The Breitling Watch Blog

Bell & Ross released an Abstract, Philosophical timepiece(s) recently, called the 12 o’Clock. This is a limited edition of 12 pieces, and is truly unique in its presentation. The display is essential a clock made up of 12 watches, all mounted into 12 watchwinders. Each watch is unique in that it has a number from 1-12 printed on the disks that Bell & Ross has used in recent watches. The watches cannot really tell time except that at the number on the watch will line up at the corresponding hour of the day. So at exactly 3 o’clock, the No.3 Watch will show a number 3, and so on and so forth.

“A timepiece and an objet d’Art In modern- day society, where every second is accounted for, the Twelve O’Clock timepiece is a demonstration of our inability to control the sands of time. The animated display that gives the time in a split second is the perfect illustration of the elusive nature of time.”

Specs:
Movement: ETA 2892 with Disk display system,
Case: 46mm diameter, Steel with black PVD finish, Screw-in crown
Dial: The numeral of the hour is printed on three concentric disks, which, when lined up in the vertical position, indicating the exact hour
Crystal: Anti-reflective sapphire
Water Resistance: 100m

Well, I finally got my first Bell & Ross. After hemming and hawing over them, at first liking the BR01, then finding it too big, I picked me up a BR03 and just got it today. Its significantly smaller than the BR01 on the wrist, and feels just about right. I’ve been leaning more towards the 42-44mm size of watches in the last year or so, and the BR03 fits just right. The square case and wide, flared strap make the watch fit a bit larger than the 42mm might suggest.

Shot these photos with my new Sony Alpha 500 camera, which has been doing an amazing job of photos. Here’s the BR03-92 mounted on a Gunny strap, which was included from the fellow I picked up the watch from. Bell and Ross watches are quite interesting as they are front mounted, and don’t have a removable caseback. ECW is another company that makes watches this way.

Here’s a shot of the BR03 laying on the box, which is very well made. The watch is sold with the Factory Rubber strap and a Nylon and Velcro strap. The “92″ in the BR03 model number signifies the movement/complication level of the watch. In this case it is a basic model with the date at 4:30. I’ve always felt that B&R does a good job of making the date discreet but not awkward on these models.

Combined with the extremely legible dial and relatively slim form factor and the watch makes a great daily wearer.

A Close-up of the matte dial shows the four mounting screws on the dial. Lumed portions of the dial include the arabic numerals, hands and hour indices. The B&R lume initially was not very good when I charged it with a flashlight. Oddly, I happened to step outside for about 30 seconds and when I came in, the watch was glowing much more brightly. Perhaps the natural light charged it more efficiently than a superbright LED flashlight shining directly into it? Either way, the Lume has a nice blue hue to it.

Very nice signed crown. Surprising to me is that its not screwdown. You can also tell from this photo that the case is very nicely finished. Bell & Ross did a fabulous job of finishing the case and it looks spectacular in person. The quality is apparent immediately.

And finally, the wristshot. There she is, mounted on my 6.75″ wrist in all her glory. Fitted to a beautiful gunny strap, the BR 03-92 just looks outstanding. To be honest, I like it better than I thought I would and I think I will be keeping this one for a long time.

Specs:
Movement: ETA 2892 Automatic
Case: Stainless Steel
Case Size: 42mm
Dial: Black Dial
Strap: Rubber and Nylon

Bell & Ross finally introduced a GMT version of it’s popular BR01 Instrument watch at Basel World this year. The model is a standard 46mm BR01, with a 24 hour fixed chapter ring for the GMT hand to point at. This model does not offer a moveable chapter ring. The movement is an ETA 2893 movement, and the crystal is AR Coated sapphire.