Why I spent $50,000 on a platinum Fears to commemorate my year from hell
Luke BenedictusEDITOR’S NOTE: We met @therealmrxsydney through one of our Time+Tide Club meet-ups. He’s a British ex-pat with the sort of eye-popping watch collection that’d make you drool. But after a difficult 12 months, in which he lost both his parents, he decided to buy something special to commemorate this life-changing year. But which watch would he choose? Yet another Rolex Daytona? One more Nautilus to add to his sizable tally? No, what he eventually settled on was far more considered. Priced at £28,200 on a kevlar strap, the Fears Brunswick Pt combines platinum and diamonds with that deft sense of understatement at which the British excel. Here, the 47-year-old engineer divulges his reasons for buying the watch.
I’ve been collecting for maybe 22 years. I started off very gradually and then I kind of fell into the abyss. One watch box turned into two, turned into four, turned into five, turned into probably ten… and each box holds ten watches. I’m literally at a stage where I don’t know how many watches I’ve got. It’s an unstoppable force. Like a metaphorical dog with a bouncy ball.
What are some of my highlights? Well, arguably they all are – I’m a watch tragic, after all. But my soft spot is my first really nice watch, which was a Rolex Explorer 36mm that I bought new in ’99 – that’s still a honey. Although I also love my platinum Daytona – that’s the watch I’d save if my house was on fire.
Why Fears? Well, although I now live in Sydney, I love the story behind this British brand. Nick Bowman-Scargill worked for Rolex for a number of years at their head office in St. James in London. He was involved with final quality control before watches went out after repair. But then I think he had a realisation that he’d be sat at the same bench for the rest of his life, which didn’t sit well with him. So one day he went back to his mum and dad’s for Sunday lunch and said: “I need to leave, I want to set up a watch company.” And his mum said, “Well, why don’t you reestablish your grandfather’s watch company?” At which point, Nick’s mouth dropped open and he went, “Say what? My grandfather had a watch company!”
His parents proceeded to regale him with the story of how Fears was once the largest watch manufacturer in Britain his grandfather wound down the business in the 1960s when he retired. That’s when Nick decided to bring Fears back into existence again. And I do love a plucky businessman…
So I’ve bought a few of their watches over the years. I bought the Fears Redcliff, which is a little quartz piece that I wear to work more often than not. Then I bought the blue Brunswick – I think that’s the single watch I wear that garners the most attention whenever I wear it. And then I have the salmon Brunswick – which is stunning – I just wear it on the standard black leather strap.
Over the years, Nick and I have grown to become phone buddies and I keep pushing him: “When’s something new coming out? When are you doing a dive watch? When are you do something in precious metal?”
Then, one day he texted me and said, “I’ve got something special coming up”.
He revealed he was working on a platinum Brunswick with an anthracite black dial. Now black dials are my favorite and platinum is my favorite case material because it makes for such an uber stealth watch. So I thought I have to have this platinum watch, particularly because it could quite possibly be the most expensive ETA powered watch someone could buy. How fun is that!
But the other thing is this year has been a bit of a roller-coaster for me. I lost both my parents in the UK and wasn’t able to go back because of COVID. Let me tell you, funeral by FaceTime is brutal.
Conversely, I’ve also got my Australian citizenship. So I wanted something that I could inscribe and that could be my 2021 watch. So all those elements combined to me buying the platinum Fears. Although, let’s face it, that’s all really just an excuse, because I would have bought it anyway.
But I haven’t got it yet. Fears are building it at the moment and I’ve actually asked for it to be customized. Normally the Brunswick has a small seconds, but I’ve asked for the watch to be a two-hander. So not only will it be the first, but it will be a piece unique. I wanted it to be a bit special.
The indices are set with small diamonds. Have I got any other watches with diamonds or gems? No, not yet, although I fear this might open the floodgates. To be honest though, I do find factory-set watches a bit overbearing when it comes to stones. But the way Fears have done it is really simple and subtle so you don’t notice it.
When will I get the watch? Well, I’m in the hands of Nicholas or rather the jeweller who hand makes the cases. They 3D print a resin mold that is then vacuum cast and that casting is angled and polished by hand, which takes about 100 hours. So I’ve no idea how long it’s going to take. But I’m in no hurry, in fact, that’s part of the joy, because I don’t know whether it will just turn up or whether I’ll be able to go and get it when we can travel again next year. So it’s a nice slow burn, It’s actually nice to have that non instant gratification when it comes to getting a special watch.