Remember me
Sometimes, as a watch enthusiast, you just connect with a brand. Fears is such a brand for me. I find this revived English indie watch company a prime example of how to establish yourself in a slightly higher segment than most. As much as I appreciate the company from a distance, I had spent little time with Fears watches. So, naturally, that needed to change. I requested some press samples of the recent Fears Brunswick creations and gave them a thorough run-through. Here’s how we got along.
I spent some time with the Brunswick Jump Hour in China Blue and two new pilot’s watches, the Brunswick Filton in Raven Black and Squadron Green. The Jump Hour costs €4,100 ex. taxes on a leather strap or €4,300 on a bracelet. The Filtons come in at €3,200 on a strap, or €3,400 on a bracelet, also excluding taxes.
As you may know, Fears is a revived historic watch company. Edwin Fear opened a workshop and showroom in Bristol, England, back in 1846. A second site followed in 1866, but both buildings were severely damaged by bombings during WWII. The company then moved to Clifton, Bristol, another name you will recognize as a Fears collection. It continued producing watches until succumbing to the Quartz Crisis in 1976.
We fast-forward to 2016, when a young apprentice watchmaker at Rolex, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, discovers that he is the great-great-great-grandson of Edwin Fear. Realizing that this is virtually too good to be true, he decides to revive his family’s company. He has been at the helm since, re-establishing Fears as a household name and driving force in British watchmaking.
Fears has a long history with the cushion case. In fact, the earliest iterations on the theme date back over a century. The watch you see here hails from 1924 and shows a design DNA still visible in the Brunswick models I am reviewing today.
The Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour China Blue combines the classical cushion case with a jump-hour time display.
The “China Blue” part refers to the dial, which Fears says takes inspiration from classic Stoke-on-Trent pottery. The outer section has a silver-white barleycorn pattern, while the center uses soft blue matte lacquer. The hour disc sits behind a rhodium-plated aperture at 12, balanced by a brushed and beveled nameplate below. It is a lot of dial furniture on paper, but the basic display remains pleasingly simple — hours in the window, minutes by hand. The devil, however, is in those details, with alternated finishes, many of which are applied manually.
The 316L stainless steel 40.5mm case has a 47mm length and a 12.8mm thickness, including the domed sapphire crystal. Fears gives it brushed and polished finishes, a 20mm lug spacing, and 100m water resistance. Inside ticks the automatic JJ01 jump-hour movement, using a Sellita SW200 base and a Christopher Ward-developed module, with 25 jewels and a 38-hour power reserve. Fears offers the watch on a Storm Grey Alcantara strap or a brushed and polished steel five-row bracelet.
Wearing the Fears Brunswick Jump Hour China Blue, two words come to mind — “subtle” and “refined.” The subtlety resides in its overall rather simple silhouette. Upon closer inspection, layer upon layer of refinement reveals itself. As a result, this is the type of watch that charms its way into your heart over time.
The refinement resides in the visual hierarchy and composition of the dial. It feels well-considered, weighted, and balanced. Look closer, and more details reveal themselves. The minute hand, for instance, features alternating finishes, with one half brushed and the other half polished. The applied name plaque, with its brushed top surface and faceted edges, is another neat detail.
The typography stands out but, again, in a very subtle manner. This is Fears’ proprietary Edwin typeface. It was developed to take inspiration from historic Fears watches by a typographer specialized in watch typography. The result is deceptively simple, but it carries that lively playfulness that most modern dial printing lacks.
The Brunswick 40 Filton brings the Fears cushion case into aviation-watch territory. That is new ground for the brand, as Fears describes it as its first pilot’s watch in 180 years. The Filton name refers to the town near Bristol, known for its aviation history.
The Fears Brunswick 40 Filton keeps the softly rounded cushion case that defines the collection. This 316L stainless steel 40mm case offers a 46.5mm lug-to-lug and an 11.9mm thickness, including the domed sapphire crystal. It, again, features brushed and polished finishes, but it also has a screw-down onion crown and a 150m water resistance rating. That makes this the sportiest Brunswick in practical terms, not just in dial design.
Inside ticks the automatic La Joux-Perret G100, featuring a quick-set date and a 68-hour power reserve. The dial adds applied numerals, a triangle at 12, sword-shaped pipette hands, BGW9 Super-LumiNova, and a date disc with numerals in the aforementioned Edwin typeface. The Raven Black model features a black sunburst dial with white printing and black-centered hands. Squadron Green adds a matte green gradient, light blue squares behind the hour markers, gray-centered hands, and a signal-yellow seconds hand. Both come on either a brown buffalo leather strap or a brushed and polished steel five-row bracelet.
As soon as I picked up the Fears Brunswick Filton models, I noticed just how different they are from the Jump Hour, not just in how they display time but also in their very nature. Whereas the Jump Hour exudes a sort of contemporary, confident sternness, these emit more lighthearted vintage vibes.
With the numerals both white-lacquered and white-filled, they are about as bold as can be. Add the traditional pilot’s watch layout, and there’s no escaping the theme. My favorite of the two is the Raven Black, as it feels truer to the brief of a vintage pilot’s watch.
The Squadron Green, however, is interesting too, primarily thanks to its gradient effect. You may know me as highly critical of fades and vignettes; I find that they usually turn gimmicky. Here, however, the effect is so subtle that it looks more like a shadow falling over the dial. Crucially, the effect and use of color do not compromise legibility, keeping the entire package congruent and credible as a tool watch.
Circling back to the initial reason for requesting these watches, how have they affected my feelings towards the company? Simply put, they confirmed what I already believed. These are very well made by people who clearly love watches. They carry that uncompromising, creatively single-minded vibe that can be a USP for well-run, small, indie brands. I also appreciate the detail work, which is so clearly aimed at the slightly better-informed enthusiast. This is brave, as it doesn’t always translate to mass appeal when something is a tad harder to digest than your average bite-sized, shock-and-awe effort.
This lands Fears some criticism in the online community as well. A glance at the specs box makes it easy to assume that these are overpriced. Such statements, however, reveal a lack of a properly trained eye more than a problem with the watches. When you decide to get these finer details right as a small, unaffiliated brand, things add up quickly. As a brand owner operating in the same segment, I know this all too well. The question, then, isn’t so much whether the prices are justified. Rather, it is whether you care about the specific sort of refinement that you get in exchange. Any answer is valid, but it is also subjective.
All in all, these Fears Brunswick models left a great impression on me. My favorite of the bunch is the Jump Hour. I love its stately appearance, and the powdery blue softens it just the right amount. All three watches are a joy to wear, remaining comfortable with plenty of presence on the wrist. Add the connoisseur’s level of detail work and the fit and finish reflecting the price, and you have a trio of very solid offerings from Bristol.
What do you think of the Fears Brunswick Jump Hour and Filton models? Let us know in the comments section below.