Another maison who was exhibiting at Hotel D’Angleterre during the Watches & Wonders week. We did not visit the Garrick in Geneva. They revealed the new Garrick S3 Dead Beat Seconds.
Here is the release details with our commentary in italics.
New: Garrick S3 Dead Beat Seconds
The Garrick S3 Dead Beat Seconds will retail at GBP 40,000 ex VAT (GBP 48,000 incl UK VAT).
Commentary
Another impressive watch from the team at Garrick. This time, with a new jumping seconds complication. Not their first with this speciality, as they had the S2 Deadbeat which was based on the DB-G06 movement. And this novelty has the jumping seconds mechanism fitted on the S3 watch which serves as the base for the movement and dial layout.
The new S3 Dead Beat Seconds has the same vestigial dial, reduced to just the rehaut with minute markings, and the entire movement exposed on the dial side. The signature balance bridge is displayed at 6 o’clock. In contrast to the S3, the sub-dial is almost fully skeletonised. In place of the sub-seconds dial at the 10 o’clock position is deleted in favour of a centrally mounted seconds hand, highlighted with the staccato jumping effect.
The case back shows the seconde morte mechanism and the transmission wheel to bring the seconds indications to the center pivot. The reverse of the balance bridge is a cock which features hand engraving. The finishing looks excellent, with the very English style of frosted bridges being showcased. This is in line with the other offerings from this small independent based in Norwich, England.
Release details
Garrick S3 Deadbeat Seconds (DBS) Release
The pinnacle of Garrick ownership.
Following the ongoing success of the GPHG finalist S3 MkII and the S2 Deadbeat, Norwich-based British watchmaker Garrick has combined the two into one singular watch. Having teased this release in Geneva to collectors’ acclaim, it’s now here: the new S3 Deadbeat Seconds (DBS).
The Deadbeat seconds is one of the most unusual and deceptive complications in haute horology. Generally, the easiest way to tell if a timepiece is mechanical or quartz is whether the hand sweeps or ticks. Sweeping traditionally means mechanical, ticking means quartz. The dead-beat flips that on its head in gloriously idiosyncratic style by lavishing countless hours of mechanical ingenuity to allow it to stop between seconds.
No matter whether it ticks or sweeps, there’s no mistaking the S3 Deadbeat for anything other than a mechanical masterpiece. The complication is possible via the Calibre DB-GO7 calibre, a movement built in-house, painstakingly finished by watchmaker Stuart Smith. Each movement is built from the ground-up and finished to the clients specification.
The S3 DBS features openwork dial framing the much improved and updated wheels, pinions and bridges. These parts are finished to a high specification, providing a neater appearance whilst wheels are grained, polished or frosted, retaining their handmade aesthetic.
The open dial is dominated by Garrick’s signature Trinity free-sprung balance (arguably the largest on any watch) at 6 o’clock. Rather than the usual regulating pins, this balance uses tiny screws to adjust the oscillator, allowing greater fine-tuning and better accuracy.
To ensure that fine-tuning is the best it can be, each S3 Deadbeat is tested and regulated in every position over the course of three weeks, resulting in a daily variance of less than +3 seconds. COSC-certification, the industry standard of excellence, is between -4 and +6 seconds.
While the technical excellence of the S3 Deadbeat is indisputable, it’s Garrick’s renowned finishing that sets the new timepiece apart – and as each watch is made to order, the custom options available. The 42mm diameter, 11mm thick case is available in stainless steel or gold, but that’s just the start. While the S3 Deadbeat eschews Garrick’s famous engine-turned guilloche in favour of a more technical look, the custom options are endless.
All bridgework and components on the movement are hand bevelled and can be frosted, grained, or mirror-polished; wheels can be in gold, silver or rhodium and engraved with a multitude of motifs.
The single-piece German silver chapter ring can be infilled with any colour and handsets can be made to order. That means the observatoire , lancine, spade, or anchor hands can in turn be heat blued, purpled or polished.
Garrick is a brand that shuns mass production, preferring instead to make limited volumes of custom-built watches. With the S3 Deadbeat, they are combining the technical excellence of an unusual complication with the level of finishing only a truly in-house watchmaker can accomplish. In short, the S3 Deadbeat illustrates what Garrick does best: Fine, British-Made Watches.
Only three to five pieces per year will be produced.
Garrick S3 Dead Beat Seconds Specifications
Case
- 904L Stainless Steel (frosted or polished) or Gold
- 42mm Diameter
- 11 mm Depth
- Sapphire crystal with AR coating
- 22mm Lugs
- Exhibition case back
- Water Resistant to 100m
Movement
- Exclusive Garrick calibre DB-G07 manual wound mechanical movement
- In-house free-sprung balance – tested and regulated to ensure a daily variance of +3 seconds
- Black polished pallet cock, engraved balance cock, frosted bridges and circular grained or frosted wheels.
- Frequency – 18,000 vph
- 21 Jewels
- Gold or Silver frosted mainplate and gear train bridge with hand bevelled edges
Dial
- Handcrafted circular grained German silver chapter rings with engraved and infilled markers.
- Power reserve indication
- hours, minutes and central deadbeat seconds
Hands
- Handmade steel, grained, polished, hand painted or heat blued/purple Hours & Minutes
- Heat blued/purple, hand painted or polished central seconds
Functions
- Central deadbeat seconds
- Power Reserve: 45 hours
Buckle
- 316L Stainless Steel or gold pin buckle
