Maybe it’s because I used to own a clean, crisp, white-dialled Brunswick, but I always imagine Fears watches with this elegant, restrained minimalism. They’re the kind of watches you pair with a serious navy suit and a stiff upper lip. It’s those 1930s sensibilities coming home to roost.
But as the brand celebrates their first decade of rebirth – and 180th birthday since their original founding – what better way to celebrate than with something a bit more… well, celebratory?
On paper, the Celestial is very similar to the Barleycorn Plum. It shares the same 40.5mm stainless steel cushion case which in turn houses the same JJ01 Christopher Ward module. Aesthetically however they’re worlds apart. Where the Barleycorn keeps things in line with the Brunswick’s pared-back 1930s personality, the Celestial is much more glamorous.
First, the centre of the dial is white mother-of-pearl. This isn’t the first time Fears has used the material of course. Their pale blue Aurora and pink Orchid models flexed the material’s lustrous grain nicely. But the white here is a bit brighter. More than that though, this is the first time the British brand has used aventurine – and the combination is magnificent.
I have to say, the aventurine here is particularly glittery. At time of writing I don’t have another aventurine dial to compare it directly to, but its starlight shimmer seems almost over-the-top. That’s not a bad thing; it looks absolutely killer on the wrist as it catches the light and even better in the cocktail bar that’s its spiritual home – just think more French 75 than Gimlet.
Aside from the innate glamour of the pearl-aventurine combo, the Celestial unsurprisingly reminds me of a moon phase. Obviously, there’s no actual lunar complication here, but think about where you’ve seen mother-of-pearl set into an aventurine backdrop before. You’ll probably settle on a classical lunar indicator like the equally British Christopher Ward C1 Moonphase.
And yet, despite no actual link to the moon, Fears have nailed the lunar look even better than CW. After all, unless it’s a full moon, most of the C1 Moonphase is aventurine; here, that glorious mother-of-pearl mid-dial is constant. Throw in the moonbeam minute markers radiating out and you have something that lives up to the Celestial name.
I have to admit though, there’s something about the minutes that irks my OCD sensibilities. Because of the different lengths of the radiating lines, the numerals aren’t set at a consistent radius. Where the 5 is compared to the 50 and 55 particularly gets to me. That’s a shame because the numbers themselves are actually lovely.
With Fears there’s always some reason to bring up the typography. Their in-house designer and typographical savant Lee Yuen-Rapati is a maestro of numerals and serifs, and here he’s outdone himself with a classical riff on Breguet numerals. It’s less noticeable on the minutes, but the jump hour puts the elegant font into seemingly magnified focus.
It’s not a font that I would have actually appreciated on other Brunswick models. As I mentioned earlier, I’m used to a less-is-more approach from Fears. Even with the guilloche of the Barleycorn, it was still relatively minimal in silver with a dash of rich plum. But here we’re talking about a glitzy combination of mother-of-pearl and aventurine that’s anything but minimal – and a classical font to go with it works nicely.
As for the jump hour itself, Fears have once again reprised their relationship with Christopher Ward for the JJ01 jump hour module, placed on top of a workhorse Sellita SW200. It’s the movement behind the original Alliance 01 watch for the Alliance of British Watch and Clockmakers and it’s always good to see it again. The JJ01 is the reason jump hours are having a moment and while a higher power reserve than 38 hours would be nice, it’s to be expected with the extra energy consumption.
While it might not be weekend proof, the Celestial is at least element proof. Even though it’s not a field watch, Fears insist on 100m of water resistance, meaning you can wear it everywhere but the pool without fear of errant water droplets. Personally, I don’t think there’s any reason other than high complications for less.
As for price, the Celestial will set you back £4,350. That’s exactly £100 more than the Barleycorn, which in my opinion makes it slightly better value. I love a bit of guilloche, but the combination of mother-of-pearl set into aventurine with those slim radial lines, it looks and feels like it should be much more expensive.
So, while the Celestial isn’t what I’ve come to associate Fears with, maybe I should get out of my own head. Because before I’d never have thought I needed a glittery, lustrous Brunswick in my life. But the more I wear it, the more I want it. Meaning I should probably convince myself to take it off sooner rather than later. It’s saving grace in that area is that it’s limited to just 75 pieces, and I see them going very quickly.
Lovely looking watch from Fears (as the Brunswick range aptly illustrates). Not sure why they feel the need to follow the latest “trend” for jump-hour watches, but so-be-it. Most jump-hour watches suffer from the problem of poor scratch resistance due (generally) having a large area of metal exposed, with only small viewing apertures, but not in this case. A true dress watch, and beautifully executed, but, just maybe a little too much in terms of the use of white MOP and the blue dial with the lunar-like backdrop, but that is my own viewpoint (one or other would have been my personal design choice), difficult choice though, as too much MOP could be garish, and the use of the night sky lunar-esque view is overused and too much of a “go-to” feature at the moment for dark coloured dials, so rippled enamel would have been perfect IMO.
Conclusion, very attractive watch, but a little too much for me in this case. Fears watches, I do like the Brunswick range, very elegant, would love to own one (just not this one).
Hi
The statement that this is the first time Fears is using aventurine is incorrect. Please take a look at their collab with seconds society
Correction, this is not the first time Fears has used aventurine. Please see the spectacular Fears x Seconds Society jump hour with the fumé blue and aventurine dial.