Brigade Watches

The Hurricane

Debriefed by @thepilotswatch

While not necessarily standard for a watch review, since the purpose of my page is to create a community of people passionate about aviation and watches, I’m borrowing and slightly tweaking the debriefing format we use for missions and training in Naval Aviation to write this review and give you all a small peek behind the curtain into Naval Aviation.

Before we go flying, we brief what we’re going to do using the general categories of ADMIN, TACADMIN, and Mission Execution. In the debrief, we go back through those items and determine how well we executed the brief, how the products we brought to the aircraft performed for us (ADMIN), and how well we adhered to the roles and responsibilities we set forth in the brief (TACADMIN). Next, we identify if there were any ALIBIS or external factors that forced us to change from our planned execution (e.g., a civilian Cessna flew through our block and forced us to terminate training for them to clear or the simulator de-linked and both aircraft thought they were playing in the same scenario, but the locations of contacts drifted). Finally, we get to Mission Execution and “walk the dog” through the event top to bottom, highlighting GOODS and OTHERS to capture lessons learned and improve for the next event or the real fight to come. This process often takes longer than the event itself, and it’s not uncommon to do 10-20 hours of mission planning, brief for two hours, do a sim or flight for three hours, and then debrief for another two to three hours.

ADMIN

I’m using the ADMIN section to tell the story of how I found out about Brigade as a company and how I ended up with one of the first Brigade Hurricanes on my wrist. When I first started The Pilot’s Watch page, one of the first people at a watch brand I talked to was Josh from Fifty Five Watch Co., who specializes in vintage Panerai and Blancpain re-interpretations. We’ve been talking on and off for over two years, and he had said a number of times that he wanted to send me a watch for me to test out and fly with but that he was waiting for the right piece. We didn’t just talk about watches either: we talked about life—we commiserated about the lack of sleep when parenting an infant, the terror of a newly crawling or walking baby who is now increasingly mobile, and of course, we nerded out about watches. I bring this up mainly to clarify that we’ve talked for years, and honestly, I’d forgotten about his desire to send me a watch.

Skipping forward, when I read Mi Nam’s initial write-up for the Brigade Subcommander on Facebook, I was pleasantly surprised. I had seen ads for them and initially written them off as another military-themed microbrand targeting end users and LARPers alike with more generic Submariner homages. I threw them a follow-on on Instagram and about 20 minutes later got a generic “thank you for the follow, please let us know if you have any questions” message. After about a 30-minute conversation, finally, whoever I was talking to cracked and came clean. Turns out I’d been talking to Josh from Fifty Five. He’d been playing me along, and I had no idea—Brigade is the follow-up watchmaking effort from the same people behind Fifty Five and the realization of the “big plans on the horizon” Josh had been hinting at to me for over a year. He sent me initial renders for the Hurricane and told me, “We’ve had you in mind to test this one out since before we even had a finalized design.” I was obviously flattered, but beyond that, excited to test this piece out.

TACADMIN
The Company

Brigade is not a brand-new startup microbrand in the traditional sense of the word. It’s the sophomore effort of a group of people with previous experience in the watch industry and the lessons learned from another microbrand under their belt. They’ve spent years developing the contacts and capabilities required to support American manufacturing for as many components of their watches as possible and are aiming to increase that. Brigade is striving to be as American-made as they possibly can be, and I applaud them for that. It’s impressive that they are able to do this at all for the price they’re charging (just shy of $800 for the Hurricane and around $900 for the Subcommander). It’s infinitely more impressive how well they buttered the landing.

The Design

The design of the Brigade Hurricane isn’t particularly original. However, there’s not a whole lot of originality to be had when designing a Flieger-style watch. There are definitely unique takes on a Flieger out there—but they’re hard to do and even harder to pull off. My Zelos Eagle II in teal is one example of a completely non-traditional Flieger that absolutely nails it. However, it’s absolutely not for everyone and was extremely divisive on launch within the Zelos community.

First, a broad categorical note: a Flieger and a Field watch are very closely related but not necessarily the same thing. However, the Venn diagram between them features a significant amount of overlap, and it’s almost a useless distinction to make. Broadly, however, they are both extremely legible watches that usually feature Arabic numerals and sometimes feature either an inner hour index with a larger outer minute index, just 1-12 hour indexes, or outer 1-12 hour indexes with an inner 13-24 index for conversion to 24-hour time. The most common distinction between a Flieger and a Field watch is the orientation marker at the 12 o’clock. Famously, the Speedster uses the mildly phallic “.I.” marker at the 12 (I’m sorry, you now can’t unsee that), although an inverted triangle or triangle with two dots near the top are also both incredibly common. Their purpose is to provide rapid orientation for the watch in a cockpit where you might be getting thrown around. The point behind this discussion, however, is that there is a fairly specific formula for designing something that will be recognized as a Flieger, and it is generally more restrictive than designing a dive watch, for example.

