The Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar marks a new chapter for the British brand
Tom AustinFears has spent the decade since its 2016 revival rebuilding an identity founded on Bristolian history, British assembly and a very particular fresh identity. Its watches have grown increasingly ambitious during that period, from the early Redcliff models to the cushion-cased Brunswick family and the hand-finished Garrick collaborations. Now, in the year that marks both the 180th anniversary of the original company and the 10th anniversary of its return, Fears is introducing its first high complication: the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar.
The perpetual calendar carries significance that extends beyond the number of indications on its dial. It establishes a new technical tier for Fears and places it alongside the Garrick in a high-end family called the Eminence Collection. It also enters the core collection as a non-limited reference, an unusually confident decision for a small British brand tackling a complication of this scale for the first time.
Senior Design Manager Lee Yuen-Rapati began sketching the watch at the start of 2022, giving the project four years of development before its 2026 release. Those early drawings show the essential arrangement already taking shape: the typical QP registers, a moonphase at six and the Brunswick’s recognisable cushion-shaped silhouette. Four years of refinement have turned that concept into a watch measuring 39mm across and only 9.4mm thick, dimensions that keep its mechanical complexity within the elegant proportions Fears has made its own.
The case
The 316L stainless-steel case measures 39mm by 37mm, with a 45.4mm lug-to-lug measurement and a 20mm lug width. Its dimensions make this a rather beautifully compact perpetual calendar, especially as the 9.4mm total depth includes the 0.7mm-thick, domed sapphire crystal. Consequently, the watch sits close to the wrist, supported by the short, protruding lugs that are familiar from other Brunswick references.
A new case architecture gives this Brunswick a sharper definition. Wide, polished bevels run along the cushion-shaped body, meeting clean, brushed surfaces across the case flanks. The concave bezel and display caseback draw light around the dial and movement, reinforcing the slim profile from either angle. Polished lug surfaces and a fluted, signed crown add smaller points of reflection without disturbing the clarity of the overall form.
Calendar correctors are integrated into the centre of the case band. Their positioning required dedicated engineering, allowing the pushers to sit neatly within the faceted sides rather than appear as obvious additions, and of course, Fears supplies a bespoke corrector pin for setting the displays. Water resistance is rated to 50 metres, giving the Brunswick enough practical protection for regular wear. The sapphire crystal receives ARdur anti-reflective coating on both surfaces, an especially useful specification on a dial carrying this quantity of information.
The dial
Fears calls the dial colour “Silver Mink”. Its softly frosted surface is coated in warm, pure silver, bringing a gentle brightness to the display and giving the black printing a crisp foundation. The hours are marked by hand-applied, diamond-polished indices with four bevelled facets, each plated in black gold, a feature we’ve seen elsewhere in the Brunswick family. The central pipette hour and minute hands receive three polished bevels and the same black-gold treatment.
The calendar is divided across three azurage-finished sub-dials. Day appears at nine o’clock, month and leap-year position share the register at 12, and the pointer date sits at three. Cyan blue denotes the 31st, adding a subtle flash of colour to an otherwise restrained palette. The tonal leap-year display is placed inside the month register, preserving a symmetrical arrangement and keeping every part of the calendar visible at a glance.
Yuen-Rapati also created a bespoke set of curved numerals and letters for the watch, fittingly named the Bristol typeface. Each character follows the arc of its respective register, so the typography belongs to the geometry of the dial instead of merely occupying it. That attention matters here: day, date, month and leap-year status all need to be read quickly, and the generous sub-dials give them sufficient room to breathe.
At six o’clock, Fears’ first moonphase display places two silver moons against a black-lacquered disc. Each moon is finished by hand using Charbonnage, producing a textured surface replicating lunar topography. The Fears name crosses the lower portion of the display, and a snailed surround separates it cleanly from the main dial. Running seconds have been omitted, leaving the calendar and moonphase as the only secondary indications and helping the watch retain its slender dimensions.
