Fears has given its distinctive jumping hour watch a more contemporary look for one final release, combining an Art Deco-inspired design with sapphire and luminous ceramic.
The Brunswick 40.5 Jump Hour ‘Ultimus’ was created with British watch journalist and presenter Andrew Morgan. According to Fears, it will also be the final model in its Jump Hour collection, which began with the Fears x Christopher Ward Alliance 01 in 2023.
The Ultimus keeps the 40.5mm cushion-shaped Brunswick case, but the Phantom White dial gives it a much more modern feel. Three sapphire elements sit above the rotating hour disc, revealing parts of the mechanism that would normally stay hidden.
Instead of showing the hour through a conventional cut-out, Fears has integrated a magnifying window into the dial. The hour number jumps forward as each 60-minute period ends, while a single black PVD-coated hand tracks the minutes.
A luminous ceramic centre gives the watch another trick after dark. Together with the glowing hour disc, it produces a deep blue light beneath the frosted, semi-transparent minute track. The effect gives the otherwise monochrome design a very different character in low light.
Inside is a Swiss-made automatic movement using Christopher Ward’s JJ01 jumping-hour module on a Sellita SW200 base. It has 25 jewels and a 38-hour power reserve, while the stainless steel case offers water resistance to 100 metres.
Buyers can choose an Obsidian Black Epsom calf leather strap for $4,600. Adding Fears’ five-link stainless steel bracelet, with the leather strap still included, raises the price to $4,900.
Orders are only open from August 10 until 11:59pm BST on August 17, so buyers do not have long to decide. Fears also says production is not capped at a fixed number, with each watch instead being hand-built in small batches. The first deliveries are expected to begin in November.
For the final Brunswick Jump Hour, Fears has kept the vintage influence that shaped the collection while making the mechanism itself a much bigger part of the design.