Fears Watches Arrive in Nashville: King Jewelers Joins the Family
When a heritage British watch brand like Fears lands in Music City, it’s news every watch enthusiast should sit up for. With King Jewelers in Nashville, TN now an official Fears authorized retailer in the United States, watch collectors from across the region finally have a brick-and-mortar home where they can experience these quietly obsessive British timepieces in person.
A brief history of Fears: from Bristol to rebirth
Fears is one of the oldest family-run watch companies in Britain, with roots stretching back to 1846. That’s when a young watchmaker, Edwin Fear, opened his workshop and showroom on Redcliff Street in Bristol. As the business grew, Fears expanded to Bristol Bridge, became Fears Limited in 1908, and by the 1930s was exporting watches to 95 countries around the world.
Like many historic makers, Fears eventually went quiet in the late 20th century. The story could’ve ended there, but in 2016 Edwin Fear’s descendant, Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, revived the brand after researching his family’s watchmaking legacy. Fears 2.0 debuted at SalonQP in London with the Redcliff – a modern, Swiss-powered watch named after the very street where the company began.
The second act really took shape with the launch of the Brunswick in 2017, a cushion-shaped hand-wound watch inspired by 1920s Fears designs. That watch, along with later additions like the Archival 1930 and a collaboration with English independent Garrick, firmly re-established Fears as a serious yet understated voice in modern British watchmaking.
Today, Fears is still based in Bristol. Its watches are designed there, assembled in Britain, and built with a level of transparency about components and suppliers that collectors really respond to.
Inside the Fears collections
One of the joys of visiting King Jewelers in Nashville will be seeing the breadth of the Fears line up close. The brand has a compact but carefully curated family of collections, each with its own personality but a shared “elegantly understated” design language.
Brunswick: the modern Fears icon
If there’s a watch that defines modern Fears, it’s the Brunswick. This cushion-cased model is described by the brand as its “elegantly understated hand-wound watch collection,” inspired directly by historic Fears pieces and hand-built in Britain.
The Brunswick comes in 38 mm and 40 mm sizes, with a delicious range of dials – from classic Champagne and Copper Salmon to more contemporary hues like Flamingo Pink and mother-of-pearl “Aurora” and “Orchid.” Manual-winding versions showcase Fears’ love of traditional watchmaking, while automatic variants such as the Brunswick 40 provide a more casual, everyday sports-watch vibe.
Redcliff: a refined daily companion
The Redcliff collection is named after Redcliff Street in Bristol, where Edwin Fear first set up shop in 1846. The modern Redcliff was the first watch of the relaunched brand and has recently returned with a slim, robust 39.5 mm case, automatic Swiss movement, and three-link bracelet.
Available in dial colors ranging from Raven Black and Pewter Grey to Cherry Red and ivory tones, the Redcliff sits right in the sweet spot for an “only watch” – clean, contemporary, and versatile enough to slip from desk to dinner without effort.
Arnos: a modern take on the rectangular watch
For collectors who love shaped cases, the Arnos collection explores a sleeker, more architectural side of Fears. Housed in a 40 x 22.6 mm rectangular stainless-steel case and powered by an automatic movement, the Arnos comes with blue or grey dials on leather or rubber straps.
It’s a subtle nod to the Art Deco era, but with crisp modern detailing that keeps it from feeling like a pure throwback – exactly the sort of non-flashy sophistication Fears does so well.
Haute & Garrick: Fears at full volume
At the very top of the range sits the Haute Collection, currently represented by the Fears x Garrick collaboration – a 42 mm, manually wound piece that leans fully into British high horology.
Featuring open-worked details, a power-reserve display, and a movement with significant UK-made content, this watch shows what happens when Fears stretches its legs technically while maintaining its core design values. It’s rare, it’s special, and it gives hardcore collectors something to dream about.
Why collectors are obsessed with Fears
So why has Fears become such a darling of the watch-nerd community? Part of it is the story: a family brand from 1846, lost and then revived by a sixth-generation descendant who left a job at Rolex to bring it back. That narrative resonates, but it’s only the beginning.
Collectors also appreciate how focused the catalog is. Rather than chasing every trend, Fears iterates thoughtfully within a few core families – Brunswick, Redcliff, Arnos, Archival and the Garrick collaboration – refining details like case curvature, dial typography and hand shapes.
Then there’s the execution. Fears is transparent about where its components come from and works with specialized partners for movements, cases and dials, while assembly and finishing happen in Britain. Many references sit in a price band that offers serious finishing and character without straying into stratospheric territory, making them highly appealing as “connoisseur’s daily wearers.”
Finally, production is intentionally limited, which means Fears pieces don’t flood the market. Retailers like Collective Horology note that Fears watches have become “increasingly difficult to acquire” thanks to this combination of scarcity and demand – a dynamic that naturally attracts enthusiasts.
King Jewelers Nashville: a new home for Fears in the US
For American collectors, one of the biggest challenges with Fears has been simply getting hands-on time. That’s what makes King Jewelers’ appointment as an authorized Fears retailer in Nashville so exciting.
On Fears’ own list of authorized stockists, King Jewelers appears alongside a carefully curated group of international partners, underscoring the brand’s philosophy of working only with retailers who share its values and emphasis on exemplary service. Based in the Green Hills neighborhood at 4121 Hillsboro Pike, King Jewelers is already recognized as an official retailer for major Swiss names like TUDOR, IWC Schaffhausen, and Baume & Mercier, cementing its reputation as a serious multi-brand destination for fine watches.
What does this mean on a practical level? If you’ve ever admired a Flamingo Pink Brunswick 40 on Instagram, you can now walk into King Jewelers, feel the weight of the bracelet, study the depth of the dial, and see how that cushion case sits on your wrist. If you’ve been curious about the new Redcliff 39.5 or the character of the Arnos, you can compare them side-by-side under real light instead of guessing from photos.
Equally important, you’ll be dealing with a team that’s been personally trained in the history and details of Fears – a requirement Fears places on all of its authorized stockists. That means informed guidance on choosing the right case size, strap, and complication for your lifestyle, whether you’re a first-time luxury buyer or a seasoned collector adding another British name to the watch box.
Fears Watches: A British classic, now in Music City
The arrival of Fears at King Jewelers feels like a natural pairing: a heritage British watchmaker with a modern cult following, and a long-established family jeweler known for curating some of the strongest brands in the industry.
For Nashville watch lovers, it’s an invitation to discover a different flavor of luxury – one that’s less about loud logos and more about considered design, family history, and the pleasure of a beautifully made mechanical watch that flies just under the radar.
And for Fears, it’s another step in a journey that began in a Bristol workshop in 1846, now continuing on the wrists of enthusiasts in Tennessee and beyond.
