Bell & Ross BR03-92 Bi-Compass

Bell & Ross BR03-92 Bi-Compass

The latest Bell & Ross watch is inspired by cockpit instruments, but this piece has an original twist: the hours are shown not by a hand but by the central part of the dial that rotates along with the reference triangle marked on it. It required some thoughtful design to ensure that this component would…

Bell & Ross Military Beige BR V2-92 Nato strap

Bell & Ross Military Beige BR V2-92 and BR V2-94

Attractive in its beige-black livery, the Bell & Ross Military Beige BR V2-92 is functional, with a bidirectional rotating bezel in anodized aluminium that enables events to be timed and countdowns to be set. The hour and minute hands have central fields filled with SuperLuminova. The automatic is (to my eyes) marred by the date…

Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Bellytanker

Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Bellytanker chronograph

The Bell & Ross BR V2-94 Bellytanker is the brand’s second watch on the Bellytanker theme. Like the three-hand BR V1-94, it was inspired by Bell & Ross’s own reinterpretation of a hot rod created by Bill Burke in 1946, using a military surplus auxiliary fuel tank from the Mustang P-51, and later a similar…

Bell & Ross BR V1-92 Bellytanker

Bell & Ross BR V1-92 Bellytanker

Most watch designers do just that – they design a watch. At Bell & Ross, they sometimes take a longer way around: they design a vehicle, and then design a watch inspired by it. In 2014, they designed the B-Rocket, a concept motorbike, and in 2016, the Aéro-GT concept car. This year, it is the…

Bell & Ross Vintage Garde-Côtes Chronograph

Bell & Ross Vintage Garde-Côtes Chronograph

This new chronograph by Bell & Ross was introduced together with the Vintage Garde-Côtes Automatic, and it shares the same grey-orange-white colour scheme based on the equipment used by the French coastguard service. The Vintage Garde-Côtes Chronograph could be described as a “sports chronograph” with a water resistance of 100 metres with the crown and…

Bell & Ross Vintage Garde-Côtes Automatic

Bell & Ross Vintage Garde-Côtes Automatic

The Vintage Garde-Côtes Automatic by Bell & Ross was designed as a tribute to French coastguard helicopter rescue services. In addition to this automatic version, a chronograph with pulsometer scale is also available. The orange, grey and white colour scheme was directly inspired by the equipment used by the Garde-Côtes services. The water resistance of…

Bell & Ross BR 01-92 Heritage

The Bell & Ross pilot’s watch, with square case and four bezel screws, a layout inspired by cockpit instruments, has become a modern classic, occasionally copied (here is an example). In the BR0192-HERITAGE version, the dial layout is more reminiscent of an altimeter than a traditional pilot’s watch, with four large numerals in a distinctive…

Bell & Ross BR S Rose Gold

Bell & Ross BR S Rose Gold

The Bell & Ross BR S Rose Gold, launched for Christmas 2016, transforms the brand’s instrument-panel aesthetic into a high-end pink gold piece that recalls Bulgari, with its clean design and simple baton hour markers. A nice touch is the date window, which, even though it is at 4.30, has upright figures (usually, when a…

Bell & Ross BR-X1 Tourbillon Marine

Bell & Ross BR-X1 Tourbillon Chronograph

The Bell & Ross BR-X1 Tourbillon Chronograph is one of the three watches that the brand has presented in a marine chronometer style. Its complex square case is 45 mm in size, made in rose gold and rosewood, evoking the 19th century chronometers used on board ships. It has the commendable water resistance rating of…

Bell & Ross instrument de Marine

Bell & Ross Instrument de Marine

Bell & Ross achieve success for their higher-priced watches (their core business is from $2,000 to $6,000) by ensuring that demand is always higher than supply. Demand comes from quality design and originality, supply is restricted by limiting production. This piece, BR 01 Instrument de Marine, is a good example. Bell & Ross are tapping…

Bell & Ross BR‑X1 HyperStellar

Bell & Ross BR‑X1 HyperStellar

Hamilton is Interstellar, Bell & Ross goes HyperStellar. In this new version of the BR-X1 chronograph, Bell & Ross suggest the space theme principally by the colour combination, blue and grey. The BR-X1 HyperStellar has a 45 mm case in titanium, with a protective insert for the bezel in blue anodized aluminium. Its water resistance…

Bell & Ross BR 03-94 AeroGT chronograph

Bell & Ross BR 03-94 AeroGT chronograph

This chronograph watch, like the three-hand Bell & Ross BR 03-92 AeroGT, is linked to the Bell & Ross AeroGT concept car, designed by the brand’s creative director Bruno Belamich and his team. Bell & Ross BR 03-94 AeroGT chronograph The BR 03-94 AeroGT chronograph has a very technical look, with chronograph hands all in…

Bell & Ross BR 03-92 AeroGT

In 2014, Bruno Belamich, creative director at Bell & Ross, designed the B-Rocket motorbike, something like a cross between a bike and an aircraft. It was actually built, in cooperation with the Shaw Harley-Davidson Speed & Custom company. This year, 2016, the brand presented a Bell & Ross car, the AeroGT concept car. This in turn was…

Bell & Ross BR-X1 RS16 chronograph

The Bell & Ross BR-X1 RS16 is a chronograph that celebrates the brand’s sponsorship of the Renault Sport Formula One team. The watch is named after the R.S. 16 car used for the 2016 season, and it is available for sale only at Grand Prix races. The watch, 45 mm in size, has a case…

Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Desert Type chronograph

Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Desert Type chronograph

Probably, 90% of all watches that are sold have circular cases. Bell & Ross is therefore an exception to the rule, and they have achieved extraordinary success with their watches whose square cases with four screws at the corners are directly derived from aircraft cockpit instruments. The Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Desert Type chronograph…

Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Desert Type automatic

Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Desert Type Automatic

When you look at the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Desert Type automatic, you can’t help thinking of Panerai. The dial is made in three layers, a beige top surface, with cut-out numerals revealing the black luminescent coating at the core of the sandwich construction. During the day, the black luminescent paint contrasts effectively with…

Bell & Ross BR S Diamond Eagle

Bell & Ross BR S Diamond Eagle

Bell & Ross has signed a new testimonial for their women’s watches, racing driver Carmen Jorda, currently development driver for the Renault Sport Racing team. In the photo below she is wearing the BR S Diamond Eagle, a watch presented at Baselworld 2016, and the brand’s latest women’s watch. Bell & Ross announced their partnership…

Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 Guynemer

This watch, released last year for the anniversary of the start of the Great War, celebrates World War I French air ace Georges Guynemer, and it shares a lot with the earliest aviation watches. The Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 Guynemer is the wrist-watch version of their 2011 Pocket Watch 1, which has a 49…

Bell & Ross WW1 Edición Limitada

In their WW1 (Wrist Watch 1) collection, Bell & Ross produce their tributes to the earliest aviation watches, and this piece has some characteristics of the early pilot’s watches and the 1909 Zenith that probably initiated the style. With those precedents, it shares the numeral design, and the welded wire lugs. This piece is one of…