minute, and seconds hand – alpha style for the former two, and an interesting Empire State Building and syringe mashup for the seconds – add another color pop that flops to black in some lighting.
Though I found the light blue and pink tones on the dial highly enjoyable, both colors will be more saturated for production versions. Also changing for production are the radially-grooved hour track, and the blue minute ring that surrounds it, both of which will be raised above the main dial surface. You can see both changes in the image above and below, the upper showing the review sample, and the lower from Bremoir, demonstrating the production dial. As a vociferous supporter of dial depth, I cannot decry the adjustment, which will make the recession of the small seconds subdial more noticeable.
Photo provided by Bremoir.
Bremoir has used attractive fonts on all their models, and they didn’t drop the ball with the South Beach. Though there are three fonts on the dial – the Arabic numerals at the even hours, the mėcanique movement designation, and the brand’s wordmark logo – each font is Deco appropriate, and thus they complement one another well. Were I unaware of Bremoir, and to happen across the South Beach, the dial design would easily convince me that the watch was designed and produced in the 1930s. That the design does so without being clichė is a testament to the brand’s design chops.
To rotate the South Beach’s delightful blue hands around its dial, Bremoir turned to the La Joux-Perret D100. The D100 is a manual wind movement with a maximum power reserve of 50 hours, enough to keep you from having to wind it daily. The version used in the South Beach is the Soigné grade, which denotes higher-quality finishing, including Geneva striping on the bridges, and blued screws. It is a very pretty movement, fortunately visible through a porthole in the South Beach’s case back. The caseback’s perimeter is embellished, as well, with the model name and movement designation above and below the porthole, and a period-appropriate linear motif adorning each corner. It is an all-around attractive view, one that would merit top-side real estate should Bremoir decide to make a Reverso-esque version of the South Beach.
The South Beach is offered with the option of a rubber strap or Milanese mesh bracelet, the latter an optional add-on at purchase. I had the former option in for review, which wore comfortably, and both the yellow and white straps picked up the vibrant accent colors on the dial well. Deployant clasps aren’t my favorite, but I didn’t encounter any functional issues with the supplied clasp, and the style does fit the classy, architectural design of the South Beach. Production versions will include Bremoir’s logo, and possibly some additional graphic detail. Though the clasp and strap system lacks microadjustment, the rubber used is stiff enough to hold its shape and keep the watch properly placed on the wrist. This means you can cut the strap slightly too large, to give you breathing room, and not worry about the watch head flopping about when worn.
Should you desire something other than the rubber strap or mesh bracelet, Bremoir has smartly given the South Beach 20mm lugs and two sets of springbar holes, both of which afford great flexibility in finding aftermarket strap options. For production versions, the upper holes will be shifted closer to the case, allowing the mesh bracelet to sit nearly flush with the case. The lower set will remain where they were positioned on the review sample, which is good, as the positioning worked very well. Rectangular cases can be troublesome for single-pass straps, but the South Beach’s lug box has ample space, and the lower springbar holes enable single-pass straps to flow with the case lines, rather than sit awkwardly above the top of the case.
The base configuration of the South Beach – watch and rubber strap – starts at $1,585 through the Kickstarter campaign, and will rise to $1,985 thereafter. Though by no means inexpensive, the South Beach’s well-finished and complex case, high-level dial finishing, and top-grade movement justify the pricing.
With the South Beach, Bremoir continues their run of great designs, and demonstrate how far Deco-inspired watch design can go. Where the Eastern showed the flexibility of their initial case platform, the South Beach is a true brand expansion, and a daring one. The South Beach is a bold step, and as far as design and construction go, it is a step well placed.
The Bremoir South Beach launches on September 9, 2025 via Kickstarter. Following the campaign, the South Beach will be available through Bremoir’s website.
