“We had hair back then,” Carlos Rosillo (aka Ross) remarks jocularly. He is celebrating the 30th anniversary of his eponymous watch brand, which he runs with his friend of four decades, Bruno Belamich (aka Bell). The affable pair first met at age 16 in Lycée Carnot, a Parisian high school about 1.5 kilometers northeast of the Arc de Triomphe. Incidentally, former French President Jacques Chirac and poet Louis Aragon, too, hailed from Lycée Carnot, and Daft Punk members Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter first met at that school.
Rosillo studied business administration while Belamich studied design. Today, the former handles the business aspects of Bell & Ross and presents the brand around the world, while Belamich concentrates on designing beautiful watches. It is rare for Carlos and Bruno to travel to a foreign country together, but recently we caught up with them in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they were presenting a landmark timepiece that is an important milestone for their brand.
“We realized that our personalities were mutually complementary. When we first started Bell & Ross, our partnership was not so balanced, but we have since found a good balance,” Rosillo reveals.
Says Belamich, “We have the same vision, same culture and same values. We are both into aviation and cars too. Carlos has a good eye and has the ability to make good choices between different proposals.”
“Bruno has the ability to find inspiring objects,” Rosillo responds. “I remember that incredible movie , which was about Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier. Bruno designed a flight jacket
