INVEST
The Bell & Ross BR05 in rose-gold
A round peg does, to invert an old English idiom, go into a square hole, and it does so with exquisite grace in this delectable piece from the military watchmaking pioneers Bell & Ross. Combining the two basic shapes that have dominated the brand’s no-nonsense aesthetic over the years, the new BR05 has a 40mm tiered case with rounded edges set within a square and locked into place — in the most emphatic-looking way — by four screws, one at each corner.
As if that case/dial dichotomy didn’t provide an imperious enough visual dynamic, there’s also the way the bracelet fuses with the case. Over to Bruno Belamich, Bell & Ross’s co-founder and Creative Director: “This integration of case and bracelet is not only in line with the brand’s visual identity, it also brings another dimension to the watch: the first link forms part of the case. This type of design harks back to the seventies, and when transposed to Bell & Ross, it creates a result with a graphic style that is both striking and modern.”
Yet there is more to this piece than the geometric majesty and slick strap-case articulation. It’s factors such as legibility, functionality, reliability and precision that make aviation watches worthy of the name — as in, pieces that seasoned pilots would happily wear when taking to the skies. But these traits increasingly offer just as much benefit to the urban flâneur, who will want to be seen about town sporting pieces such as those in this new
