British watchmaking is making a strong comeback, and one of the forces behind this is Garrick, founded by David Brailsford and Simon Michlmayr. With an annual production of around 50 pieces a year, they are by no means a threat to any of the more established (Swiss) brands in terms of volume. In terms of quality though, they are most certainly helping to put Great Britain firmly back on the map of high-end watchmaking.

One of the nice things about a smaller brand such as Garrick is that you can see a strong development and evolution that consists of many small revolutions. The original regulator, which they launched in 2016, was a watch that helped put the brand on the map. It was powered by a Unitas 6497, which Garrick heavily modified by replacing several parts with ones made in-house. While a regulator is usually already quite a charismatic watch, Garrick added some more by showing the balance wheel through an opening in the dial.
Fast forward to 2023, and the new Regulator, which the aptly named MK2 or Mark 2, a very British way of indicating a new and improved model, still has that opening in the dial to show the balance wheel. That is about the only thing that remains the same.

Brailsford and Michlmayr are nothing but ambitious and are really building Garrick up to do as much in-house as they possibly can. This is a growth model, but they go for the best when it comes to dependance on from suppliers. They teamed up with independent watchmaker Andreas...