The movement
Visible through the exhibition caseback is the automatic Fears calibre 55115, a reference exclusive to the brand. Its construction begins with Sellita’s SW300, a slim automatic base calibre running at 28,800VPH, with a 47-hour power reserve. A bespoke perpetual calendar module from complication specialists Dubois Dépraz is fitted above it, allowing Fears to use a proven automatic foundation and devote its development work to the display, case engineering and calendar integration.
The mechanism mechanically tracks the differing lengths of the months, including February, and accounts for the leap-year cycle. Once correctly set and kept running, it displays the day, pointer date, month and position within that four-year cycle without requiring manual correction until 2100. That year is the next secular exception in the Gregorian calendar: years divisible by 100 omit the leap day unless they are also divisible by 400. The complex mechanism therefore handles every normal calendar irregularity encountered between now and then.
Removing the running-seconds indication serves both the physical design and the dial composition. It limits the information presented to the central hours and minutes, the complete calendar and the moonphase, supporting the 9.4mm case height. Corrector pushers provide direct adjustment when the watch is initially set or after its power reserve has elapsed. The included programmable Fears-branded SwissKubik winder keeps the calibre running during periods off the wrist, ensuring the calendar functions operate as they should over time.
Fears has also given the movement treatment appropriate to the Eminence Collection. The SW300’s bridges and plates feature frosted surfaces, dark rhodium finishing and hand-polished anglage along their edges. A custom solid 18-carat gold rotor dominates the caseback view, carrying an engraved Bristol Flower motif, and supplies a rich focal point against the grey movement architecture. The finishing makes the calibre feel specific to Fears, visually connecting this Swiss-made mechanism to the company’s Bristol identity.
The strap
The Brunswick arrives on a Walnut Brown ostrich-leg strap, handmade and hand-stitched in Belgium with tonal thread. Ostrich leg has a distinctive scaled grain, giving the deep brown surface a structured texture that complements the warmth of the silver dial and black-gold-plated hardware. Fears Blue Alcantara lines the underside, bringing the company’s signature colour into a place the owner encounters each time the watch is fitted.
Presentation is equally considered. The new Edwin box is made from ash stained in Fears Blue, with a subtle Union Jack rendered in marquetry across its lid. Alongside the corrector tool, every watch includes the Fears Blue aluminium SwissKubik winder, complete with a glass door and Bluetooth programming through a mobile app.
The verdict
The Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar represents the clearest expression so far of what the revived Fears intends to become. Its four-year design process has produced a watch that looks entirely at home within the Brunswick family, with a genuine step forward in case construction, dial development and mechanical ambition.
It’s genuinely exciting to see a British brand expanding its horizons past the simplicity of time-only “everyday” watches. As a QP, this is not the sort of watch you expect to see on someone’s wrist every day, but most importantly, instead of focusing on producing a watch that must meet a commercial need in a crowded market, Fears has made the Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar simply because it can. That’s arguably the coolest thing about it.
Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar pricing and availability
The Fears Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar is available to pre-order now through the Time+Tide Shop and the Time+Tide Studios in London and New York, with deliveries scheduled to begin in mid-September. Price: £26,950 incl. VAT/US$28,500/26,484.50 CHF incl. VAT
| Brand | Fears |
| Model | Brunswick 39 Perpetual Calendar |
| Reference | BS239.030 |
| Case Dimensions | 39mm (D) x 9.4mm (T) x 45.4mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | 316L stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 50 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Silver Mink, frosted |
| Lug Width | 20mm |
| Strap | Walnut brown, ostrich leather strap |
| Movement | Dubois Dépraz 55115, automatic |
| Power Reserve | 47 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, perpetual calendar, moon phase |
| Availability | Available to pre-order now through the Time+Tide Shop and the Time+Tide Studios in London and New York |
| Price | £26,950 incl. VAT/US$28,500/26,484.50 CHF incl. VAT |