Today, luxury Swedish watch brand Bravur has unveiled its latest range of cycling-inspired watches. The 'Team Heritage' collection features designs influenced by what Bravur calls the 'golden days' of cycling, with pattern and colour accents paying tribute to renowned team colours from the 1950s to the 1980s.
The collection features three watches in total, each of which comes packaged inside a full leather handlebar bag to complete the vintage aesthetic.
As watch brands go, Bravur is the relative new kid on the block. The company was founded in 2011, by Magnus Äppelryd and Johan Sahlin, who wanted to find a way to put their passion on their wrists. Both being keen cyclists and former racers, a cycling inspiration seemed the obvious niche for the brand. Bravur's first foray into the two-wheeled world was with the Grand Tour Chronograph series, and in 2022, they were seen on the wrists of the EF Education-EasyPost.
The watches themselves are named after the abbreviations of the team names that they reflect, so from left to right, the MER, the REN, and the PEU.
Perhaps the most recognisable reference of the three is the model MER. The yellow and purple accents are a nod to the iconic Mercier jersey, which was ridden by none other than Mathieu Van Der Poel's grandad, Raymond Poulidor. The iconic coloring, seen from the early 1950s until 1969, reinforces the varying surface structures made up of a ring with a radial brush, paired with a heavy frosted surface.
The model REN takes much of its design from the characteristic yellow, black and white pattern of the Renault team jersey, as worn by the likes of Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond.
The most classically styled of them all is the model PEU, which revolves around the iconic pattern of the Peugeot team.
All of the watches feature a Swiss made Sellita SW200, 26 jewels, self winding, no date movement, with a 41 hour power reserve. As for the watch cases, the PEU and REN are available in either a stainless steel or black PVD finish, while the MER is stainless steel only.
In keeping with vintage watch styling the watches feature a slightly smaller than usual 37mm face and low profile 11mm height, which Bravur says improves comfort for on bike use.
As previously mentioned, the bar bag which the watch comes in can be used as a fully functioning handlebar bag, and first impressions are that it's pretty smart. Measuring 80x100x200mm, the bar bag has plenty of capacity to stow away spares, or even an extra layer, however, due to the leather clamshell design, the bag isn't waterproof, so UK readers take note!
All of the watches in the Team Heritage collection retail for $1195 USD (ex VAT) / €1395 EUR (incl 25% VAT) / £1095 GBP (incl 20% VAT), and will ship from the early April.
For more information, visit the Bravur website.
