Bell & ross
Aside from the vintage-inspired BR Racing Bird collection (as highlighted in a separate write-up in this issue), the brand’s 2018 releases offer a balanced mix of new designs for its future-forward customers.
Hot on the heels of last year’s BR03-92 Diver launch, Bell & Ross introduced two more extensions to the range – the BR03-92 Diver Blue and BR03-92 Bronze, playing with different colours and materials. As a representative of the brand informed us, the Diver range was ironically the aviation-inspired brand’s bestseller last year. The soon-to-be icon was unique in the sense that it was the first square-case diving watch in the market.
The collection boasts the ISO 6425 standard, which guarantees water resistance to a minimum depth of 100 metres (bumped to 300 across the Diver range), a unidirectional rotating bezel with graduated scale, a visible seconds hand and luminescent markers for legibility in the dark, plus anti-shock and antimagnetic protection.
This year, Blancpain chose to pile functionality onto its Fi y Fathoms range in the form of an annual calendar. The new Fi y Fathoms Bathyscaphe Quantième Annuel sees the same robust capabilities that we’ve grown used to but with the addition of a full calendar indicating the day, date and month, which needs adjusting only once a year, in discreet, elegant style.
The watch is powered by the new Calibre 6054-P, which is based on the existing twin-barrel Calibre 1150, and boasts a 72-hour power reserve (we suppose it’s pe ect for weekend dive trips where you find yourself terribly in need of knowing the date).
While the Fi y Fathoms may have sta ed out strictly as a dive watch, Blancpain has since moved it into the spo s luxe segment – a good move on the brand’s pa . The addition of high complications in a spo s watch is proof of Blancpain’s confidence in the watch pe orming under pressure, and a strong belief that it will appeal to a niche market that wants more rugged pieces with the same high-end touches usually afforded to more classical pieces.