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Bell & Ross launches the BR 03-92 Patrouille De France 70th Anniversary watch to celebrate the seventh decade of the namesake French aerobatics team.

The new Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Patrouille De France 70th Anniversary watch.

Built using a high-tech, blackened ceramic 42mm by 42mm case, the new limited edition watch (999 pieces) features a sharp-looking dial matching the blue hue used by the Alpha Jet of the Patrouille de France.

To underscore the team’s blue identity, Bell & Ross opts to connect the case to the wrist with a matching blue calfskin and black synthetic canvas fabric strap. 

Bell & Ross has teamed with the Patrouille de France since 2021, creating several limited edition models for the elite aerobatic team.

To further enhance the partnership of the two French organizations, Bell & Ross also places the insignia of the team and the specific logo of its 70th anniversary directly on the Bell & Ross circle-in-a square dial. The logo is encircled with the colors of the French flag.

On the back of the watch, Bell & Ross engraves the silhouettes of the five aircraft that have flown since the creation of the Patrouille de France in 1953. The design reflects the wishes of the team’s pilots, according to Bruno Belamich, Creative Director and co-founder of Bell & Ross.

“Pilots are always consulted for the creation of watches: the primary goal of the (Bell & Ross) house is to meet the needs of these men and provide them with a tool to serve their mission,” he adds.

Inside you’ll find the Bell & Ross Sellita-based automatic movement BR-CAL 302, which powers the dial’s hours, minutes, seconds and date displays. 

Price: $4,100. 

By Gary Girdvainis

William Henry’s new Legacy timepiece collection, its first foray into wristwatches, features dials created from meteorite, fossilized mammoth tooth and other exotic materials.

Matt (William) Conable and his business partner Michael (Henry) Honack founded William Henry in 1997 with the belief that there was a potential consumer base for fine knives situated between the work of individual bladesmiths and mass production. They were right. 

First, the Knives

Having practiced his knife-making art under his own name for almost a decade prior to launching the Oregon-based William Henry, Matt Conable developed an appreciation of exotic and unusual materials for his craft.

Today, William Henry incorporates exotic woods, fossilized dinosaur bone, mammoth tooth, semi-precious stones, corals and other unusual materials into handles. Frames, blades, bolsters and other metal elements are crafted in a variety of functional, semi-precious, and elegantly forged metals. 

Unlike the results of mass production, William Henry’s knives combine the talents of expert individuals around the world to bring each design to life. Bladesmiths work Damascus and other exotic steels, metalsmiths create Mokume Gane while a host of specialist engravers work their craft to embellish handles and bolsters in their individual style.

I’ll admit that I often lament the overuse of “unique” when describing unusual designs, but each William Henry knife is in-fact unique. No two are exactly the same. The Damascus pattern, the grain of exotic woods, the striations of color in a fossilized mammoth tooth, or even the Widmanstatten patterns of meteorite all lend themselves to this distinctive individuality. 

Next, the Accessories

Following the success of their blade-bearing beauties, Conable and company expanded the stable of offerings from knives to a host of other high-end men’s (and a few women’s) accessories including bracelets, necklaces, cufflinks, money clips, writing instruments, and more.

In each product line, the ethos and feel of the William Henry design was clearly evident. 

Seeing this evolution into new product lines I had always wondered – and had actually asked the leadership at William Henry “why not watches?” Vague answers intimated they were clearly considering the idea, but I never got a confirmation – until now.

Three William Henry Legacy watches. From left, Mammoth, Meteorite and Dinosaur.

Finally, the Watches 

In reality, the connection between knives and watches is not that great a leap. Both have ostensible functionality that justifies their existence, and both can be elevated beyond functionality and become works of art crafted in metal and other exotic materials. 

For William Henry’s new Legacy timepiece collection, its first foray into wristwatches, five variations (see below) perfectly exemplify the spirit of William Henry.

The William Henry Legacy Dinosaur, with a fossilized Dinosaur bone dial.

From the brand: “William Henry is a studio that tells stories through timeless pieces, and our first watch design is a testament to that intention. The Legacy watch collection is a perfect blend of form and function, built around the extraordinary materials that have defined us.”

A sampling of raw materials used by William Henry to make Legacy collection dials.

Entering the luxury watch market can be a risky thing. Unlike jewelry – or even knives – mechanical watches house a complex engine perfected and refined over hundreds of years by trial and error. 

