Fears Launch Anniversary Brunswick Pure

A while ago we published a series of sketches by our friend Ben over at Inkdial, outlines and key elements of iconic watches. The idea was to prove that you don’t even need to see the name on the dial to recognise truly great watches. Five years on from its initial launch, I’d say the cushion-cased Fears Brunswick falls nicely into that category, something the gracefully young British brand is hammering home with the Fears Brunswick Pure.

Despite only being 6 years old, Fears had made themselves one of the faces of modern British watchmaking, a position they’ve found themselves in ever since launching their first Brunswick model five years ago today. The cushion case, elegant styling and obsessive attention to detail that would soon become hallmarks of the brand were laid out in that first 38mm, white-dialled watch, so much so that when I first saw it (which makes me feel old) I bought one.

Other than a slight evolution in the Brunswick 40 and a handful of different dial colours, the original model hasn’t changed much. Why change a winning formula? A formula so recognisable, in fact, that if you stripped off everything but the case and hands, you’d still know exactly what it was. Which is precisely the concept behind the Brunswick Pure.

Everything has been removed from the dial, including any indexes and the Fears name. All that’s left is the unmarred white lacquer with its recessed small seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, something you might not even notice at first glance. Contrasting with the pure, glossy white, the case and signature skeletonised pipette hands are both in matte black – British-prepared DLC for the former, paint for the latter. In short, it’s stunning, and a definite change of pace for Fears.

Set on a black faux-leather strap made of apples and cork (because what’s more British than cider?) and with the usual manual winding ETA 7001 movement, it’s a watch that proves just how iconic – and I don’t use that word loosely here – the Brunswick has become. At £3,850, it’s a fair bit pricier than the standard model, but for something this cool that’s more than acceptable.

Unfortunately, there’s a downside. The Brunswick Pure is only available for the Brunswick’s birthday weekend. While there’s no limited edition, orders will close on Sunday 6^th November at midnight. If you’re reading this just as it’s published, that gives you just over three days to get your orders in.

And hey, if you don’t manage to get one yourself (don’t worry about me, my order’s already in) one will be going into the Fears archive, built using Brunswick case 100. Well, who doesn’t give themselves a present on their birthday?