2022 Fears Brunswick Salmon Dial 38mm Exhibition Back
Ref: BS23800A

The year was 1846, and a young watchmaker named Edwin Fear established a workshop and showroom in his own name at 33-35 Redcliff Street in Bristol. The company Edwin Fear that he created became more and more successful and eventually, in 1866, needed to expand to their second premises, on Bristol Bridge, which served as Fears headquarters until the 1940s. During this period, the company had three different Managing Directors. Following the passing of Edwin in 1877, the business was handed down to his son, Amos Daniel Fear, who in 1908 saw the company become a limited company whilst also changing its operating name from ‘Edwin Fear’ to ’Fears Limited’. Amos also safely navigated the company through the First World War,1914-1918, after which he established an export department called ‘Fears (Export) Limited’ at No. 14 Brunswick Square in Bristol. In late 1945, following the War, Fears moved to new premises in Clifton, Bristol, just in time to celebrate the company’s centenary in 1946 with a new watch collection. Fears continued to thrive through the post-war years until it sadly closed its doors in 1976. It was not until 40 years later, in 2016, when an aspiring young apprentice watchmaker at Rolex in London, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, who is the great-great-great-grandson of Edwin Fear, re-launched his family’s company at the SalonQP watch show on 3rd November 2016. Keeping the name ‘Fears’, he released their first wristwatch in the twenty-first century, the Redcliff. Rolling with the success of the Redcliff in 2017, they released their second wristwatch, The Brunswick, named after Brunswick Square in Bristol.  In 2022, Fears relocated to its historic home city of Bristol, where they built a new Headquarters and Showroom. In 2023, the first Fears and Christopher Ward Alliance Watch was released, the jump hour, a unique collaboration between two powerhouses of the British Watch & Clock Makers Alliance. The Alliance was set up in November 2020 as a Trade body representing 75 Brands across the British Isles, including the Republic of Ireland, such brands as Bamford London, Christopher Ward, Fears, Farer, Elliot Brown, Isotope, Marloe Watch Company, MHD Watches, Pinion, Schofield, Studio Underdog and many others.