Inside Legacy

For their own launch watches, William Henry chose to go with the Sellita SW 400, a Swiss automatic time & date (only) movement without extraneous functions or complications, allowing the full impact of the rare materials to take center-stage. All else being equal, the SW 400 is a slightly larger version of the SW 200 and fits very nicely into the 42mm case without looking lost in the see-through back.

Each watch is powered by a Sellita automatic movement.

These high-grade movements are housed in grade 5 titanium, Damascus steel, and even Moku-Ti (Damascus titanium) – clearly putting the metallurgical roots and experience of the William Henry brand on full display. These watches are also built to high standards and are water resistant to 100 meters, regardless of the case material. 

Under the sapphire crystals, each dial represents more than just color, pattern, and texture. They actually embody time in several different ways:

The William Henry Legacy Superconductor.

The Superconductor dial is a wafer of a modern material originally created as a particle accelerator moving protons and electrons to 99.997% the speed of light. It just so happens that the cross-section of this space-age material presents an intriguing pattern born from technology, and never used for its aesthetic value – until now.

The Legacy Moku-Ti.

The Moku-Ti dial combines ancient metalworking techniques in a mélange of modern materials and historical metalsmithing where the Damascus style layering of metals dating back to 1,500 BC are applied to the more modern titanium, a metal not really in widespread use until the 1900s.

The William Henry Legacy Mammoth.

Traveling a bit further back on the William Henry materials time-line, we find the one model sporting a Mammoth Tooth dial. Crafted from the fossilized teeth of these extinct giants, the amazing dials on these watches show color and grain that belie the source of the material and are at least 10,000 years old – when the last large herds of Wooly Mammoth roamed the planet.

Legacy Dinosaur dials.

The next series jumps back several orders of magnitude to fossilized dinosaur bone dating back 100-200 million years. When initially exhumed from the ground, the fossilized bone looks fairly mundane; much like a rusted rock. When shaped, sanded, polished, and finished, striations of dark grey create patterns over a varicolored Martian-red background in an ethereal expression of natural artistry brought to life through modern craftsmanship.

The Legacy Meteorite.

Traveling even further back to the very beginnings of our universe in our William Henry “Wayback” machine we find the meteorite dials. Not without precedent in the watchmaking pantheon, meteorite dials embody the ancient travelers of the cosmos that have seen billions and billions (thanks Carl) of years go by.

William Henry’s own dials display the iconic Widmanstätten patterns within a contrasting and colorful Moku-Ti case. This creates a vibrant counterpoint to the monochromatic Thomson structures of the dial. 

Each William Henry timepiece represents a merger of materials, design, and engineering that integrates a totemic representation of time into timekeeping itself. 

Prices range from $3,750-$9,000. See www.williamhenry.com. 

 

 

The Meteorite Dial 

This limited-edition Legacy Meteorite model features a dial crafted from pure meteorite, a remarkable interstellar remnant dating back billions of years and discovered here on Earth. The fine crystalline pattern, in metal, is unlike anything else we’ve ever seen, and offers a window back to an earlier era in the story of our universe.

The dial is housed in a forged Moku-Ti case, built with ninety layers of four alloys of aerospace grade titanium. This tapestry in metal is crafted by a master smith in Ukraine specifically for this William Henry watch case, which requires heat to reveal the final pattern.

The watch is finished with a sapphire crystal and exhibition back revealing the Swiss automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve. Water resistance is rated to 100 meters, and the hand-crafted leather strap features a custom stainless deployant clasp for easy wear and adjustment. 

The Fossil Dinosaur Bone Dial 

This limited-edition Legacy Dinosaur model features a dial crafted from dinosaur bone; an extraordinary fossil material that ranges from 100 to 200 million years old.

Raw dinosaur bone.

The ‘high red’ dinosaur bone is considered the finest in the world and is found in the American southwest. Initially it has a similar appearance to rock, but after the painstaking process of crafting a precision dial, the beautiful hues and patterns are revealed. Surrounding the ancient dial is a forged Damascus case built with 300 layers of stainless-steel alloys and etched to reveal the individual patterns. 

 

The Wooly Mammoth Tooth Dial 

Color and grain are the earmarks of the dial crafted from fossil mammoth tooth. This relic of the giant that last roamed the Earth 10,000 years ago is occasionally discovered on the sea floor or riverbeds. When used for decoration, each tooth or remnant must dry for about 2 years before William Henry can begin to work with it.

