Garrick Presents The New S5 Watch — A Smaller Case, A New Movement, And Hand-Guilloché Dials
Following a GPHG nomination of the S4 as a Petite-Aiguille finalist, Garrick is back to delight us with a sophisticated new model. The latest is set to bring yet another new dimension into its S1, S2, and S3 fine watch collections. It comes in a wrist-welcoming form and the independent brand’s first-ever 39mm case featuring a hand-guilloché dial. After much commotion and deliberation to land on a good name for it, Garrick gleefully presents… the S5!
Garrick is a passionate, traditionalist brand, flying the flag for the style of Great British watchmaking that boasted undisputed horological supremacy for about 200 years before the 20th century. To that end, Garrick’s own atelier in England employs a small team of homegrown watchmakers and a high quotient of locally sourced materials to handcraft its watches.
Artisanal watchmaking heritage
Due to this labor-intensive approach to upholding traditional watchmaking techniques, Garrick has an annual output of up to 70 watches. If you are unfamiliar with what this remarkable independent brand is capable of, head over to our articles on the S3 and the S4 for a taster.
A new case calls for a new movement
This is the S5, the brand’s smallest watch to date. It is a completely new construction with a more compact movement that Garrick designed from the ground up. Garrick tells us this exclusive UT-GO5 caliber is produced with parts made in the UK and Switzerland. It contains 20 jewels and dons a beautiful textured rhodium finish.
Unlike its larger predecessors, the UT-GO5 caliber reveals the balance on the rear side through a three-quarter plate with a frosted finish. There, we still find an old-school screwed balance wheel but with a new index and three-armed balance bridge.
This new construction affords you an open view of the oscillation from the back and also enables easier servicing. The manual-wound caliber operates at a frequency of 21,600vph (3Hz) and provides a 60-hour power reserve. It also allows the S5 to achieve a slender profile of just 8mm.
Quintessentially British styling
And that is just an appetizer, albeit quite a sumptuous one already. The main course is all the in-house craftsmanship, superb hand-finishing, and aesthetic essence the S5 encapsulates from back to front. The star dish is without a doubt its guilloché dial, which Garrick produces using a traditional rose engine lathe. Some of these machines on site are of incredible historical significance. They also give Garrick the privilege to offer clients a range of delicious motifs to choose from.
Co-founder Dave Brailsford enthuses, “We recently bought another rose engine from the very person who used to do turning for Derek Pratt. We are so happy we managed to get this historic lathe along with a straight-line engine. Seriously, these [machines] are as rare as hen’s teeth!”
As you see here, the model with the rose-gold-finished guilloché dial features is a solid steel chapter ring. It has a satiné circulaire finish and sauté piqué for the minute and seconds markings. Laser-engraved Roman numerals mark each hour, and Garrick’s craftspeople ink each one by hand. Another option, which you see here on the rhodium- and galvanized-finish dials, is an open-worked chapter ring in heat-blued or polished steel. The Garrick nameplate sits below 12 o’clock, and Maritime-style hour, minute, and seconds hands (also in heat-blued or polished steel) mark the time. As mentioned, Garrick offers its customers several customization options, including guilloché motifs, galvanized (colored) dial finishes, and lancine hands if preferred.
Personalized luxury
All this personalization is enclosed under a sapphire crystal in a circular case with a domed bezel and contoured lugs. The case is made of 904L stainless steel and polished to a mirror finish. Garrick presents this made-to-order timepiece on handmade alligator, calf, buffalo, or ostrich leather strap secured with a stainless steel pin buckle.
The numerous configurations may sound like a dizzying menu, but this is actually the beauty of commissioning a piece from a high-end artisanal watchmaker. The S5 is, in essence, a bespoke object of desire, thanks to Garrick’s in-house capabilities of fabrication, assembly, finishing, plating, regulating, and testing. Each one of Garrick’s S5 watches is individually produced by hand on request at the same price of £16,000 excluding VAT.
According to the brand, the S5 already has a waiting list running up to 2023 delivery due to unprecedented interest. To acquire a uniquely British timepiece personalized for you, or to learn more, visit Garrick’s website.
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