Bell & Ross - Baselworld 2014 : From the open road to the control tower with the new B-Rocket and BR 03-94 Carbon Orange
This is one announcement that is sure to create quite a stir. Quite a lot of noise in fact. And smoke. The first petrol-driven watch, perhaps? Well nearly; the first horological motorbike!
Bell & Ross, in the habit of drawing inspiration from aircraft design, has decided to put down the undercarriage for once. The brand has briefly left the runway for the open road - and the throaty roar of a twin-cylinder bike. Renewing its collaboration with Harley-Davidson, Bell & Ross has co-developed a concept bike with a pure and powerful frame, reminiscent of the ultra-modern look of the 1960s and the first American jets.
This is an exercise in style that will no doubt come as a surprise to the supporters of pure watchmaking creations, especially at the sacred shrine of Baselworld. But it's precisely the kind of thing that leads to creative emulation, thereby pushing the envelope and nurturing new ideas - just the kind of creativity that resulted in the ground-breaking, angular, highly-strung lines of the very first BRs.
Today, the approach seeks to be less direct - and more rounded. The bike in question is one of a kind, the B-Rocket. It borrows heavily from the lines of the ground-hugging vehicles of 50 years ago, based in turn on the experimental aircraft of the 1960s and the Bonneville Salt Flats speed bikes of Nevada. Is it a bike? Is it a plane? No, it's an airplane-motorcycle! And for Bell & Ross, above all it's the incarnation of their creative vision: sublimating the modernity of the past.
Orange carbon: radically Bell
As far as watchmaking goes, this year Bell & Ross is highlighting a very exclusive series called BR 03-94 Carbon Orange. Once again it is aimed at aircraft enthusiasts and those who put a premium on readability and functionality. The watch features the large, square frame peculiar to BRs. Its chronograph makes it firmly sports-oriented - preferably high-altitude sports. Two variations are on offer with two types of strap: a black rubber model and another in orange reinforced fabric - aesthetic alternatives which Bell & Ross has already used on a large number of models, including the BR126 most recently.
The 42 mm watch is PVD treated and features an ETA 2894 automatic mechanical movement. On its two-button chronograph, the button in the 2 o'clock position is topped with an orange polycarbonate coating, reminiscent of the flight instruments dear to the world of Bell & Ross.
Bell & Ross - BR Minuteur Tourbillon Limited Editions
A watch with a grand complication
Like every Bell&Ross watch, the BR Minuteur Tourbillon is first and foremost a measuring tool, focusing on readability, functionality, accuracy and reliability. Stemming from a desire to combine a timing function with independent reading into a high-precision mechanism, it incorporates four watchmaking complications around a main timepiece:
• Tourbillon
• Timer with Flyback
• Power Reserve Indicator
• Independent Small Second
Opting for performance
Clearly visible in the 6 o'clock position on it the carriage of the main timepiece, the tourbillon is the quintessence of precision. The role of this most august of watchmaking complications is to accurately compensate for measuring differences caused by gravity when the watch is in the vertical position.
The simplicity of the time display controlled by the tourbillon cannot overshadow the sophistication of the mechanism that is only alluded to by the transparent display. The tourbillon of the BR Minuteur has utilized all the skills of both the brand's in-house engineers and top Swiss master watchmakers to meet the challenge of these mechanical laws of physics.
Opting for functionality
The BR Minuteur Tourbillon provides various items of information with remarkable readability:
• The large Clock on the right of the dial, operated by the tourbillon, gives information about the time.
• The independent Timer, displayed by a second, dual graduation clock, is on the left of the dial. It measures all time intervals from a chosen moment. Its concentric double indices represent 60 minutes and tenths of hours markers. This segmentation is extremely advantageous for those professionals who calculate the length of their assignment in tenths of an hour mode.
The Timer is fitted with a Flyback function, a system for quickly resetting to zero with an instant relaunch, a very useful tool for measuring successive time intervals.
Two additional counters are located above and below the Timer:
• A power reserve indicator gives the remaining operating time on a three day scale. Independent small seconds.
Choosing materials
The BR Minuteur Tourbillon owes its sophistication to the quality of its movement, its accuracy and its performance, but its unique design is an equally attractive feature. Technology is brilliantly illustrated in its case through the carbon fiber of the dial and the aluminium of the movement bridges which provide extra strength. Its angle rib structure also helps in maintaining its integrity. The DLC (Diamond Like Carbon) titanium version of the Instrument is ultra-lightweight and very b. Trimmed in pink gold, the BR Minuteur Tourbillon is synonymous with high technology and elegance.
To the delight of enthusiasts of rare, high-performing time instruments, Bell & Ross has achieved a lofty goal by taking a calculated risk: to combine the precision of a major watchmaking complication with a professional instrument.