Raw mammoth tooth.

Vacuum stabilized with resin, the finished dial reveals unique patterns and colors that have been waiting (at least) 10,000 years to become a timeless story on your wrist. The dial is housed in a forged Damascus case, built with 300 layers of stainless-steel alloys and acid-etched to reveal the flowing patterns of the contrasting metals.

The Legacy Mammoth.

The case on the Legacy Mammoth is finished with a sapphire crystal and exhibition back revealing the Swiss automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve. Water resistance is rated to 10 ATM/100 meters, and the hand-crafted crocodile leather strap features a custom stainless deployant clasp for easy wear and adjustment. 

 

The Moku-Ti Dial 

This Legacy Moku-Ti watch (also limited) features a dial crafted from Moku-Ti, a complex tapestry in titanium. The metal is created by forging eighty-four separate layers of four different alloys of aerospace grade titanium into a finely patterned billet.

The Legacy Moku-Ti features a dial created by forging 84 separate layers of 4 different alloys of aerospace-grade titanium.

This exquisitely detailed material is forged specifically for this project by one master artist located in Ukraine. After a detailed diamond polish, William Henry uses carefully applied heat to reveal the different alloys and final pattern in the dial ensconced within its titanium case. 

 

The Superconductor Dial

This limited-edition Legacy Superconductor model features a dial crafted from Superconductor; a copper-niobium composite originally intended to become wire in a massive particle accelerator. The project was never completed, and this exotic patterned material was never drawn down to its final dimension.

Very little of it exists, and we have enough to make a limited number of watch dials. The dial is housed in a titanium case with black DLC coating, with a sapphire crystal and exhibition back revealing the Swiss automatic movement with a 38-hour power reserve.

This feature appears in the Spring 2023 issue of iW Magazine, where it includes an interview with William Henry co-founder Matt William Conable. 

Bell & Ross updates its hot BR 05 Skeleton collection with a new steel edition that glows with a warm gold coloring and soothing amber accents.

The new Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Golden.

The new BR 05 Skeleton Golden is seemingly bathed in its namesake hue thanks to a galvanized gold-colored flange just inside the round dial opening. A gold-tinted translucent dial panel is topped with gold-colored and luminescent (green) hands and indexes to underscore the color theme.

The new model is just the latest in a series Bell & Ross launched in 2019 with its first all-steel BR 05 Skeleton, which was followed by different steel variations: the Skeleton Blue in 2020, the NightLum in 2021 and the Skeleton Green in 2022.

As with all of Bell & Ross’s BR 05 ‘round within square” watches, this newest skeleton model features a 40mm diameter steel case, a flat sapphire crystal, and a satin-brushed steel bezel fixed by four polished steel screws.

Seen from the side, the watch’s multi-level construction becomes evident. Its middle case middle is nicely polished with two 45° bevels and is then satin-brushed on both sides. 

Bell & Ross has always allowed its automatic calibers a full showing with a sapphire crystal back, which emphasizes the brand’s customized 360° oscillating weight. The rotor powers a skeletonized BR-CAL.322, a Sellita-based automatic caliber.

Bell & Ross connects the BR 05 Skeleton Golden to the wrist with either with a highly integrated, 1970s-style steel bracelet with alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces, or a rubber strap in a matching amber color. The watchmaker offers this effervescent new model as a limited edition of 500 pieces.

Prices: $6,600 on the rubber strap and $7,100 on the steel bracelet.

Accutron and Bulova celebrate their shared history with NASA and the U.S. Space Program by launching the Accutron Astronaut and Bulova Lunar Pilot, each inspired by vintage Space Age designs.

The new Accutron Astronaut

NASA worked closely with Accutron to devise timekeepers for watches, instrumental panel clocks and internal mechanisms integral to the numerous missions into space starting in the mid-1950s through the 1970s.

Similarly, Bulova watches were worn by astronauts and pilots in the same era. On August 2, 1971, Apollo 15’s mission commander made lunar history while wearing a Bulova chronograph.

An Accutron and NASA 60-minute timer from the 1960s space program.

Accutron Astronaut

Referencing the 1968 “T” version of its Astronaut model, Accutron now relaunches the model with an update that specifically highlights the watch’s distinctive day/night bezel. The new 41mm steel-cased Accutron Astronaut is the first re-edition in what Accutron says will be “an exciting new series of Accutron Astronaut timepieces.”

