“It’s all about the dial, isn’t it mesmerizing?” she exclaimed. Well the dial in question belongs to the latest boutique limited edition Bell & Ross BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue.
Review: the new Bell & Ross BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue
The Bell & Ross BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue has a retail price of SGD 10,800 for the rubber strap (as reviewed) and SGD 11,600 with a steel bracelet (prices are inclusive of GST). Limited Edition of 250 pieces exclusively to the boutique and e-boutique.
Here’s a review that will depart from our usual style. It is for once we speak more about the design than technicalities of the watch. With regards to the technicalities of the watches, you may refer to our previous post from Peter on his first impression or the review on the skeleton blue variant.
First Impression/ The Case
What happens when different ladies becomes wrist pervert and starts staring at your wrist? Enter the newest Bell & Ross BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue. It captures most of our female friends attention faster than a mean and obnoxious lime green Lamborghini with a V10 engine. Reason? The gorgeous steel case that features both polished and satin surface, paired with a playful white strap and the pièce de résistance – an intricate dial that reminds one of the frozen landscapes in the North Pole. Or that of shattered glass. But more of that later.
When wristed on the wrist, the 40MM wide square case is fairly comfortable but prominent. It is still wearable for the smaller wrist individuals due to the short lugs, should your “wrist pervert” lady friends wants to try it on, the case would sit nicely even on a 5.5 in wrist.
The Dial
The dial is the pièce de résistance of this watch. It is the center piece of the watch and have been the conversation starter with our friends when they spotted it on us. The unique dial is inspired by the Polar landscapes reflecting the glacial hues of the Arctic.
The look of the dial seems like it is carved from a piece of cracked ice with the white etched lines on a transparent blue dial. This effect uses a combination of two main techniques, laser engraving and pad printing. Firstly, the blue-tinted glass dial is laser-engraved on both the top and the bottom. This will enable the dial to show the “ice cracking” effect. Then, the striking white “frosty” effect is then applied via pad printing. Eventually with the two methods creates a frosted trompe-l’oeil effect that we see on the dial.
And as usual and expected from a Bell & Ross watch, the lume is spectacular.
The Movement
The movement is the time and tested, Bell & Ross bread and butter Cal. BR322, which is fundamentally a Selita SW300 movement. Rugged, easy to work on. Bulletproof. Basically, this automatic mechanical movement with 54-hours of power reserve is something that would rarely breakdown. In the event that you would like to get it serviced when servicing is due, most well-trained watch makers would be able to work on it without much fuss.
Though it is a movement that is fairly common, the unique feature that stands out from Bell and Ross’ offering is the beautiful automatic winding rotor. The rotor is one of the most attractive that we seen for this movement. It somewhat reminds us of a sport car’s rim. Now that’s a beaute!
The Strap
So, after speaking so extensively on the design, what did we not like? Well basically, we feel that the watch is definitely something that appeals to the fairer gender who have a more conservative wrist size as compared to the gents. The BR-05 Skeleton Arctic White’s white rubber strap might not be feasible as the default size seems to be larger than expected. When it was wristed on my 6.25 inch wrist, I had to put it into the smallest strap size to hug my wrist perfectly.
The other point about the strap is the grooves. There tend to be dirt that will be stuck to it after some day to day use and it tends to be visible. However, there is nothing that some water and eraser cannot fix. We just have to bear in mind on cleaning once in awhile.
Competitive Landscape
Currently, at this current price range of SGD 10,000 there are quite a number of watches that one could almost be spoiled for choice in the realm of sports watches.
First up, we have the Norqain Wild One Skeleton. It is a strong contender of the Bell & Ross as it is too a skeleton watch that comes with a similar Selita based movement. The Norqain stands out from the BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue as the case features Norqain’s proprietary material NORTEQ® as compared to the more common steel case.
Second watch that is up against the Bell & Ross is the IWC Mark XX. Granted visually there isn’t much similarities but the DNA of both watches are similar. They are aviation inspired watches that are built with a very sporty vibe. Furthermore, the Mark XX is a watch that comes from a linage of the Spezialuhr für Flieger watches that was created for fighter jet pilots during the world war. All these for a grand total of SGD 7,200. Now won’t that be a bargain?
Finally, we have the Ba111od Chapter 4.1 the reigning King of affordable tourbillons. It is the brainchild of Thomas Baillod. Its a completely different kettle of fish, but for just a couple hundred Singapore Dollars more than the price of the bracelet version of the BR-05 Skeleton Arctic Blue you would be able to get a fully Swiss Made tourbillon. Not a bad value proposition, eh?
Conclusion
So do we think that the starting price of SGD 10,800 is slightly on the pricier end? Yes, definitely. However, what is the price of the feeling of owning this gorgeous watch with such a unique dial? If you said, “Priceless”, you get it! We enjoyed wearing the watch this past week. The playful and refreshing colour-way coupled with the bulletproof movement, makes it a great weapon for the urban jungle. And the chick magnet? Well, as they say, your mileage may vary. But it worked well for me. 🙂
