I’ve always been envious of people who found something or someone to be fans of and who follow and support that or them throughout their mortal existence. There are many things I’ve liked in my life of course but none for which I felt some kind of devotion before. There are people I’ve evidently admired but not to the point of anxiously looking forward to their next visit, talk, or TV appearance. For a very long time I’ve believed I was quite odd. How is it that some people become so involved with a musical band that they camp outside the venue rain or shine for four days in order to get front row seats? What pushes folks to spend all of their savings into the latest computer or smartphone (for which they also embark on curbside camping for two days)? This absence of profound interest for entities and people and machines radically changed when I entered our nerdy watch world and discovered a couple of brands whose releases speak to my core in ways which surprised me and continue to do so today. 

It’s not about being “hooked” or “obsessed” with these brands but rather experiencing a sense of calm excitement when taking a peak at their new model because I know it will be another one from which emanate vibes which profoundly resonate with the person that I am and aspire to be. I suppose this is what genuine supporters of creatives feel like when he or she announces their latest masterpiece; someone’s favorite author releasing a new book; or a car manufacturer unveiling the latest iteration of its muscle car. We already know we like it even though we haven’t seen it yet. It’s just the thought of X or Y brand or person sharing something new that generates something we are so looking forward to seeing and meeting. So now I know what it feels like to be fans of something or someone and I’m building a steady (and healthy) devotion for Fears. Regardless of what they come up with—a dress watch, a sports one, or a utilitarian one even—I’m there for it and I’ve been ready for the Brunswick 40 Filton. 

Specifications

In all the horological discoveries you and I have embarked on in the past six years, it’s possible to see several themes emerge. A certain genre of watches brands do over and over again; a particular price point a field or dive watch should stay below; the next trend following the previous one by which it becomes expected to release fancy dial textures or case materials; and, as it is of interest to us today, the subtle reinvention of certain styles of watches which denote creativity and restraint. By that I speak about a few brands which manage to create a new version of a popular and ubiquitous style of watch without free-falling into the bizarre/avant-garde or even, frankly speaking, the super weird shit. It seems that it is ok sometimes to forgo any type of convention for the sake of being different which I wholeheartedly reject. And doing the opposite—intelligently revisiting the wheel—is what a rare few brands such as Fears excel at which explains the (healthy, I swear) obsession I have for the British house of watchmaking. 

Their latest creation and the object of today’s super long review is the brand new Brunswick 40 Filton pilot watch which Fears was kind enough to let me borrow in both the ‘Raven Black’ and ‘Squadron Green’ variants. (The only two at the time of writing this article.) This superb flight-destined elegant tool watch is based on Fears’ popular and iconic Brunswick cushion case, the brand first made in 1924 and which we’ve already studied through the modern Brunswick 40 ‘Odyssey Edition' last summer. The latter constituted my personal introduction to a proper cushion case and I have since been convinced that it is the sexiest type of stainless steel body any brand has ever manufactured and one day there will be a watch with that body in my collection, that I am sure of. What’s wonderful about the Brunswick collection is the fact that, by its design and proportions, it perfectly lands itself for any type of timekeeping device: a jump hour or a robust exploration watch, it can do it all and do it well and look contemporary a century later. 

Technically speaking, the case measures a perfect 40mm in “diameter,” 46.5mm lug-to-lug, 11.90mm thick including the double-ARdur® coated* domed sapphire crystal and comes with a universal 20mm lug width. This means that on my 6.50”/16.5cm wrist the Filton simply looks at home and as a natural extension of my physical being. (Just sayin’.) And what we’ve learned through our previous explorations of Fears watches is that they are unique in the independent watch world for their capacity to hide professional-grade constructions and specifications underneath the most elegant of outward appearance. The Filton’s are the same as a 6.3mm screw-down onion-shaped crown and screw-down case-back generate an excellent 150 meters of water resistance; below a plain or see-through case-back (more on that later) one finds a Top-Grade (Soigné Vis Bleues) LaJoux-Perret G100 caliber (4Hz/68 hours of power reserve) regulated in four positions to run at ± 7 seconds per day; and Grade A BWG9 lume on the hands and applied hour markers. This, friends, is impressive. 

*ARdur® is a high-end compound which is scratch resistant itself, clear, anti-static, and water and oil-repellent which we first encountered in the Redcliff 39.5 ‘ES.’