The new model offers a vintage-perfect double box sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, but updates the movement with a Sellita SW330 GMT automatic caliber that, in another update, is partially exposed via an exhibition case back.

Accutron fits the watch with a ‘bullet’ steel bracelet. The Accutron Astronaut is a limited edition of 300 pieces. Price: $3,500.

Bulova Lunar Pilot 

With two new Lunar Pilot watches, Bulova expands its popular Archive Series with genuine vintage-sized replicas of the Bulova watch worn on the Moon. You might recall the first (and very successful) watch in the series, the 50th Anniversary Lunar Pilot Limited Edition, a 45mm model which Bulova in 2021 celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 15 mission.

The new Bulova Lunar Pilot, with black dial.

For the latest model, the case size remains surprisingly contemporary, measuring a full 43.5mm in diameter. 

Bulova is offering the new watch with either a black dial (like the original) or a with a sporty two-tone blue and white chronograph dial.

The new Bulova Lunar Pilot, with blue and white dial.

Bulova fits both models the brand’s proprietary NP20 High Precision Quartz (HPQ) chronograph movement accurate to 1/20th second.

Both watches are available on steel bracelets and each also arrives with a matching leather strap.

Bulova connects the black-dialed edition with a black leather strap and offers a blue leather strap with the two-tone chronograph. Both straps are attached to the wrist with latched spring bars for interchangeability with the bracelet as desired. Price: $895.

Alpine adventure inspired Victorinox as it designed its new Journey 1884 collection of 43mm steel-cased quartz and automatic watches.

An automatic model from the new Victorinox Journey 1884 collection.

The new collection, which includes two automatic models and five sporty quartz watches, features watches with blue or black dials and hands and colors that reference outdoor activities common just outside the doors of the Victorinox facilities in Delémont, Switzerland.

 

For example, the dials on the quartz models are finished to replicate a rocky hiking path.

The hands on all the watches replicate the signs seen while on those paths in Switzerland, while the counterweight of the seconds hands echo the shape of the familiar Swiss Army Knife, a product for which Victorinox is well known. Even the markers at 3 and 9 recall a pocket knife shape.

Victorinox differentiates the quartz models from the automatic models beyond the two movement types. The quartz models are sportier, with aluminum-inlay unidirectional rotating bezels, a black rubber strap option and its red seconds hand and red logo.

One quartz model is offered in a black PVD steel case with a matching bracelet (pictured above). The automatic models both feature ceramic-inlay unidirectional rotating bezels, yellow accents and a yellow seconds hand.

An automatic model from the Victorinox Journey 1884 collection, pictured with a genuine wood strap.

All models in the Journey 1884 collection are ISO certified for shock and water resistance (rated to 200 meters). Victorinox offers quick strap change options with all models allowing the wearer to change from strap to steel bracelet without tools. One particularly interesting strap option (offered on the blue-dialed automatic model) is made of patterned wood.

Victorinox notes that all its watch case components are made of stainless steel 316L that use a minimum of fifty percent up to ninety percent of recycled steel. The company also utilizes numerous recycling and energy efficiency system throughout its Delémont production facility.

Prices: $575 to $1,150.

 

Specifications: Victorinox Journey 1884

  • 43mm recycled stainless steel case (black PVD on selected model), manufactured in Delémont, Switzerland
  • Scratch-resistant and anti-reflective sapphire crystal
  • Water-resistant to 200 m (20 ATM / 660 ft)
  • Unidirectional rotating bezel with inlay in aluminum on quartz models and ceramic on automatic models 
  • Screw-in case back, with exhibition crystal on automatic models 
  • Protected screw-down crown

Dial and strap:

  • Swiss Super-LumiNova on hands, number, indexes and dot on bezel
  • Date calendar at 6 o’clock
  • Three-dimensional dial featuring military time
  • Genuine rubber, leather or wood strap and stainless steel bracelet
  • All straps/bracelet are tool free changeable

Movements:

  • Ronda 715 Swiss-made quartz movement with battery end-of-life indication
  • Selitta SW200-1 Swiss-made automatic movement with 38 hours power reserve

Special functions

  • ISO 764 certified antimagnetic protection for all quartz models
  • ISO 1413 certified shock resistance on all models (quartz and automatic)
  • ISO 22810 certified water resistance up to 200 meters / 20 ATM

Prices: $575 to $1,150.