There are several Bell & Ross collections that use essentially the same basic case design but in different sizes (and each with different models). The BR 01 is a wrist-eclipsing (for me, anyway) 47mm, the BR 03 like the one reviewed here is 42mm, and the BR S is 39mm. The BR X watches are Bell & Ross’ “Experimental” collection that also use some variation of the square case but with generally more elaborate constructions, avant-garde designs, and haute complications (hands-on example here with the Bell & Ross BR X2 Tourbillon Micro-Rotor). There are divers in other collections – and there have been more in the past, such as the BR 02 – but, again, the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver is the first diver in the square case.
You will have to be the final judge as to whether Bell & Ross got it right with the BR 03-92 Diver – and I recommend you try it on first – but my judgement after wearing it almost daily for a couple weeks is that they did. The Bell & Ross case is immediately identifiable as such, but the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver is also just a serious-looking dive watch. It further manages to play the part of a bold-wearing luxury sport watch with an aggressive presence – and at the same time, it looks purposeful and down-to-earth, so the wearer doesn’t look like he’s desperate for attention. Finally, despite that boldness and presence, its size and dimensions somehow keep it surprisingly wearable. At least, these have been my impressions while wearing it.
About those dimensions: Looking at the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver on the wrist, one might not guess that it measures only 42mm wide. It might be a weird or abstract thing to say, but I would describe the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver as wearing more like a 44mm-wide watch. Square cases are going to wear larger than their measurements would suggest – if you are familiar with watch measurements and have a habit of guessing how a watch might fit you based on pictures and specs before seeing it in person. Perhaps a corner-to-corner measurement is a good way of evaluating the size of a square watch because that may better represent how much wrist real estate it occupies. I really made an effort to portray in some of the photographs how well it wears on my 6.5″ (17cm) wrist – though I probably couldn’t pull off even a millimeter larger.
The essential modern elements that Bell Ross Replica Watches Uk Replica has worked to the watch comprise the choice of rising minute increments for the Arabic hour markers, the pilot-watch-inspired hand setup currently common in the “Vintage” collection, and the date window, which may have worked better positioned at 3 o’clock, or even left off the dial altogether, instead of hidden involving other numerals. One of the most interesting contemporary features is in the size of the crown– while many vintage watches did have smaller tiles than those found on watches nowadays, the proportion of case to crown on the BR V1-92 Military actually looks smaller and subtler than on those vintage pieces. This design choice could have been to accentuate further the view’s historical inspirations, but it is certainly unusual for a timepiece evoking older models to miniaturize, instead of enlarge, any elements.As formerly mentioned, this watch isn’t based on any specific model, but rather places its focus on bringing together many interesting historical details to generate a modern yet vintage-appearing piece. Whether or not this type of re-interpretation is desirable or not is a matter of personal preference, but on aesthetic worth alone the BR V1-92 Military is, to me, an intriguing watch. The item also represents, together with a number of other pieces in the next generation of this brand’s “Vintage” collection, a growing interest by mainstream watchmakers to appeal to the expanding marketplace of retro-hungry consumers. It appears the trend is no longer restricted to long-established players like Omega and Longines, or start-up independents such as Nezumi, but is expanding to all corners of the market seeking to ride this tide of horological nostalgia while it lasts.
Dive watches tend to be chunky, and water-resistance of 300m is more or less standard nowadays for “professional dive watches” – even though some brands get away with calling a 100m water-resistant watch a diver, and others take it much further to 1000m and more (Bell & Ross’ Hydromax in 1997 was rated to no less than 11,100m). Water-resistance is often understood by consumers as a shorthand for or way of quantifying general durability. The Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver is rated to 300m and meets all the other ISO dive watch specifications, and the brand emphasizes how those specifications influenced the design.
Considering that most dive watches are primarily used today to tell the time on dry land, I’ve often felt that the deemphasized hour hands found on many are kind of a sacrifice of real-life usability for the sake of being taken seriously as a “genuine” diver. Part of the ISO standards, however, stipulate that the minute hand should be more legible than the hour hand because the minutes are more critical when diving. For the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Diver, legibility is not hampered by the orange lume for the hour hand, but it is indeed deemphasized in the dark with a (much) fainter glow while everything else (hands and markers) shines bright green with Super-LumiNova.