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Bell & Ross Adds Green to Bronze Diver

Bell & Ross expands its bronze-cased offerings with the new BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze, the latest model in the watchmaker’s dive collection.

The new Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze.

Boasting a color that might recall recent green-dial additions to the above-ground BR 05 collection, the new watch’s dial appears as a subdued matte green rather than the glossy green of those earlier land-based examples.

Bell & Ross teams the green dial with a bronze case that fits perfectly within  existing bronze-cased offerings in this collection. Last year the watchmaker  launched one new model in bronze, and a year earlier we saw the debut of two bronze-cased BR 03 Dive models.

Bronze cases are valued by many collectors for their ability to display the results of oxidation, a process that creates an individualized brownish, reddish or green patina pattern on each watch. Bronze is also an alloy of choice on sailing boat fittings. As Bell & Ross notes, “bronze gives watches extra soul and puts the wearer in touch with nature.”

As with all Bell & Ross dive watches, the new BR 03-92 Diver Black & Green Bronze is built to meet international standard ISO-6425, which states that a “diving watch” is a watch that must withstand immersion in water to a depth of at least 100 meters and have a highly visible time control system, among many other dive-ready specs.

Bell & Ross employs its automatic BR-CAL.302 movement (based on Sellita SW300-1) that beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations/hour and guarantees a 54-hour power reserve.

Protecting the movement, the solid steel caseback has been engraved with an image of a vintage bronze diver’s helmet. Bell & Ross attached the case to a black rubber strap with ‘ultra-resilient’ black synthetic fabric. 

Price: $4,900 (limited edition of 999 pieces).

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2023 Favorites, Part III 

At the end of the year it’s time to note our favorite 2023 debut watches. We continue our look at a few of our favorite timekeepers of the year. 

Maurice Lacroix: Pontos S Diver 

Maurice Lacroix revisited its Pontos S Diver earlier this year,  revamping the dive watch with a sharp-looking new dial sporting bolder indexes and minute markings, improved luminosity and a raised date frame.

With the updated 42mm watch, Maurice Lacroix enhances dial visibility with newly facetted  hour and minute hands, both of which glow with SuperlumiNova. On the minute hand you’ll now see a border colored to contrast with the dial. The hour indexes retain their generous luminescent treatment. 

Maurice Lacroix also retains the watch’s useful internal rotating bezel to indicate elapsed time, adjusted using the crown at the 2 o’clock position. The second crown at the 3 o’clock position is used to adjust the time, date and to wind the automatic ML115 movement. All models are water resistant to 300 meters. Prices: $2,050 (steel) and $2,600 (bronze). 

 

Bell & Ross: BR05 Chrono Green Steel 

Bell & Ross mixes nature and architecture with the new BR 05 Chrono Green Steel, one of its newest in the BR 05 series of ‘rounded square’ designs.  The watch is even more approachable as a steel model, when compared to the gold-cased, three-hand model (BR 05 Green Gold) from earlier in the year. Bell & Ross fits an eye-catching automotive-inspired 360-degree rotor to the movement, which is visible through a sapphire caseback. 

Price: $6,200 (rubber strap) and $6,700 (steel bracelet). 

 

 

Citizen: Washi Paper Limited Edition 

This limited-edition model features a Tosa ‘washi’ dial enhanced with powdered platinum leaf using a traditional Japanese decorative technique called S unago-maki that echoes the look of freshly fallen snow.

The 38.3mm case and the bracelet are made of Super Titanium treated with Duratect Platinum, making the watch scratch resistant and giving the metal a gleaming, almost transparent, silver hue. And of course the watch is equipped with a high-accuracy light-powered Eco-Drive movement with an annual accuracy of ±5 seconds. Price: $4,300. 

 

Pro Tek: Field Watch 

This quite affordable 3000 Field watch is crafted in a slim (11mm) and lightweight titanium case in either a natural or black IP version. All are capped with a flat sapphire crystal over a dial and hands enhanced with 3 colors of T-100 self-illuminating tubes. 

Rated and tested to a legitimate 100 meters of water resistance, the ProTek Series 3000 field watch can also be a casual-use water watch and is delivered with a waterproof Italian leather strap. With a light weight of just over 48 grams (head-only), the watches are very comfortable on the wrist for extended use. The threaded (screw-down) back is also crafted in titanium with a stylized “P” presented in deep relief, as it is on the double-gasket crown. Inside the case is a Citizen/Miyota quartz movement with a four-year battery accurate to +/- 20 seconds per month. Retail price is $475 at www.watchgauge.com. 

 

Custos: Challenge Sealiner PS 

At 59mm by 45mm, this watch’s impressive sapphire case is endowed with a non-reflective coating on both sides and is affixed with specialized Cvstos polished titanium screws. Its sharp-looking teak dial really sets it apart from other nautically themed models. Just below the stylized luminous hands (including a very cool propeller-shaped small-seconds hand) lies a teak-wood plate, echoing the woodwork found on many an ocean-cruising yacht.

Cvstos will make twenty-five examples of the Challenge Sealiner PS with orange or turquoise dial and crown accents and matching rubber strap.  Price: $49,500.