That being said, the Brigade Hurricane wears its identity on its sleeve and is clearly inspired by the IWC Mk Series (Mk XVIII being the nearest competition). This inspiration isn’t a direct one for one - the specs are most similar to the Mk XVIII however, the patina on the lume for the 12 o’clock marker and at the cardinal indices as well as the red lettering of the WW2 aviation inspired model name is very IWC Spitfire. The designs are not identical, and the Brigade definitely doesn’t land itself in homage territory in my book. The Flieger format is so incredibly simple that you have to stand out in the perfect execution of all the tiny details because there really isn’t any room to hide. It’s in these small details that the Brigade Hurricane absolutely excels and punches far above its weight class. Especially when talking about Fliegers, the law of diminishing returns can kick in hard. I have reviewed a pair of Fliegers from the microbrand Ratio that are excellent workhorses and shine in the sub-$200 dollar range. From Brigade, you pay 4 times the price and get a product that, while significantly better in every respect, has fewer places in which to differentiate itself. On a diver, you get to differentiate yourself with a bracelet and clasp, bezel action, lume, water resistance, as well as overall fit and finish. On a Flieger, you’ve traditionally got a leather strap, a three-hand construction, and maybe some lume. So while for me the jump from an NH-38 no-date movement and all-brushed construction for $170 dollars to an ETA-2824, American case, strap, and crystal, and much nicer finishing for $780 dollars makes sense, I’m not as sold on where the value proposition lies in upgrading to the $3-4000 IWC Mk XVIII, other than in brand name and heritage.

ALIBIS

This piece was sent to me as soon as the first production units came into Brigade’s hands. As such, I caught a few small errors that will either be immediately corrected for full release or will be corrected in the future.

1. The outer box lists 300m of water resistance because these boxes were bought with the release of the Subcommander. They were also sourced before the printing of the dials on the Subcommander, so the dial of that watch says 200m WR for historical consistency with the 4-digit Rolex models. The box says 300m, and the watches have been tested for 500m. The Hurricane I received came in this same box. They may have time to get new ones made, but if not, understand this is an inaccuracy, and you probably shouldn’t take your Flieger down to 300m—it’s just fine for swimming and showering. I’ve tested both of those use cases thoroughly. For the record, expect 100m of WR on the Hurricane.
   
   

2. The Warrant of Enlistment I received as a very nice wax-sealed letter written on parchment had references to both the Hurricane and the Subcommander. A small copy-paste error that I brought up to Brigade, and they assured me would be fixed.
   
   

3. My particular unit has what I would term as slightly finicky screw-down action on the crown, and I suspect a very slightly stripped thread on the crown. It works just fine, but it was a little bit of a learning experience how to get it consistently threaded down and latched. Ultimately, I have no issues with it; however, it’s a small QC control issue I’ve already addressed with them, and they have assured me they’ll look into it. They immediately offered to take it back and fix the issue, but I deferred for now in order to create some content for this piece on its release. If I do get it fixed, I will update on that process, but ultimately, it hasn’t impeded my use or enjoyment of the watch in any way. This will feature in the Others section of the debrief, but I mention it in Alibis because it’s QC-related and has already been addressed with Brigade for action.
   
   

MISSION EXECUTION
Specifications:

• 40.1 mm diameter
  
  

• 35 mm dial
  
  

• 49 mm lug to lug
  
  

• 20 mm lug width
  
  

• 12.1 mm height (10.2 mm excluding crystal)
  
  

• 5.8 mm signed screw-down crown
  
  

• Screw-down caseback with a laser-etched Hawker Hurricane
  
  

• ETA 2824-2 movement
  
  

• 100m water resistance
  
  

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the Flieger design is so simple that success really comes down to brilliance in the basics. Fortunately, Brigade has been absolutely brilliant in almost every regard. This starts with a truly phenomenal unboxing experience. The watch arrives in a slightly oversized UPS box with some cushioning material. The wooden ammo can box had an extremely high-quality blue envelope sealed with a Brigade logo wax seal that contained a warrant of enlistment certificate congratulating you by name on your purchase. Is it a little gimmicky? Yes. Does it still make you feel awesome opening it? Absolutely!

