Bell & Ross has decided to do color its own way: instead of taking a wide brush to an entire dial, it’s opted to give an exciting splash of colors by adding extra functionality to its BR 03-94 chronograph. Herewith, the Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Multimeter.
The Release
The Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Multimeter comes in the same square case as its BR 03-94 siblings: 12.8mm thick and 42mm across. The pushers are on the right side and flank a screwdown crown, which ensures 100m water resistance. Its case is made of matt black ceramic and the strap is crafted of perforated rubber and a synthetic fabric with a black PVD tang clasp. Under a sapphire crystal, the dial displays five different scales in five different colors: asthmometer and pulsometer (on the right side), and three tachymeter scales for racing, cycling, and running (encircling the whole dial). A key is presented around the left side of the dial. A 30-minute chronograph counter is at 9 o’clock, a small seconds at 3 o’clock, and a date at 12:30. The dial lacks lume aside from the hour and minute hands, each painted with Super-LumiNova™. The watch is powered by the BR-CAL.301, and automatic modular chronograph based on the ETA 2894-2.
The Context
Bell & Ross is no stranger to color, having incorporated all sorts into other chronographs for special editions, but this dial doesn’t exist as a collaboration, unlike, say, it’s chrono for the Patrouille de France or Renault’s F1 team. As such, it’s no surprise that Bell & Ross wanted to work color into the dial in an organic way (instead of taking the easy route of giving its BR 01’s salmon, grey and Tiffany blue dials). The BR 03-94 Multimeter comes at a time when color is king, and buyers are looking for something with a pop to add a bit of flair to their wrist games. Further, the Multimeter follows the successful release of the Omega Chronoscope (another chronograph with multiple scales) and colorful reissues from Mido and Vulcain (both of which featured vibrant decompression scales around their dials).
Our Thoughts
Bell & Ross has always done a great job sticking to its guns while also capturing trends. The entire BR-05 collection is proof of that, capitalizing on the integrated steel bracelet trend while maintaining its brand identity. It’s no different here with the integration of color. The dial here is instantly attractive, though legibility of the subdials obviously suffers and I would wonder how easy it is to read out the timing with the small scales. If I had this watch, I’d definitely find the key helpful, as there’s no way I’d use the different scales frequently enough to know which is which or the units they use. And while I get that they moved the date to 12:30 so as not to obscure the scales, I have to wonder why they didn’t just omit it altogether. Even with the date placement and the potential legibility issues, I was taken by this watch. The vibrancy against the blacked-out case and strap had me itching to buy one right away.
Availability
The Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Multimeter will be limited to 500 pieces and is priced at $5,800. It’s available immediately from the Bell & Ross website.