The co-founder of the British luxury watchmaker appointed as the America’s Cup official timekeeper yesterday said the event would mean big business for his firm and Bermuda.

Giles English, who started precision timepiece company Bremont with brother Nick more than a decade ago, was speaking after he flew into Bermuda for the weekend’s World Series races.

Mr English said: “It’s a massive thing for us. We are a British watch company and we’ve done very well over the last ten years of growth — but in the luxury space you have to build a global brand and appeal to lots of different markets.

“There are very few global sporting events to attach yourself to — the America’s Cup is one of those few events.

“That’s why Bermuda has got involved — the America’s Cup has global appeal to a very exclusive audience.”

Mr English, who trained as a naval architect before starting Bremont, added: “It’s a brilliant thing for Bermuda to be part of because if you look at all the other brands involved, we’re all telling the Bermuda story.

“I had never visited Bermuda before the America’s Cup and this is the second time I’ve been out here in the last few months.”

Mr English has brought two of a limited edition of just America’s Cup marine chronometers, gold-plated to protect against salt and designed for superyachts, to showcase Bremont’s precision engineering.

The clock was inspired by the 18th century carpenter and clockmaker John Harrison, whose marine chronometer allowed sailors to solve the problem of establishing accurately the line of longitude of a ship at sea.

One will be on display in the VIP area set up for the weekend’s races, while the other can be seen at Bermuda’s Bremont retailer, Astwood Dickinson on Hamilton’s Front Street.

The marine clocks feature a skeleton design, so the intricate workings can be seen through the case.

Bremont, which uses an aeroplane propeller as its logo to reflect its roots in aviation, now employs around 90 people at its factory near London — including former Formula 1 racing technicians used to precision work.

And it is one of the top 12 largest watch makers to win the coveted chronometer designation — a tribute to the accuracy of its watch movements.

Mr English’s own watch is a Bremont Wright Flyer, which incorporates a sliver of the Wright brother’s plane — the 1903 first powered and controlled flight by an aeroplane.

Mr English said that he will also auction off two of the exclusive America’s Cup-themed watches created for the event at the weekend to help support the Cup’s Endeavour youth sailing programme.

The Bremont America’s Cup range spans four watches — including a limited edition of 250 America’s Cup Bermuda watches costing $4,980, which features a stainless steel case with scratch-resistant face, waterproof to 100 metres and available in several dial and leather strap colour combinations.

The numbered Bermuda specials also feature the word Bermuda on the dial and a map of the Island on the rotor of the movement, visible through a crystal back.

From a total of four limited edition watches, two are designed on an America’s Cup theme, one in stainless steel and one in rose gold, while two others the Oracle I and II, were designed for the Oracle Team USA cup holders.

Mr English said: “As a British company, we love the fact that the first America’s Cup was around the Isle of Wight and the event would have been sent off with a British chronometer.

“No other British company has done it since. so there’s a lovely historical connection there.”

Mr English said the firm had already noticed a spike in sales of its watches, particularly in France, the home of America’s Cup sponsor and luxury luggage and accessories makers Louis Vuitton.

He added: “The US market is also a big potential market for us as a business.

“The Middle East, Japan, and Asia, these are all markets that are important. We’ve seen big growth in France already as a result of the America’s Cup.”

Mr English said that he had been impressed by Bermuda’s beauty — and planned to extend his stay and fly his family out for a vacation.

He added: “It’s got water you’ve never seen anything like in the world. It’s clean, safe and it’s got something the Caribbean islands don’t have in that sense.

“Bermuda has wonderful retailers here as well, like Astwood Dickinson and that’s something we will keep coming back to.”

Mr English said: “The whole America’s Cup team feels the entire country has got behind it. And the more a country gets behind something like this the more everyone benefits from it.”