Davide Cerrato quips that his lifelong passion for fly fishing was written in the stars.
Born in the month of March, the chief executive officer of British watchmaker Bremont is a Pisces. But his astrological sign is only the first in a series of signs of a love for water and a sport he describes as magical encounters with magnificent animals.
And it’s a passion he wears on his sleeve, or rather on his lapel. At this year’s Watches and Wonders, the premier luxury watch trade show which takes place in Geneva once a year, the artisan-crafted silver brooch shaped like a fishing lure caught the eye, leading conversations down a different course, away from watchmaking and towards fly fishing.
Despite these vastly divergent horizons, fly fishing and watchmaking emerge as parallel arts in Cerrato’s evocations. Take the lures he uses. Modeled after the insects fish eat, making them requires creativity as well as a sense of seasonality and what will work together best. “It’s small bits and pieces, with perfect crafts and harmony as well in the end,” he says.
In watchmaking, too, one is chasing that elusive, almost alchemical rightness.
Fishing boats are moored in the small harbor in the Icelandic town of Isafjördur in the West Fjords. Iceland is Europe’s westernmost country in the North Atlantic.
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
“When you design a watch, you’re really fishing for that magic balance,” he says. “Sometimes, the real watch is even better than what you imagined, because there is something special that is coming out with proportion, with lights, with detail.”
This balance of instinct, creativity and discipline has been honed through experiences that have led Cerrato through Montblanc, Panerai, Tudor, HYT and, most recently, to the helm of Bremont.
It’s a path that also led him to England, the birth place of fly fishing, where he now lives down “Trout Stream Way” in a house called “Mayfly” and has at the end of its garden the River Chess, a chalk stream teeming with fish and crawfish.
Like a Fish to Water
Cerrato’s story with fishing begins almost as soon as he could stand. With both his mother’s and father’s families fond of nature and outdoor pursuits, the Turin-born Italian feels “there is definitely something in [his] chromosomes” that drives him to “go out, adventure, explore, stay out.”
Still, his first foray in the fishing world was the accidental kind.
As a toddler of three, this native of Turin accompanied his father to a fishing competition not far from the family home. Told to stay still behind a gate, the curious child slipped through nonetheless. While running along the grassy bank, his foot caught on a root and in the water he tumbled. Fortunately, the only consequence was that his mother was less than impressed at the return home of her soaking wet husband and son after the elder Cerrato jumped in fully clothed to the rescue.
This misadventure did not deter the younger Cerrato from fishing. In Italy, fishing licenses can be obtained at the age of six and that’s what he did. From then, he “never stopped fishing,” he says.
Summers with relatives in the mountains were shaped by days spent outdoors, exploring the lakes and waterways. Barely older than 13, he made the leap to fly fishing, drawn by the observational and near-scientific requirements to make a catch.
“What you are doing is luring [the fish] using artificial imitations of all the insects they feed on, so you need to understand what they are eating,” Cerrato says. “I always have been fascinated by science, the life of insects, entomology and all the different phases and things. It’s not only fishing, it is knowledge that you need to have.”
Boat on St. Mary Lake, Glacier National Park, Mont.
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Meditation on the River
For the watchmaking executive, there’s a profoundly contemplative aspect to fly fishing, amounting to his own form of mindfulness in waders.
“The moment in which it becomes meditation is when you are alone somewhere and you basically lose yourself in the nature that surrounds you, become the water that surrounds you,” he says. “You become the stones that your feet are bending on. You become that stone that is next to you. You become the fish. You become the noise that you hear.”
And it can start long before Cerrato reaches the water. Early on, he began making his own lures, an activity where he “moves into flow state,” and becomes “so focused for half an hour — or hours.”
Experience and knowledge aside, the veteran flyfisherman also credits his star sign for his keen intuition. He listens to it, particularly if he dreams of a fly the night before a sortie.
“I use that fly and with it, I catch an incredible fish,” he marvels. “It’s like I was seeing things a little bit in advance.
“Sometimes, one perfect fish and one perfect cast are enough to complete the day. When that feeling comes, “that’s it,” he says. “You close your rod, you sit on the bank, you just try to stick it in your mind, and you’re done. And that gives me energy for months.”
Into the Wild, Together
Despite its solitary reputation, fly fishing is also deeply social.
Cerrato has traveled to remote, wild places reachable only by helicopter or days of driving as far as Iceland, South America or even Russia’s Kola Peninsula, often in the company of fellow enthusiasts.
Take his friendship with Oliver White, the master fisherman whose extraordinary journey to catch a mythical fish in Bhutan is the subject of the “1,000 Casts” documentary.
And although they have yet to cast a line together, fly fishing connects him to Bill Ackman, the prominent American hedge fund manager who invested in Bremont in 2023 alongside Hellcat LP. For Ackman, the passion began with a charity event in New York some two decades ago, where he bid on a trip to a well-known Argentine lodge in Tierra del Fuego, where he ended up going with a friend.
The two “showed up with fishing clothes that had the tags on,” borrowed gear, little if any experience — and landed a 25-pound trout on Day One, much to the envy of more seasoned but less lucky fishermen.
Much like Cerrato, that first taste turned into a ritual shared with friends and across generations.
A Line of Transmission
When Cerrato watches a younger generation discover the river, he’s reminded of his own epiphanies, like when his father taught him to tell time on an analogue watch.
“It’s like a new language. All of a sudden you have the impression that you can master time better,” he says, drawing a parallel with the realization of how important nature is to the novice fly fisher.
An enjoyable outing means healthy fish, who in turn require pristine water, thriving insect life — and humans who understand this.
“People that don’t fish have this very wrong idea that fishermen go there to kill and destroy,” he rues. “On the contrary, they are the ones [who] warn authorities if there is a leak of chemicals, littering or if they see that fish are sick.”
Cerrato hasn’t kept, much less killed, a fish in over three decades. Minimizing harm is crucial to the true flyfisherman, who is also mindful of the animal’s state beyond their encounter.
“If the fish has fought a little, you need to re-oxygenate it — it’s like when you’ve done a lot of sport and you have lactic acid in your muscles,” he explains. “You need to give him or her the time to recover.”
For him, each catch is a “magic moment,” an instant that deserves to be recognized for its gravitas and grace.
Drone aerial view of Bridges Island, Isla Bridges in the Beagle Channel off Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina.
VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Favorite Fishing Locations
While Cerrato still has Slovenia for giant marble trout, Alaska and its salmon, Mongolia where taimen are found and the Amazonian jungle with its dorado on his bucket list, here are four places he’s loved:
Patagonia: Brown and Rainbow Trout
Patagonia stands out for its brown and rainbow trout fishing. I was invited by Bill [Ackman] and joined a fantastic group of fellow fishermen. It’s true wilderness — everything feels remote, untouched and pristine.
Iceland: Sea Trout and Salmon
Iceland was a very special trip. I went there with my brother to fish for sea trout and salmon to celebrate my 50th birthday. He’s a passionate fisherman too. The landscape is incredibly remote, the fish are wild, and every day felt like a real adventure.
Cuba (Jardines de la Reina): Bonefish
Fishing for Bonefish in Jardines de la Reina was unforgettable. It’s an extremely remote location with a deep connection to the ocean. The people are incredibly warm and kind, and the fish are incredibly powerful.
Montana: Brown Trout
Montana is the heartland of America for me. I fished for brown trout there last summer, surrounded by cowboy culture and vast landscapes. It’s a trip full of memorable moments — custom-made hats, bears in the wild and famously huge food portions.
