BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
It’s not very often we see English watches on WristReview. That’s not because we hate English watches or something, it’s just that there are very few English watchmakers left. Turn the clocks back a couple of hundred years, and things were vastly different. It wasn’t the Swiss and the Germans at the top of the horological ladder. Rather, it was the French and the English. I have a whole article dedicated to ten extremely important English watch and clockmakers throughout the years, it’s the article I’m most proud of.
This new piece, the Fears Garrick, combines the designs and craftsmanship of two English brands: Fears and Garrick (who saw that one coming?). Garrick is based in Norwich and utilises Swiss watchmaking expertise to help it achieve its goal of English representation at the table of horology, it was founded in 2014.
Fears is a much older company, but its watches are typically more affordable than Garrick’s. Fears was founded in 1846 but disappeared in the quartz crisis along with so many other watchmakers. Originally founded in Bristol, the company was revived in 2016 by the great great great-grandson of the original founder. Like Garrick, Fears’ watches are made using parts machined in other countries (mostly Switzerland), but their watches are assembled in the UK.
Both watchmakers have unique styles, so it’s interesting to see how that’s culminated in the Fears Garrick, combining the restraint of Fears designs with the quirkiness of Garrick’s. Some other writers have said this looks a lot like an IWC, and I mostly agree with them from a distance. Those of you who follow my work know that my relationship with IWC’s designs is more miss than hit, but the Fears Garrick treads on the correct side of that line for me.
The white dial is crisp and clean with blue contrasting hands and markers. The watch replaces the 2 O’clock and 11 O’clock markers with a small seconds display and power reserve indicator. I like that they didn’t put small numbers (or any other text) next to the reserve indicator, it’ll be obvious which end means full power and which end means empty when you wear it anyway. The font used is unique to Fears and was designed specifically for them, it’s elegant without being fussy and yet also modern, a perfect combination.
The large balance wheel of the watch is on display front and centre with a big bridge over it. The chunky design of the bridge fits the elegant-yet-industrial vibes that a surprising number of English watches have.
Around the back is the calibre UT-G04, which is Garrick’s in-house movement co-developed with Andreas Strehler. Strehler predominantly designs and supplies movements and movement components for other watch manufacturers, but in his spare time, he has worked on projects like Harry Winston’s Opus 7 and the Sauterelle à lune which has the most accurate moonphase ever requiring a reset once every 2.06 million years. The crisp lines with fine grey finish stand out as markers of his influence. So too does the intriguing-looking click spring, the ratchet that stops the barrel from trying to unwind itself when the watch is being wound via the crown. With its high-level graining and polishing, this hand-wound movement has a power reserve of 46 hours.
Surrounding that movement is a case made of 904L stainless steel, the same grade of steel that Rolex used until it called it Oystersteel for some reason. The case measures 42mm x 10mm and is water-resistant to 100m. It’s paired with a calfskin leather strap that has an Alcantara inner.
The price of all this magnificence? £19,500, including VAT. They’re not a limited run, but expect not more than 15 to be made annually, so they’ll still be hard to get. It’s interesting what this collaboration brings to the table. In some ways, it reminds me of Moritz Grossmann’s watches, although lacking a little finesse for now.
Visit Fears Watches here.
