Garrick S8: why a simpler watch takes longer to make

The S8 is Garrick’s unusually concentrated answer to a design question: how much of a watch’s craftsmanship can its owner actually see? The Norfolk independent has removed the conventional dial and opened the bridges of its new hand-wound movement, while keeping the display to hours, minutes and a small-seconds register. The result makes craftsmanship, rather than complication, the visual subject.

Its 39mm case is 8mm thick. Garrick says the smaller proportions respond to collectors who admired the 42mm S3 but wanted a more restrained size. The openworked ratchet wheel sits prominently within the display; the small seconds is offset around eight o’clock. Against the open mechanics, a frosted German-silver chapter ring maintains a recognisable time-reading perimeter.

Skeletonisation creates more surfaces that must be finished, not fewer. Garrick describes hand-cut bevels, sharp inward corners and black polishing, with deliberately narrow polished edges to avoid overwhelming the hands with reflections. This is an interesting reversal of the usual skeleton-watch strategy: the purpose of revealing every component is not simply to increase visual spectacle, but to let subtle differences in texture do the work.

Garrick says one watchmaker finishes and assembles each example from start to finish over roughly eight weeks. The chapter-ring markers are manually ink-filled with a needle under a microscope, because the frosted German silver would stain if treated with the method used on steel. These process details make the S8 more persuasive as a statement about labour than as an exercise in technical complexity.

The new manually wound S8 calibre provides approximately 60 hours of power reserve. Buyers can specify movement finishes, wheel colours, the balance and heat-coloured hands, among other choices; the case is offered in 904L steel or precious metal. Production is limited to five watches annually. Official starting prices are £59,500 for steel and £73,000 for precious metal before VAT, and Garrick currently lists orders for delivery in 2029.

The trade-off is clear: an open dial exposes the movement’s beauty but risks reducing legibility. Garrick’s slim edge-polishing, peripheral chapter ring and contrasted hands appear intended to manage that tension. This is a desk-based design reading of official photographs and Garrick’s technical descriptions, not a hands-on assessment.