Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition Dive Watch
Starting from 2.450 €The Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition is a British military watch built for mission timing. Born from a request made at a Royal Marines event, it is built around a patented complication: a bidirectional internal bezel with a dual scale, read against the 24-hour hand of a GMT movement, allowing the wearer to count down to H-hour and then measure elapsed time to a rendezvous. This version, named after the collaboration between the two founders, stands out with its matte bead-blasted steel case, ceramic bezel and matte black crowns, along with thickened hour markers borrowed from the Holton. Water resistant to 300 metres and supplied with two straps, it is aimed at enthusiasts of demanding tool watches.
Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition military watch
Elliot Brown is a British brand founded by Ian Elliot and Alex Brown, two long-time friends who came from the world of extreme sports and opened their workshop in March 2013, presenting their first collections, Canford and Bloxworth, at the first London Watch Show. Based in Poole, Dorset, the company has built its reputation on rugged tool watches, an after-sales service carried out entirely in-house in the UK and a five-year warranty. Its military credentials owe much to the Holton Professional, the manufacturer's first watch to be issued by the British government and developed for special forces. The brand also claims Gold status under the Armed Forces Covenant, which it describes as unique in watchmaking.
The Beachmaster was born from a question put to the brand at a Royal Marines event: could a watch be created capable of counting down a mission over twenty-four hours? It took around four years of development to arrive at an in-house complication, protected by a patent. The name refers to the role of beachmaster and to the chronology of the D-Day landings. The caseback bears the NATO symbol for amphibious assault, set within an octagonal frame taken from the APP-6(C) military symbology manual, above the deeply stamped word Beachmaster. The Founder's Edition, named after the collaboration between the two founders, is the most understated version and the most focused on pure function.
Technical specifications Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition
- Brand: Elliot Brown
- Model: Beachmaster Automatic: Founder's Edition
- Reference: 0H0-A03-B06
- Indicative price: €2,450
- Movement: Swiss automatic
- GMT: caller-type with jumping 24-hour hand
- Calibre: Sellita SW330-2,
- Power reserve: 56 hours
- Diameter: 40 mm
- Thickness: 14 mm
- Water resistance: 300 m / 1000 ft
- Materials: 316L stainless steel
- Crystal: Domed sapphire
- Dial: Matte black
- Strap: Steel and rubber
- Warranty: 5 years
- Box contents: Case, straps, tools, coin, numbered card
The Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition military watch
Designed above all as a mission watch, this Beachmaster keeps to a contained format for such a technical piece: 40 mm in diameter excluding the crowns, 41 mm at the dive bezel and 50 mm lug to lug, with a thickness of 14 mm. The 316L stainless steel case here receives a matte bead-blasted finish, known as vapour honed, which limits reflections and offers a different feel from other versions in the collection. The matte black ceramic bezel and the two fluted crowns share the same muted tone, giving this reference a notably stealthier look.
The matte black dial, enlivened by a subtle wave pattern at its centre, carries oversized markers with thickened lines, directly inspired by the graphic language of the Holton. The sword hands and the double-arrow GMT hand, underlined in safety orange, complete a display designed for harsh conditions. At night, two luminescent materials coexist: green X1 C3 for the current time display and white X1 BGW9, with a blue glow, for anything related to mission timing. The 3 mm domed sapphire crystal, fitted with an internal anti-reflective treatment, protects the whole without excessive magnification. Each piece is individually numbered.
A timing complication protected by a patent
The heart of the model lies in its bidirectional internal bezel with a dual scale, locked by a mechanism using spring-mounted ceramic balls. It is read against the 24-hour hand: the H marker is aligned with the mission start time, then the hand travels towards this point before continuing its course along the second half of the scale to count the elapsed time to a rendezvous.
The movement is a Sellita SW330-2 automatic, a Swiss calibre offering a 56-hour power reserve and a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour, whose 24-hour hand is set independently in half-hour jumps. It is therefore a caller-type GMT, suited to tracking a second time zone from its home base. The case construction follows the same logic of ruggedness: a screwed-and-bolted caseback, silicone shock absorbers surrounding the movement and hex-head screwed spring bars. The whole is pressure-tested to 300 metres. Offered as a limited edition of 500 pieces, the Founder's Edition arrives in a dedicated presentation box accompanied by a challenge coin.
Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition military watch: mission timing
A British military watch dedicated to mission timing, the Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition combines a 40 mm bead-blasted 316L steel case, a matte black ceramic bezel and a 3 mm domed sapphire crystal with internal anti-reflective treatment. Its Swiss Sellita SW330-2 calibre offers 56 hours of power reserve and a 24-hour hand adjustable independently. The patented bidirectional internal bezel allows the wearer to count down to mission start, then measure elapsed time. Water resistant to 300 metres and individually tested, it comes with a steel bracelet fitted with a ratchet dive clasp, a rubber strap, a challenge coin and a five-year warranty.
Movement
The Founder's Edition is powered by a Sellita SW330-2 automatic, a Swiss GMT calibre whose 24-hour hand is set independently, in half-hour jumps aligned with the current time. Its 56-hour power reserve allows a two-day pause without resetting, while its frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour ensures a stable rate. Elliot Brown surrounds this movement with silicone shock absorbers, an in-house protection system designed to absorb impacts sustained in operational use.
Diameter and materials
The case measures 40 mm in diameter excluding the crowns, 41 mm at the dive bezel, 50 mm lug to lug and 14 mm thick. It is cut from 316L stainless steel, bead-blasted with a matte, anti-reflective finish specific to this edition and carried through onto the bracelet. The matte black ceramic bezel and matching fluted crowns heighten the overall discretion, while the 3 mm domed sapphire crystal covers a matte black dial with oversized markers and a wave pattern.
Water resistance
Each Beachmaster is individually pressure-tested before shipping and offers water resistance of 300 m / 1000 ft. The screwed-and-bolted caseback ensures the case seals hermetically, while a system of silicone shock absorbers protects the movement from impacts sustained in operational use. The screw-down crowns also contribute to this water resistance. Combined with green Super-LumiNova X1 C3 for the current time, this package delivers the equipment expected of a watch built for professional use at sea.
Accessories
The watch is supplied on a solid-link steel bracelet fitted with a ratchet dive clasp, in 22 mm, mounted on hex-head screwed spring bars that are easy to remove. A black basketweave rubber strap with a deployant clasp is always included, along with the tools needed for changing and adjusting it. Everything is housed in a Beachmaster presentation box covered in dark green bookbinding cloth, complete with a challenge coin and a numbered card specific to this edition.
Warranty
Elliot Brown provides a five-year warranty on the watch, an unusual length of cover at this price point, backed by an after-sales service carried out entirely in-house in the UK. The leather, rubber and fabric straps carry a twelve-month warranty, as wear on these parts is considered normal. The brand notes that any use in water with the crown unscrewed voids the cover. With each piece individually numbered, tracking a given watch remains straightforward.
Elliot Brown Beachmaster Automatic Founder's Edition The pros
and cons
- 56-hour power reserve
- Individually tested 300 m water resistance
- Two straps included, steel and rubber
- Five-year warranty
- Limited and individually numbered edition
- Noticeable 14 mm thickness
- Two crowns to operate
- Bead-blasted finish shows marks easily
- Visually busy dial
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