Introducing: The Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial” Limited Edition

This year marks 180 years since Fears Watch Company Limited’s foundation in 1846 and a respectable 10 years since its reestablishment by Edwin Fear’s great-great-great-grandson, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill. That means there’s a good reason for a celebration, and following the announcement of the Brunswick 40 “1846 Edition” in January, the British brand keeps the ball rolling with a very special limited edition of its Brunswick Jump Hour. The Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial” features an aventurine outer ring depicting a starry night sky and a mother-of-pearl center representing the Moon. If you want this watch, you might have to be quick, as only 75 pieces will be available.

I’m a big fan of the Fears Brunswick. I’d probably go for the smaller 38mm variant, but ever since the brand introduced the 40.5mm Jump Hour in 2023, I’ve been reconsidering. That first one was also the first collaboration watch within the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers. Christopher Ward made the jump-hour module on top of the automatic Sellita movement, and Fears was responsible for the design. Up until now, those designs have all been quite comparable. The new Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial,” however, certainly takes a more daring approach. Let’s take a look.

The Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial”

Let’s start with the dial’s context first. The 40.5mm stainless steel cushion case has a 12.8mm thickness and a 47mm lug-to-lug length. It features circular brushing up top, while the bezel, lugs, and case sides are polished. With the onion crown at 3 o’clock, you can operate the Sellita SW200 automatic movement inside. It runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour, features 25 jewels, and has a 38-hour power reserve. The JJ01 jump-hour module on top is from Christopher Ward. You can choose to get the watch with either an all-steel case back or a display back with a sapphire display.

As mentioned, until now, the dial designs of the Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour have all been fairly similar. Sure, there have been different colors, but aside from that, it was always a very clean design with a small ring in the center and the jump-hour aperture at 12. However, for this anniversary year, the design team definitely went for a different approach.

A dial like a night sky

The dial of the limited-edition Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour Celestial doesn’t feature a minute track in the center. Instead, the celestial-style minute track is now printed in silver on the aventurine outer ring. At the center of the dial is a piece of white mother-of-pearl that represents the Moon. On top of it is the polished and brushed Fears-style minute hand. This new version of the Brunswick Jump Hour also features a new style of numerals. The Breguet-inspired numerals were designed in-house and are used for both the minutes and hours. To interfere less with the overall dial design, the Fears logo moved to the 6 o’clock position, above the “England” designation.

Limited to 75 pieces

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen a watch with both aventurine and mother-of-pearl on the dial before. However, it works very well on the night-sky-inspired Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial.” It’s a bit much for me, but the playful arrangement of the minutes, combined with the elegant Breguet-style numerals, works well in this celestial theme. I also like how the jump-hour display contrasts with the aventurine sky.

The Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial” is a limited edition of only 75 pieces. It costs €4,200 / £3,625 (ex. VAT) on a blue Barenia calf leather strap and €4,400 / £3,791.67 (also ex. VAT) on a stainless steel five-row bracelet with a brushed and polished finish.

Let me know in the comments below what you think of the new Fears Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour “Celestial” limited edition.