Hodinkee
The Business of Watches Podcast: Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, Founder And Chief Executive Officer Of Fears
This week on The Business of Watches, we sit down with Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, founder and CEO of Fears Watches, for an in-depth discussion. Nicholas has packed a lot into his 39 years. For the last decade, he's helmed the brand, originally founded in Bristol, England, in 1846 by his great-great-great-grandfather, Edwin Fears. Incredibly, Bowman-Scargill wasn't even aware of the Fears brand and family connection when he decided to train as a watchmaker at Rolex in the U.K. That move into watches followed an ill-timed foray into investment banking on the eve of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Nicholas Bowman-Scargill, the fourth managing director of Fears Watches. By the time Bowman-Scargill restarted the brand in 2016, it had been dormant for nearly four decades. He says its revival has been an exercise in business challenges, often met by the art of project management, a skill set he and his fellow Brits are uniquely adept at. Fears has now grown to about 15 people and returned to its roots in Bristol. From flirting with bankruptcy to implementing a dress code for employees and overseeing the design and production of a perpetual calendar model, Bowman-Scargill relays the dramatic tale of how the company has survived and thrived in the crowded, competitive arena of mid-tier timepieces. It's a heck of a story that offers heaps of insight for any watch enthusiast, collector, or small business owner. From what he learned and has applied at Fears from his time at...