Zenith: Pilot Big Date Flyback

Powered by the new El Primero 3652 automatic high-frequency chronograph (a new version of the Zenith El Primero 3600), this hero debut from Watches and Wonders 2023 displays its namesake functions with panache. The steel model is especially notable for its vintage ‘Rainbow Flyback’  references with its chronograph’s minutes totalizer finished in alternating colors, which will make it easier to distinguish between the five-minute marks. 

In addition, the steel model’s central chronograph seconds and its chronograph minutes hands are bright orange. This is another nod to the Zenith El Primero Rainbow from 1997. Also very cool, the model’s black ceramic version (above) is more utilitarian look with luminescent white markers and hands that contrast nicely against a black corrugated dial. On both models, the oversized date display features a new, patented mechanism that advances and stabilizes both of the big date’s wheels in less than 0.03 seconds.

Prices:

Pilot Big Date Flyback – Black Microblasted Ceramic: $13,500 and Pilot Big Date Flyback – Steel: $11,500.

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Bell & Ross Blues its Cyber Skull 

Bell & Ross expands its BR 01 Cyber Skull collection with the new BR 01 Cyber Skull Sapphire Ice Blue, a 45mm clear sapphire watch with an automaton skull whose jaw moves when the watch’s crown is turned while winding the movement.

The new Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Skull Sapphire Ice Blue.

The high-tech composite sapphire case allows a completely clear view of the manual-wind caliber and its components, whether viewed from the front or back of the watch. The highlight ice blue skull, made of galvanized brass and blue PVD (on the dial side), serves as a backdrop and mainplate for the skeletonized caliber BR-CAL.209, with its 48-hour power reserve and 28,800 vph frequency.

Bruno Belamich, creative director and co-founder of Bell & Ross, explains that the newest skull hue “combines perfectly with the transparency of the sapphire of the case, like a faceted iceberg.”

The watchmaker notes that the case’s sapphire material is almost as hard and scratch-resistant as diamond. To produce the case, technicians use a hydrogen flame to heat an alumina powder to a temperature exceeding 2,000°C., a delicate and painstaking process

Bell & Ross equips the watch with a transparent soft silicone strap held to the wrist with a polished and satin-finished steel pin buckle. The new BR 01 Cyber Skull Sapphire Ice Blue is a limited edition of 25 pieces, each priced at $115,000. 

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Bell & Ross Explores With New Diver

Bell & Ross partners with the Tara Océan Foundation to create the BR 03-92 Diver Tara, a new dive watch built to meet the needs of the crew on board the oceanography exploration schooner Tara. The ship carries out the organization’s marine biodiversity research aimed at observing and anticipating the impacts of climate change and pollution.

The new Bell & Ross BR03 Diver Tara

On board the Tara, researchers are wearing the new watch, which features a 42mm matte blue ceramic case and unidirectional rotating blue and orange ceramic bezel.

Now joining the Bell & Ross BR 03 Diver series, the new watch (a limited edition of 999 pieces) retains all the required dive specs, including the high-visibility dial, the aforementioned graduated bezel and a solid 300-meter water resistance rating.

Echoing other watches within the BR 03 Diver series, the deep blue dial displays highly visible indications even underwater thanks to its generous helping of white SuperLuminova on the applied indexes and graduated bezel. The seconds hand features an orange tint,

Inside Bell & Ross fits its Sellita-based BR-CAL 302 automatic movement, which powers the hour, minute, seconds and date displays.

“At its core, Bell & Ross is a supplier for explorers and elite units, with each watch designed to meet precise specifications set by the professional world it will enter,” explains Carlos-A Rosillo, President and Co-Founder of Bell & Ross. “That’s why we felt it was important to mark this joining of forces and celebrate the first year of our partnership with a new piece, the BR 03 Diver Tara.”

Rosella adds that for every watch sold, part of the profits will be donated to the France-based Foundation. Even the strap is built for conducting research in extreme weather with its blue woven rubber lined with an ultra-resistant technical material, all held to the wrist with a steel pin buckle.

“The Tara teams on board the schooner, and even at the North Pole in the near future, will be required to dive on a regular basis,” explains Romain Troublé, general director of the Tara Ocean Foundation.

Price: $5,600. 

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Bell & Ross Adds Smaller BR 03 Models

Bell & Ross introduces a new size to its BR 03 ‘circle-within-a square’ series, adding six models with a 41mm square case size.

Among the debuts is this model with an attractive copper dial, achieved through a galvanization process and enhanced by engraved black numerals and indexes.

Smaller by 1mm, watches in the new series also include a slimmer strap, narrower lug distance (from 4.5mm to 4.0mm) and a new automatic movement, BR-CAL.302, a Sellita-based caliber with an extended power reserve of fifty-four hours. All remain water resistant to 100 meters.

For the first time Bell & Ross combines a matte black ceramic case with a khaki dial on this new BR 03 Military Ceramic.

“With the new BR03, we modified the proportions of the collection by respecting its canons,” explains Bruno Belamich, Bell & Ross’ co-founder and Creative Director. “Our goal was to preserve the identity that has made the BR03 so successful, while adapting it to the new times and maintaining its allure.”

Look for three new models in a black case: Black Matte, Phantom and Heritage, as well as three new versions in polished steel – Black Steel, Blue Steel and Golden Heritage.

The latter feature truly retro black, blue and brown dials. Among the debuts is a models sporting a distinctive new copper dial model and another in a sharp-looking khaki-colored ceramic case.

Prices: $3,600 to $4,300.

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