I’ve waxed lyrical about the Bell & Ross BR 05 in the past, so I’ll spare you several paragraphs of gushing and say just this: as far as product lines go, I think this one is Bell & Ross’s best. That isn’t to say I could imagine buying anything from the BR 05 before having at least one of the brand’s more famous “dashboard instruments” in my collection, but that’s just the way I would personally look to build a small collection comprising multiple watches from this brand. Although it may seem odd that I wouldn’t look to buy something from the model family I regard as superior to the rest before owning something more attached to the brand’s past, there’s a certain logic to it that is relevant to not only what this watch and its range mates are to me, but also to Bell & Ross the brand.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
When I’m buying watches, my ultimate goal is to have not necessarily “the best” watch a brand offers, but rather the one that expresses what the brand is to me and to the world the most effectively. Oftentimes, I have bought multiple watches from the same brand and spent significant time with all of them before whittling that corner of my collection down to a single remaining representative of the brand’s culture that best fits with my relationship with it.
Funnily enough, this conscious curation gives me more pleasure than simply hoarding the watches I like the most. I don’t expect everyone (or maybe even anyone) to fall in line here, but I think it’s so relevant to this release and the current trajectory of the brand, it is worth explaining.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
To me, Bell & Ross is its dashboard instrument-inspired watches. There were some extremely cool watches made by Sinn for the brand in its nascence that would look more than comfortable in the watch box of even the most serious collectors thanks to their curious dual-branded dials and the fact they are so clearly tied to a particular moment in time, but they aren’t the rock-solid foundations upon which the brand’s subsequent success was built. No, that came later. It came with the squares. It came with a complete and utter adherence to a design code that was unapologetically different (and there were many occasions when lesser brands might have felt apologising was the right thing to do).
But Bell & Ross never doubted its output for a second. Rather than temper the aviation ties, the brand pushed harder in that direction, with several cartoonish special edition pieces such as the radar, gyrocompass, and horizon models. They were over the top and absolutely awesome. They made the brand unlike any other and it is for that reason I can’t stop myself from wanting one.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
However, while those pieces remain ever-present in the collection, they represent its past and present more than they necessarily do its future. And that is what the BR 05 line is in general. In regards to the new Bell & Ross BR 05 Black Ceramic editions shown here, that is the case in spades.
There are three variations of this new model available, with two of the three coming on either a rubber band or ceramic bracelet, which accounts for the five reference numbers and prices I’ll list at the end of the article. Fundamentally, however, the BR 05 Black Ceramic, the BR 05 Skeleton Black Ceramic, and the BR 05 Skeleton Black Lum Ceramic (which is limited to 500 pieces), are effectively the same watch when it comes to wearability. The cases for all references measure 41 mm wide and 11.2 mm thick. For those of you who remember the hulking dimensions of the heyday BR 03s, you might, like me, be pleased to see this steady step-down in diameter that, while not dramatic, is wisely heeding the trend towards smaller watches. And, as I said before, this is a watch design very much focused on the now rather than the then.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
Inside the three ceramic housings, you will find either the BR-CAL.321 (in the standard version) or the BR-CAL.322 in both the Skeleton and the Skeleton Black Lum models. While the calibre numbers are almost identical, they are functionally as well as aesthetically different. The BR-CAL.321 includes a date function, while the BR-CAL.322 is the time-only skeletonised version that otherwise shares the same specs, such as an impressive 54-hour power reserve.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about these new BR 05 models is the black ceramic bracelet, which adds a whole new dimension of futurism to a brand that has steadily pulled away from the repurposed mid-century aesthetic that made it famous. The two non-limited models are also available on rubber straps, but, for my money, the magic of this piece is in the full-ceramic executions of this design.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
So which model stands out from the crowd? For me, the limited BR 05 Black Lum Ceramic takes the prize but only by a whisker. I feel that the time and date model with the closed dial offers good value for money (coming in at £6,800 on the bracelet and £6,000 on the rubber strap) in comparison to the other two that range from £8,000 on rubber up to £8,800 on the bracelet for the BR 05 Skeleton Black Ceramic, and (strangely) £8,500 for the 500-piece limited Lum version on the bracelet, but value is a moot point here. None of these watches is cheap. If you’re willing to spend 6K on a ceramic Bell & Ross, you’re probably willing to spend nearly nine for the best execution thereof.
Generally, I don’t like black watches, ceramic watches, skeletonised dials, or anything from a brand that the brand is not known for doing well, and yet, here we are. The Bell & Ross BR 05 Black Lum Ceramic does a lot of things I don’t like so well that I have to doff my cap to the team and say that this is a nicely realised concept. Will watches like this ever make up the bulk of Bell & Ross’s output? I severely doubt that. But will they help push the brand in the right direction as it hopes to expand its product offering? I am sure the BR 05 and other similarly ambitious models will continue to do that with aplomb.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
Tech Specs
BELL & ROSS BR 05 BLACK CERAMIC
BELL & ROSS BR 05 BLACK CERAMIC - Credit Bell & Ross
- Reference: BR05A-BL-CE
- Movement: calibre BR-CAL.321. Automatic mechanical. 54-hour power reserve.
- Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating.
- Functions: hours, minutes, seconds and date. Water-resistance: 100 metres.
- Case: 41 mm wide, 11.2 mm thick. Polished and satin-finished black ceramic. Screw-down crown. Crown guard. Sapphire case-back with 360° oscillating weight.
- Strap: Black rubber and ceramic.
- Dial: Black sun-ray. Skeletonised hour and minute hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® (green glow). Rhodium-plated seconds hand.
- Buckle: Steel folding buckle.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK CERAMIC
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK CERAMIC - Credit Bell & Ross
- Reference: BR05A-BL-SK-CE
- Movement: calibre BR-CAL.322. Automatic mechanical. 54-hour power reserve.
- Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating.
- Functions: hours, minutes, and seconds. Water-resistance: 100 metres.
- Case: 41 mm wide. 11.2 mm thick. Satin-finished and polished
- ceramic. Screw-down crown. Crown guard. Sapphire case-back with 360° oscillating weight.
- Strap: Black rubber and ceramic.
- Dial: Skeletonised with black tinted transparent panel and rhodium-plated movement. Applied indices filled with white Super-LumiNova® (green glow). Skeletonised hour and minute hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® (green glow). Rhodium-plated seconds hand
- Buckle: Steel folding buckle.
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC
BELL & ROSS BR 05 SKELETON BLACK LUM CERAMIC - Credit WatchGecko
- Reference: BR05A-BLM-SKCE
- Movement: calibre BR-CAL.322. Automatic mechanical. 54-hour
- power reserve.
- Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating.
- Functions: hours, minutes and seconds. Water-resistance: 100 metres.
- Case: 41 mm wide. 11.2 mm thick. Matt black sandblasted ceramic.
- Screw-down crown. Crown guard. Sapphire case-back with 360° oscillating weight.
- Strap: Black Ceramic.
- Dial: Skeletonised with black tinted transparent panel and rhodium-plated movement. Applied indices filled with C5 Super-LumiNova® (green glow). Skeletonised hour and minute hands filled with C5 Super-LumiNova® (green glow).
- Buckle: Steel folding buckle.