Design

What I normally start to ramble about at this point in a review is the fact that the technical specifications of a watch do not make a watch, design does. Well, these are words I won’t speak today for I find the the Brunswick 40 Filton’s to be built like literal tanks or, more accurately, akin to an armoured Aston Martin DB12 or, to remain within the horological theme, an attainable Vacheron Constantin Fiftysix on steroids which constitute a large part of their iridescent charm. Because it is one thing to create a beautiful and elegant timepiece—which Fears does very well and has been for the past 180 years—and yet another to pair the beauty of a swan with the heart of a lion. Of course, the Filton’s are pilot watches and we will discuss this in a minute, but they are so much more: Fears’ interpretation of this popular genre of timekeeping devices which it created anew, or different to me more accurate, and in such a way that they are tool watches and every sports watches as well as dressy watches. Thus watches for all occasions. 

When I first laid my French eyes on these British beauties I was taken aback, and immediately charmed, by the juxtaposition of the ultra legible dials and the elegant cushion case. Typically Fears follow a certain restraint in design when releasing a new member in the Brunswick family, meaning that proportions are elegant and the dial furniture modestly discreet. They design holistic watches which are extremely well balanced in a more traditional meaning of the adjective, however with the Filton’s, that adjective takes on a new meaning and one which I didn’t expect. In other words, the Filton’s borrow the traditional design codes of pilot watches—a large legible handset, large hour markers, and a large dial opening—which the brand jeujed to make them a lil extra special and a dash more elegant than usual. In one way, the dial + case combo says I’m an elegant SOB, in another way it shouts I’m ready for action brother. There is a beautiful visual and spiritual contradiction stemming from the Filton’s which is hard to put into words. 

So let’s keep things simple and speak about the design of each element starting with the dial. On both versions, we find large proprietary “pipette” style hour and minute hands composed of matte white surrounds and large real estate for lume at their center paired with large and wide applied hour markers made of light pearlescent silver surrounds as well as opulent lumed sections. The markers are shaped in a traditional pilot watch fashion with Arabic numerals molded in the brand’s Edwin typeface, long batons at the 3, 6, and 9, and an up-facing triangle sans the two dots at the twelve. On both versions still there is a small four-sided-beveled date aperture at the six with white Edwin numerals printed on a black date disc, and a minute track printed on recessed chapter ring and finished with a radial grooved pattern. What differentiates the two members of the Filton family therefore are the color schemes: a pure monochromatic one for the ‘Raven Black’ and a fumé dark green of the ‘Squadron Green’ with an orange seconds hand. 

Then there is the case, a real pain in the ass to photograph on account of its rounded mirror-like polished flanks but a real thing of beauty. The charm of a finely designed and constructed cushion case are the small polished lugs which appear to be soldered to the mid-case, like little feet which visually and physically balance it on the wrist. And the aforementioned case sides are perfectly round and majestically polished, topped by circularly brushed upper sections which separate them from the rounded fully polished bezel which sits inward from the edges of the mid-case. All of this confers to the Filton, and all Brunswick’s models for that matter, a formidable wrist presence which strikes the perfect and unique balance between a pure horological tool and an object of subtle elegance. Fears went a step further by playing with the two types of finishes which it added where it mattered the most to highlight the fully curved case’s unique profile—the case flanks, fixed bezel, and lugs—and toned down by some of its other angles for balance. 

The Heart of the Matter

For if it wasn’t self-evident after another long written exploration of Fears’ latest collection, the Brunswick 40 Filton ‘Raven Black’ and ‘Squadron Green,’ you probably now get my growing healthy obsession for the British brand and its horological creations. As we know, no two brands are equal, no two watches are the same, and though Fears has explored a great variety of styles in the past few years, it manages to stamp each new collection (and each version of it) with a unique ethos: a particular blend of classicism and elegance paired with subtle character and singularity which it stretches and contracts at will for any genre of watchmaking. From the most exquisite of jump hours to apocalypse-ready utilitarian watches, and now in the traditional style of pilot watches which it managed to create anew whilst preserving what has made them stand out for so long. It is therefore rare, very rare for a brand to rejuvenate a traditional family of watches, and Fears, once again, excelled at it as much as it always does. What is next is what I want to know. 

Conclusion 

And now for the housekeeping items of this review: the two versions of the Fears Brunswick 40 Filton 'Raven Black’ and 'Squadron Green’ are readily available to purchase from the brand’s website and will set you back $3,500 USD without VAT/$4,200 USD with it on a leather strap or $3,700 USD without VAT/$4,400 USD with it on the five-link stainless steel bracelet equipped with screwed links, quick-release spring-bars, and a double-pusher butterfly clasp. A true beauty. You also have the option between see-through or closed case-back and long or short strap. I think this says it all and you know now what will be one of my upcoming NWA. 

Thanks for reading.