Bell & Ross continues its expansion of the hit BR 05 series with the brand-new limited Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green.
The Release
The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green comes in the same BR 05 case as the rest of the collection. A predominantly brushed 40mm case sits just 10.33mm thick with an overall square shape. Polished chamfers accent the transitions between facets. A square bezel with rounded corners and fixed bolts surrounds the flat sapphire crystal. A screwdown crown at 3 o’clock sits between crown guards and ensures 100m of water resistance. The watch is offered on a stainless steel bracelet with butterfly clasp with polished center links or a grooved two-piece rubber strap with deployant buckle. Both options integrate seemlessly with the case, but can be removed via lug screws.
The dial of the BR 05 Skeleton Green gets its color from two elements. The first is a green rehaute, into which applied markers are partly nestled. The handset matches these markers; markers and hands are filled with Super-LumiNova®. The second green element is the “coloured transparent panel” that sits over the exposed movement. The movement is the BR-CAL.322, based on the Sellita SW300-1, with a 360° rotor and modifcations to the plates for partial skeletonization. The caseback features a sapphire crystal, further revealing the movement.
Our Thoughts
It would appear that we are not done with green watches. After Patek dropped the Nautilus’ olive green head-fake swan song 5711/1A-014, the color seemed to have hit its apex. In the year since, however, brands like Bravur, Louis Erard, Sinn, and anOrdain have gifted us new green watches. Bell & Ross is hopping on the bandwagon, if only just a mile or two before the caravan arrives at its final destination.
The BR 05 Skeleton does a nice job of revealing the movement without revealing the wearer’s wrist, a nit often picked with more fully skeletonized watches. Those more purposeful skeletonizations often look great in marketing content, but at the end of the day, your wrist becomes the dial. To be sure, the BR 05 Skeleton’s movement has just had some cosmetic refinements to reveal itself through the transparent dial, as opposed to being fully reworked. It’s a more restrained and more wearable approach to the style, and I support it.
Availability
The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Green is limited to 500 pieces and priced at $6,500 on the rubber strap and $7,000 on the steel bracelet. You can find out more and purchase it directly from Bell & Ross.