Bell & Ross BR 01 Air Skull (BR01-Air Skull)

"We are revealing a new partnership with a brand that is dear to us and with which we share common values, Shaw Harley Davidson. Their engineers and our designers worked hand in hand for more than a year to design the B-Rocket: a "motorbike-plane" designed to beat records, into which the driver/pilot blends". Carlos Rosillo, CEO of Bell&Ross, proudly introduces the concept bike evoking the modernity of the 1960s and the very first American jet aircraft and completed by two watches, a direct offshoot of the B-Rocket: the BR 01 and the BR 03 B-Rocket.

In 2011 already, the watchmaker designed an exclusive motorcycle in collaboration with Shaw Harley Davidson - the Nascafe Racer - that travelled the
world winning a series of prizes before being named the planet's «most famous
custom motorcycle».

The 2014 B-Rocket is a concept bike with a neo-retro look with lines
encapsulating the essential principles of aeronautical design, such as its striking conical jet nose, its cabin, its fin and its propulsion turbines.

Talking about Bell & Ross' creativity, Carlos Rosillo explains: ""Bell & Ross is one of the rare companies in the watchmaking industry that is still independent. As a result, we enjoy great autonomy. Due to this, we can give our creativity free rein and bring out new products that are always original and always innovative while remaining true to our identity: the world of aviation."

The B-Rocket has been designed to break records. For optimum aerodynamics, a low driving position has been chosen, ensuring that the motorcycle and rider are as one.

The B-Rocket features two side-mounted turbines, instantly evocative of two jet engines that help to rapidly discharge air to achieve higher speeds.

A tachometer designed by Bell & Ross has been incorporated into the front fairing to allow the rider to remain attuned to his machine's heartbeat.

The BR 01 and BR 03 B-Rocket, when speed is taken over by time

In the wake of the B-Rocket, Bell & Ross is launching two watches which perform complementary functions and are complementary in size.

The 46mm BR 01 B-Rocket chronograph is the ultimate watch for drivers. The ultimate in terms of timing your speed, it has a large minutes counter, with a tachymetric scale on the outer edge of the dial, which as a matter of priority measures short periods of time and so allows your performance to instantly be displayed.
It also has three additional counters which provide further information: a 60-second, 30-minute and 12-hour counter. And in a flash, the small seconds counter, at three o'clock, replicates the graphic display used in experimental vehicle testing.

In the more elaborate BR 03 B-Rocket version of the watch, the 42 mm satin-brushed steel case is fitted with two complications: a large date window and a power-reserve indicator. As regards the sub-dial, there are cut-outs in the dial revealing the discs operating the large date window, highlighting just how sophisticated the mechanism is.

The circular power-reserve counter at 6 o'clock is reminiscent of the fuel gage seen on racing motorcycles or cars.

Both watches are powered by a self-winding Swiss mechanical movement. The graphic display of their matte black dial is reminiscent of a motorcycle tachometer or a road vehicle or airplane instrumentation panel. To accentuate the emphasis on readability, the skeletonized hours and minutes hands are also coated with a photo-luminescent material.

To stress their association with the world of driving, a red triangle marks 12 o'clock echoing the triangle visible on the B-Rocket's tachometer and turbines. Finally, both watches are fitted with a padded leather strap, lined and edged in red, modeled on the seat of the B-Rocket.

"Every Bell & Ross watch respects a few simple principles that have in fact become our DNA: perfectly functional watches with perfect readability, rigorous precision and unfailing reliability", Carlos Rosillo claims. Such is the case for the BR 01 and BR 03 B-Rocket watches.