Once you figure out which direction the wooden box opens, you’re presented with a nice velvet cover with the Brigade logo and text in gold foil. Removing that, you will find the watch on the left on a watch pillow with a personalized dog tag attached to the strap. On the right, you will find a warranty card in a leather wallet and a nylon NATO produced in collaboration with Phoenix Straps. Pausing briefly, this NATO is exceptionally nice. It’s deliberately a little short so you won’t have to feed the tail back through the keepers, which is admittedly not my preference. However, the material, construction, and feel are absolutely top-notch. The unboxing experience is light years better than any other microbrand I can think of. It’s at a minimum on par with the presentation on my Black Bay 58, and it’s better than the presentation for the $7,000 Grand Seiko a family member bought within the last year.

On to the watch. It wears very similarly to the IWC Mk 18, and that’s not a bad thing. 40mm is a fairly ideal size, and the slightly longer lugs make it very wearable for people for whom 40mm is on the small side. On my 6.75-inch wrist, it wears perfectly. I think if you go under 6.5 inches, you might start to get some overhang with the lugs. The leather strap is high quality, supple, and comfortable—you don’t get that weird pleather smell or the immediate crackling of the finish that cheap “leather” straps can give you.

The case is cut and finished beautifully with alternating polished and brushed surfaces. The lines between polishing and brushing are executed well, as is just about everything on the finishing on this watch. The dial features a stainless steel lumed handset that almost could be called an Alpha handset. The lume on the hour and minute hands is good and liberally applied, and the lume on the hands lasts for a while. The seconds hand is a plain unlumed stick hand with a counterweight. If I had to nitpick, I’d argue that the seconds hand could be maybe 1mm longer to reach the outer edge of the minute track rather than just touching the inner edge. Again, I’m really reaching here because it’s that good.

The high-polished bezel is rather shallow and almost perfectly matches the gentle curve on the single-domed sapphire crystal that covers the dial. I can’t think of another piece that accomplishes such a seamless integration of bezel and crystal—it’s exceptional.

Nerdy details aside, this piece has performed exceptionally well. I’ve flown with it and subjected it to +6.8G’s of acceleration. I’ve swum with it (on a different strap), I’ve showered with it, I’ve worked out with it, and I’ve banged it around the cockpit and on doors and everywhere in between. So if the mission objectives were to create an affordable, high-quality pilot’s watch that holds up to the day-to-day rigors of the job and life, I can confidently say, “Training complete. Brigade flight, knock it off.”

GOODS

• Fit and finish
  
  

• Design
  
  

• Price
  
  

• Functionality
  
  

• American design, machining, and assembly
  
  

OTHERS

• Small QC issues. These are to be expected with a new company that is rapidly growing, and I’m not alarmed by them because I am confident in their customer support to correct any issues.
  
  

• The lume is okay. It’s a pilot’s watch, and lume isn’t really a concern for me. The sunset-to-nighttime transition makes it hard for a watch, even with exceptional lume, to show up without some form of charging it up. The printing of the hour indices is nice, but the lume application is just acceptable. The hands stay, but the dial fades rather quickly. The minute hand also has a small spot where it appears that the lume is not completely even.
  
  

• The sapphire crystal is absolutely gorgeous but could have done with another coating or two of anti-reflective coating on the underside. This watch will reflect your face back to you every time you look at it head-on—it doesn’t impact legibility, but it’s a difficult dial to photograph for sure.
  
  

• “USA MADE” on the dial. I’ve asked them about this, and apparently, there is a genuine legal justification for placing this there, and it should be on their FAQ page soon. USA Made is a very hard standard to claim due to how tightly the FCC regulates this. I’ll leave this to the FCC to decide. I have two thoughts. First, that USA Assembled probably sells their operation significantly short, but having a Swiss movement might not live up to the spirit of the FCC’s “All or virtually all standard.” Second, I think they could bypass this concern entirely by swapping from ETA or Sellita-based products and instead going for the FTS Americhron 7A21, which looks to be based on Miyota architecture but is designed, machined, and produced in the USA.
  
  

Overall, the Brigade Hurricane is executed to an exceptionally high level for its price point. It is almost impossibly good for a mostly American-made watch that is designed, manufactured, and assembled in the United States. While it does have some flaws, it has performed exceptionally well. If I am recommending a Flieger or Field-style watch to anyone with a budget of $500-$1500, this is my wholehearted recommendation.