Aviation has always been a big part of my life, ever since I was young. I was the kid who would spend the days either side of an airshow sat at the airport: the days before watching the planes come into land, and the days after to watch the planes leave. This was my every summer; my Grandad worked at the airport, so took me with him to work, and he would always tip me off with the arrival and departure times of the most interesting (read: biggest/fastest/loudest) things, and make sure I had a good spot to watch them.
One time, this even ended up with me strapped on top a flying aircraft doing a wing-walk on the Utterly Butterly biplanes (a little off-theme with them not being the Breitling biplanes, but never mind)!
Anyway, as I started to get into watches, pilot’s watches of course were something that I naturally gravitated towards. I have always enjoyed pilot’s watches, especially the likes of Breguet’s Type XXI, Bremont’s limited edition historical pieces, and the instrument-inspired watches from Bell & Ross.
Bell & Ross was founded in 1992, creating watches which draw inspiration from aviation and military specifications that were capable of being used by professionals in extreme environments.
Bell & Ross BR 01 – photo, Bell & Ross
Perhaps the Bell & Ross’ archetypal pilot’s watch is the BR 01, released in 2005. It featured an oversize 46mm square-case and was designed specifically to resemble a cockpit instrument. It was a hugely popular amongst aviators and the brand went on to become huge successful in this arena.
I have written previously about the BR 03-92 Red Radar Ceramic, a watch with a radar-display inspired design. This was part of the brand’s Flight Instruments Collection, where each piece has taken on the aesthetic of a cockpit instrument, fusing the look of that respective instrument with a watch design.
This year saw Bell & Ross launch the BR 03 Gyrocompass – a new addition to the Flight Instruments Collection, and another one with a design which caught my eye! With thanks to the Bell & Ross boutique in London, I’ve been able to spend some time with the watch and enjoy it for a little while.
Bell & Ross BR 03 Gyrocompass
Bell & Ross BR 03 Gyrocompass
Each of the watches within Bell & Ross’ Flight Instrument Collection is based on a specific cockpit instrument – with this piece, the celebrated instrument is the Gyrocompass. For pilots, the Gyrocompass is a critical instrument and shows the direction of the aircraft vertically on the panel, and I think Bell & Ross have done a great job in taking this instrument and designing a watch based upon it.
(Whilst this might not be a real compass, you can actually learn to use your watch as a compass!)
Incorporating the outline of an aircraft into a watch is something Bell & Ross had done previously in 2013, however in that instance the aircraft outline was static and the detail on the dial moved underneath it. With the BR 03 Gyrocompass, the aircraft outline is actually the hour hand! The nose of the aircraft points to the hour – I love this idea, it’s something fun and original, but also serves a purpose in faithfully reflecting the Gyrocompass as an instrument.
So, what do we have with the BR 03 Gyrocompass?
For the first time, this year the BR 03 case comes in a very wearable 41mm size which is 10.6mm thick – I find that it wears slightly bigger than this owing to the square case size, which is 54mm diagonally from corner to corner, but not to the extent that it is uncomfortable. This coupled with it being relatively thin ensures the watch sits comfortably on the wrist, and I found an added benefit in that it doesn’t really move around a great deal either (when it happens with other watches I’ve tried, it is something I do find quite annoying).
It comes presented on a large rubber strap which is 33mm wide where it joins the lugs, and quite a large taper to about 23mm at the chunky buckle, made from PVD coated steel, so looks very similar and works well with the watch.
The strap is comfortable, but the sheer size of the whole thing does mean it’s quite large to wear and you certainly notice it, but watches like this are ones which should be large on the wrist; it’s a tool watch after all, designed for pilots, and I think there would be something inherently inappropriate about a small-size Bell & Ross instrument watch with a dainty strap!
Looking at the case, it’s formed of ceramic, a material which is more resistant to light scratches and knocks than something like stainless steel, or the softer, precious metals, and a suitable choice for a watch such as this. The matt black finish of ceramic fits the theme of flight instrument panels, and serves to ensure the dial the focus of the watch.
On the dial, there are N, E, S, and W markings at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock respectively, representing the four points of the Gyrocompass. Around the bezel are the minute markers, and cone-shaped markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 which are reminiscent of the markings one might expect on a compass.
Centred in the dial is the outline of an aircraft which rotates around the centre point as the hour hand, and the minute hand is a discrete white arrowhead fixed to a black hand. There is a black running seconds hand with just a white tip. All the markings on the dial and bezel are in bright colours which have a high contrast against the matt black background of the dial – excepting the black of the minute and seconds hands, which disappears into the background leaving the arrowhead and white tip appearing as though they are floating. This helps keep the focus on the aircraft and the watch keep the aesthetic akin to the Gyrocompass instrument.
These coloured details are all finished with Super LumiNova® which makes for a pretty epic lume photo!
Whilst it might not be the easiest watch to read the time from at first, I quite quickly got used to it – I think I would equate this to wearing a regulator watch for the first time and adapting to read the time from that.
Hidden at the 4:30 position an unoffensive date window; normally I am not a fan of this position for a date window at all, but this is particularly small, and colour matched to the point that it’s not overly noticeable. I did find that this renders the date a little tricky to read just given the size of it, but the white font on black background does make it as readable as it can be.
On the reverse side of the watch, the solid caseback is inscribed in such a way that it looks like a label, similar to how one might imagine serial IDs might be etched into the reverse side of a flight instrument. There is the Bell & Ross brand logo, as opposed to only the ampersand logo we find on the crown, serial ID of the watch and the individual number (the BR 03 Gyrocompass is limited to just 999 pieces), the chemical symbols representing the ceramic case, and an indication of the 100m water resistance rating.
Finally, whilst we can’t see the movement, the watch is powered by an automatic calibre, the BR-CAL.302 (a Sellita SW300 base), which offers up to a pretty decent 54 hours power reserve when fully wound, as well as quick set date and the ever-useful hacking seconds.
In Summary
Firstly, a huge thank you to Riccardo at the team at the Bell & Ross boutique in London for letting me spend some time with the watch.
The design of the BR 03 Gyrocompass is something I really enjoyed, and the more time I spent with the watch I found it continued to grow on me and make me smile. I think Bell & Ross have nailed the concept of this piece in reflecting the flight instrument itself; it would most definitely appeal to aviation enthusiasts, and having a watch where the centrepiece of the dial is an aircraft is something totally different!
For me personally something like this really reminds me of memories growing up and spending time at the airports before and after airshows.
The newly introduced 41mm size of the BR 03 is a welcome addition to the collection, I found it more comfortable and I preferred it to the larger 42mm case I’ve tried previously. All told, I think for a retail price of £3990 it makes for a pretty attractive proposition, especially to aviation enthusiasts like myself… well done Bell & Ross!
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- My Spotlight: Navitimer Cosmonaute vs Navitimer B01
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