Fears Watch Company releases their first high complication watch – the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar with a movement made by the Dubois Dépraz with their perpetual calendar module over a Selita base. We had received the full information ahead of the release today, and here are our insider commentary in italics with full release information

Introducing Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar: Price, Specifications & Official Press Release

The Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar Ref. BS239.030 retails at £26,950 inc. VAT (£22,458.34 ex. VAT), $28,500 ex. Tax or / 26,484.50 CHF inc. VAT (24,500 CHF ex. VAT).

Deployant’s Commentary & Analysis

This is a very interesting release from the small British independent based in Bristol. We first came to know the brand when we were contacted by Dave Brailsford of Garrick. I have known him for many years, and admires the work he has done to bring watchmaking back to England. He wrote me to tell me of this collaboration he had just made with Fears. This watch was released in 2022.

The dial layout is also chosen to display all the perpetual calendar information, including the day, date, month and leap year indicators with a moonphase display. The choice of the frosted silver dial is also quite beautiful to look at while remaining very clear and legible. The indices are faceted on four sides with black polish. There is no lume applied, and thus, legibility in poor lighting conditions will suffer.

The movement looks to be nicely finished with frosting and bevelling. The anglage is finished in a dark rhodium stands out as quite beautiful. The rotor also deserves mention for the Bristol Flower engraved on it for that custom look. Very pleasing view from the case back.

I am also particularly impressed with the open communication by Fears. There is no cloak and dagger of “we make everything ourselves” going on here. The origin of the movement is clear with details of who made it – Dubuis Dépraz in Switzerland. Also it is clear that the case is made in Switzerland, the dial and hands are German with a Swiss made moon-phase disc, as well as the Belgian strap and Swiss made winding box.

Pricing notes

Let us review the pricing of CHF 24.5k for the Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar. First, it is instructive to compare this watch to its own Fears collaboration watch with Garrick. This watch is based on the Garrick UTG04 in-house movement, executed in a classical round movement in 904L (vs 316L in the Brunswick) stainless steel. The collab watch offers only the simple HMS indications with a Power Reserved indicator and a cutout dial to reveal the balance wheel. The Fears x Garrick watch is already priced at CHF 23.4k. A perpetual calendar which is less than CHF 1k more than its HMS cousin seems to be a good value proposition.

Compared to other Swiss made perpetual calendars, the Fears Brunswick PC sits somewhat in the mid-field.

My first example is the Federique Constant Perpetual Calendar, which is cunningly priced at a tad below CHF 10k in steel. On paper, it would seem that the Brunswick is rather expensive. Especially considering that Federique Constant sports an in-house movement. But we do note that Federique Constant had set out with the intent to clip the CHF 10k psychological price barrier, and thus built to a price point. While we are not privy to the pricing discussions within Fears, there does not seem to be an intent to keep the pricing low.

On the other end of the spectrum, the highly regarded Gerald Charles Masterlink Perpetual Calendar retails at CHF 63k in titanium case and titanium bracelet. But the trick up the Gerald Charles’ sleeve is that the watch is equipped with their form shaped movement. A big key differentiating feature. Also ably supported by the unusually shaped case upping the beauty ante.

The Official Press Release

Today, the Fears Watch Company, a leading British luxury watch company, launches its first high complication watch, the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar. The new 39mm perpetual calendar joins the Fears core collection of hand-built British watches being a non-limited edition. Launched in the 10^th year since Fears was re-established by its founder’s great-great-great-grandson in 2016, the perpetual calendar features a new case architecture with wide polished bevels making it the slimmest Brunswick watch in the collection. The watch is the first Fears to feature a moonphase complication, with a hand finished moon disc displayed at 6 o’clock. Powering the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar is a movement made by Dubois Dépraz in Switzerland, modified specifically for this watch and features a solid 18ct Gold rotor.

The Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar brings the classic Brunswick case together with the first high complication the company has produced in 180 years. The perpetual calendar shows the time (hours and minutes), day, date, month and the year within the leap year cycle accurately, with no adjustment required until the year 2100. Once set and kept wound, the owner has the confidence to know these key pieces of information at a moments glance via the watch’s highly legible dial. Joining the calendar function is a moonphase at 6 o’clock with a clean, black lacquer disc, inset with two silver moons hand-finished with Charbonage (representative of the moon’s surface). The running seconds are not present to avoid distraction, keeping the case to a svelte 9.4mm thickness in keeping with the tradition of historic perpetual calendar wrist watches.

Powered by a modified Dubois Dépraz perpetual calendar module, atop a hand-finished Sellita SW300, the watch’s movement has its own calibre reference; 55115, exclusive to Fears. The base movement is hand finished with frosted bridges and plates, including hand Anglage applied to the bridge’s edges with a dark Rhodium finish. The movement is wound automatically by a custom solid 18ct Gold rotor featuring the Fears ‘Bristol Flower’ motif.

Housed in the slimmest cushion-shaped Brunswick case made to date, measuring 39mm across, the perpetual calendar debuts a new case architecture with large, polished bevels across the case band. The bezel and open display case back both feature a concave profile which catches the light whilst highlighting the slim proportions of the watch. The corrector pushers are neatly integrated into the brushed case band for setting (and re-setting) the calendar, having been specially engineered to sit within the centre of the case. The case features a usable 5 ATM (50m) water resistance allowing the watch to be worn every day, while bathing, showering or when caught in the rain.

The time and date are displayed on a softly frosted dial, called ‘Silver Mink’, which is coated in a warm pure silver giving a distinctive vibrancy. Despite the large amount of information displayed, the dial remains highly legible, thanks to large calendar sub-dials with circular grooves and a new bespoke set of curved numerals and letters. Created inhouse by Fears’ Senior Design Manager, Lee Yuen-Rapati, the ‘Bristol’ numerals and letters are created to fit the curve of the sub-dial, perfectly aiding their legibility. The hours are shown with quad-bevelled diamond polished, hand-applied indices which are coated in black gold to match the tri-bevelled hour and minute hands.

“Since I first started to appreciate mechanical watches in my early teenage years, I’ve always been fascinated by the perpetual calendar complication. The fact that a wrist watch can display all the vital information regarding the day of the week, date and which month you’re currently in, accurately with no adjustment except for in the year 2100, feels somewhat magical. Creating a watch like the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar is not like anything else we’ve undertaken in the past 10 years since I re-started my family’s company. To create a perpetual calendar worthy of the Fears name meant not only working with our trusted partners across Switzerland and Germany but also pushing our Design department to design and engineer a watch that lives up to our motto of “Elegantly Understated” absolutely.

When our Senior Design Manager, Lee Yuen-Rapati, first sketched out what a Fears perpetual calendar could look like at the beginning of 2022 I realised that I wanted this not to be a limited run, exclusive to a few, but to offer it as part of our core collection. The final result combines a stunning new Brunswick case architecture with its wide bevels and satin brushed sides with a classic yet contemporary dial all in a slim watch that sits close to the wrist comfortably.

Joining the Fears Garrick, the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar marks the progression of a new ‘Eminence Collection’ of high-end Fears watches that allows us to show the very best that Fears can create. The Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar isn’t designed to be worn solely for special occasions but rather as a watch that can be enjoyed every day on the wrist. For a select few we are taking it even further with a small number of bespoke pieces made by our Fears Custom Division in Platinum.”

Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar Specifications

Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar FAQ