David Brailsford, the founder of Garrick watches tweeted he was in London on Friday afternoon and some free time if anybody wanted to meet and see some watches. I thought “why not ask?” the worst that can happen is he says “no”, luckily he said he had a free slot. I had the chance to meet another “pillar” of the British watch business.
Garrick launched at the Salon QP two years ago with their first watch, The Shaftbury, based on the venerable Unitas hand wound movement. Significantly worked on in Garrick’s Norfolk workshop.
Garrick Shaftesbury
Early last year The Shaftesbury was followed by the Hoxton, a pared down hours and minutes only version of the first watch. This autumn saw the announcement of the maritime inspired, Norfolk watch, as you can see from the photo below, I had the opportunity to try on.
Garrick Norfolk – on my wrist
The Norfolk is not a watch for wearers wanting to make a statement; it’s a watch for those of a more reserved nature, those who appreciate tone-down purity, who just want the essentials.
The watch that David was most keen on to discuss was the most recent addition to the Garrick range, the limited edition ( 15 pieces) Regulator, again seen on my wrist below. On sale for £6995, which for the amount of work that has gone into it would seem a bit of a bargain.
The limited edition Garrick Regulator
This watch features a calibre sm001 manual wind movement (modified Unitas with exclusive gear train with an in-house free sprung balance – tested and regulated to ensure a daily variance of +3 seconds which is significantly more accurate than required by C.O.S.C. . David tried to explain to me ( a layman) the complicated work needed for the three dials.
Two finishes for the Regulator, DLC and polished steel
Personally, I find the regular dial a little less clear than the usual watch face. David assured me it just takes getting used to. There is though, no doubt, that this watch will get attention. It is probably a shame only fifteen will be made.
The Shaftesbury and Hoxton will soon disappear from the range leaving the Norfolk , the limited edition Regulator and the soon too be announced Plymouth featuring an in-house movement. For this movement Garrick has been working closely with specialist movement designer Andreas Strehler and his highly regarded company UhrTeilAG on the creation of a new exclusive movement. Some of the movement components will be produced by UhrTeilAG exclusively for Garrick, whilst other components will be made in-house by Garrick’s own watchmakers in its Norfolk-based workshops.
The finishing, subsequent assembly and regulation of the new movement will take place in Norfolk.
From the outset, it has always been a stated aim of Garrick to be frank about the provenance of its movements and this continues to be the case. We have drawn upon the best of independent Swiss know-how where this has conferred an advantage to their customers but remained true to their original idea of adding as much value to our products in Great Britain, a nation they patriotically promote. David, like so many people I have met in the British watch business, is someone clearly very proud of what he is doing and with great dreams for the future of the Garrick brand.
