The word from Garrick on their new S4 model;

The Garrick S4 is the latest creation from the British firm. It encompasses much hand-craftsmanship, manifest with its elaborate dial and yet, despite its impressive in-house content and high-quotient of hand-craftsmanship, it remains surprisingly affordable. In recent years, Garrick has shown its in-house watchmaking expertise again and again, releasing several refined timepieces. Some of these models are equipped with the firm’s exclusive movements, feature skeleton or guilloché dials and all are enriched with high-end finishing.

Whereas the mass-produced approach is to stamp a dial blank from a ribbon of brass, Garrick uses a lathe to create a brass disc. Two feet are riveted to the underside of the dial blank which ultimately unite the dial with the movement. The dial blank is ‘flattened’ using fine abrasive paper in order to remove any burrs or imperfections, creating a smooth surface. Thereafter, the dial is bead blasted. A chapter ring, effectively a circlet of metal, is paired with a smaller ring for the small seconds. These are then drilled, creating holes to facilitate fixing.

The chapter ring is clamped between two plates and baked at 300°C. This hardens the metal and removes any springiness. After the chapter ring has cooled, it is ‘spun’ on a lathe, creating a motif termed ‘satiné circulaire’. Furthermore, the hour track and minute track are delineated from one another with an engraved pattern called ‘sauté piqué. Laser engraving is used to impart Roman numerals to the chapter ring. The resultant recesses are then inked by hand using a special syringe pen. Once the ink has dried, the chapter ring is cleaned and spun again to remove any excess ink.

Upholding fine watchmaking practise, the Maritime hour and minute hands are heat-blued and the collet sat atop these hands is hand-polished to a brilliant conclusion. The central area of the dial is frosted, while the small seconds display is suffused with an intricate hand-guilloché motif, executed on a traditional rose-engine lathe. Alternatively, the central dial area can be specified with a contrasting guilloché pattern.

The Garrick S4 features an ETA movement and rtails at £4995. Handcrafted skills and Made In Norfolk quality doesn’t come cheap.

More details here.