Anyone else have a watch that you look forward to seeing on the wrist of someone else? I think if you’ve been part of this community long enough, it’s almost a certainty. Invariably a friend or colleague will own something that you genuinely look forward to seeing – that watch you hope they will decide to bring to the regular meetup that always impresses. A watch that easily slides into that somewhat niche category for me is the Fears Garrick, a limited edition collaborative effort between the two British brands that first appeared in 2022. Asher Rapkin, a co-founder of Collective, is one of the lucky owners of this watch, and whenever I run into him, be it in Switzerland for a trade show or one of our Windup Watch Fairs, I always hope he’ll have picked this watch out of the box today. It’s just such a cool concept, and a watch that’s genuinely pretty rare, so an opportunity to see it in person is kind of a special thing.
Well, the number of these watches out in the wild is about to increase just a little bit with today’s announcement of the Fears Garrick Salmon for Collective limited edition. Only five of these will be made, and as the name of the watch would suggest, this run is distinguished by a beautiful salmon dial, replacing the crisp white of the prior version. Other than that, it’s very much the same watch, which is a great thing in my opinion, as it fuses together the absolute best of two of the most interesting British watch brands.
Those attributes are a “no shortcuts” mentality from Garrick, who insist on doing everything they possibly can in their Norfolk workshop, and a meticulous eye for design and detail from Fears. While the Fears Garrick doesn’t exactly look like any other Fears on the market, subtle design cues make it clear we’re dealing with a Fears, particularly when it comes to the skeletonized hands and Arabic numerals in Fears’ “Edwin” typeface.
The literal and figurative centerpiece of the Fears Garrick is the UTG04 caliber, finished elaborately by Garrick in Norfolk. An aperture on the dial side draws the eye to the free-sprung balance, and flipping the watch over reveals six screwed chatons, an old-fashioned and particularly luxurious bit of watch finishing. The manually wound movement has a unique layout, with a running seconds scale at the 10:00 position and a power reserve indicator at 2:00.
The case is crafted from 904L steel and measures 42mm in diameter and is just 10mm tall. It’s fully polished on all surfaces. You might not expect a watch this refined in appearance to be so robust, but it’s rated to a healthy 100 meters of water resistance.
Maybe it’s because we know every Garrick is made to order, or because of the obvious passion Nicholas Bowman-Scargill puts into each and every Fears design, but there’s something about the Fears Garrick that feels intensely personal. Indeed, it’s described by Collective as “a symbol of friendship,” and illustrates the strong bond between two important British watch brands.
The new Fears Garrick Salmon carries a retail price of $25,500. Delivery is expected to begin in Q4 2025. Orders can be placed via the Collective website.
