Man, Bell&Ross is going strong this year. I love the Military Ceramic BR 01 style beast now called the BR 03-92 with military band and I’m kind of liking the new series in chrono and three-hand form. I guess people were tired of having a big square thing on their wrists and wanted something more delicate.

The look of the Bell & Ross BR-01 92 is based on the simple, clean design used on airplane instrumentation panels. The hands and numeral markers on these watches are recognizable as those on analog altimeters or airspeed indicators. The infamous square case of the BRs, with its four visible fastening screws, reflects the way the airplane instruments are affixed to the panel via four screws in order to make their removal and installation quick and easy. With the BR-01 92 Heritage, Bell & Ross captures the allure of vintage watches and applies it to the square BR “Instrument” concept.


The vintage feel of the BR-01 92 Heritage is mostly due to the beige hour markers and hands. The color that the company uses mimics the tint obtained naturally on white paint over a period of several decades. The same way an old paper document or the trim on a vintage Gibson Les Paul does, white tritium paint used in the 1940s to 1990s on watch dials tends to fade over time. The “vintaged” color offers a unique soft hue that is often desired as proof of authenticity. The advantage that Bell & Ross’ replicated paint has over the real thing is its photo-luminescence. It is completely lost in Tritium dials that are over twenty-five years old. Bell & Ross’ paint is extremely bright when the lights are turned off and will remain this way indefinitely. The dial of the Heritage has luminous paint on the seconds hand as well for precision night reading.

The strap adds much allure to the Heritage. It is really well suited to the overall style, although it will fit on any of the other BR “Instruments.” The lightly tanned leather is decorated with some of the markings found on the back of the watch’s case. The decorations are burnt into the leather. The strap is thicker then the standard BR leather bands, which also reflects the styles of military pilot watches of the past. Regardless of its thickness the strap remains light and supple, and breathes well.

The case of the Heritage is no different then that of the other BR-01 92s. It is a 46mm square made with stainless steel and coated with Bell & Ross’ black carbon finish. Other features of the dial include a screw-locking crown, an anti-reflective sapphire crystal, and – of course – removable lugs that allow the watch to be mounted on a stand for use as a desk clock. A water resistance rating of 100 meters and a secondary waterproof nylon strap make the watch beach or ski-ready.

With the BR-01 92 Heritage, Bell & Ross makes a watch that captures the feel and the spirit of vintage pilot watches while creating a fashionable accessory for today. Adhering to their design principles, Bell & Ross released a watch that is beautiful in its simplicity and in line with the stringent requirements of professional pilots.

Marco is an expert of Bell & Ross watches at Matt Baily in Montreal

Yeah, I don’t know why they made an another iPhone app either. It seems, after noticing B&R style clocks on the HTC Hero, that there is a real fetish for interface designers over these things. That’s the only way I can explain it.

Oh well. The watches are still expensive. But the iPhone app is free.

I’m totes down with B&R and this seems like a step in the right direction. This BR03, a bit smaller than the BR04, has a large steel bracelet that I always though was missing on the Bell&Ross jumbos.

ABlogtoRead has the full dope on the watch.

Bell & Ross does not currently have any plans to give the larger BR01 (46mm wide) watches a bracelet at this time. They are merely seeing how it goes with the smaller BR03 (42mm) models. I do like the look. It seems to make sense and feels like a visually comfortable fit. Like the straps, the bracelet tapers from the case down to the clasp a bit so that it does not feel unwieldy on your arm. The design is a bit retro, and the bracelet is done with a brushed finish on the top side, with polishing on the sides I believe. The inner side of the bracelet has a middle link that holds the larger links together. You get that nice clean vertical link look on the outside of the bracelet. The bracelet moves nicely and is flexible enough for what you’ll need to do with it.

Not content with making me happy with their GMT, Bell&Ross has just released this weird piece for Colette, some sort of artsy shop in Paris. This is some kind of tribute to Airborne Rangers, I suspect, with a little skull and two sword hands. Not sure how much it would cost in Earth money but I’m willing to bet a few grand.

Is it just me or are these guys releasing a new model every fifteen seconds.

What the heck? Seriously? Durr?

Finally, a B&R I can stand behind. I love B&R. I love GMTs. This is like two great tastes that taste great together.

This new model is a bog standard GMT with a stationary central bezel – which means you can’t change the 24-hour markings – and a movement that will move the hour hand back and forth to show the local time as well as the time at home.

No price but expect it to hit at about $7,000. Finally: A B&R with a little pizazz. After all their gold-encrusted models they’re kind of figuring out that their watches are popular with dudes.

Just in time for the holidays we have a new Bell&Ross watch designed for the French Air Force. As you see, they’ve stuffed the same quartz movement you’ll find in the Breitling Emergency into what I’d say is a very beefy and actually quite stunning case. I’ve been hard on B&R lately, but this is a nice move back into sanity.

I’d say this one is about $6,000.

If you know me you know I love me some watches. I especially like Bell & Ross, the aviation-themed, pie-plate-sized watches that gave new meaning to “Wow, that’s a big watch.” Now, however, B&R has added a ring of beautiful jewels around the rim and made these things out of ceramic, officially tugging the brand out of the realm of “cool and utilitarian” into the world of “my Chihuahua ate my Hermes watch so no I need something big and flirty.”

Sure, B&R can’t ride this design forever but for them to put this bling into their line is a clear indication that these watches have just about ridden their wave. Here’s hoping they bring out something cooler than the Instrument series because I can honestly say that of all the brands B&R has been my favorite thus far.

Bell & Ross makes monster watches and this is their latest. It’s has both a tourbillion — the odd spinning thing that rotates ones per hour and ostensibly offsets the effects of gravity — and a Miniteur. A Miniteur is like a chronometer but it measures tens of minutes and minutes and not hours, minutes, and seconds. Why you would need this is a mystery, but it sure looks like you could get into it and drive it. No, you can’t afford it. Neither can I. Neither can God. There’s actually another version, below, sans Tourbillion, that God could potentially afford.