Bell & Ross – BR 05 ARTLINE Steel & Gold Edition

Bell & Ross – URBAN BR 05 AUTO ARTLINE Steel & Gold 40mm Edition 2024 

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 AN AERONAUTICAL INSPIRATION

Launched in 2022, the Artline range offers, through the BR 05 urban collection, a strong design inspired by the Art Deco movement of the 1930s interwar period.  

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"This name indicates that it incorporates an artistic dimension (art) in its design (line). When you look at it, you immediately think of the American Streamline style", explains Bruno Belamich, Creative Director and co-founder of Bell & Ross. 

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The Streamline movement, initiated in the United States in the 1930s, perfectly exemplifies a harmonious blend of form, materials, and technical know-how. Blending industrial design with aerodynamic elements, Streamline embodies the ascent of functionalist aesthetics.

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This movement also marks the birth of a new profession: that of the designer. These designers are not just engineers or draftsmen. Their task is to conceive lines and colour combinations that will bring originality and aesthetics to industrial products. 

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The pioneers of this movement, notably Raymond Loewy, introduced everyday objects that embraced the avant-garde lines of contemporary trains, aircraft and automobiles. By embracing this trend with the Artline series, Bell & Ross pays tribute to these designers.

  A JEWEL OF STRENGTH

Acclaimed in the 70s and 80s especially in the United States, the gold/steel combination brings to these timepieces a rare and precious elegance by combining refinement and power. As a whole new generation rediscovers the boldness and flair of that era of creative virtuosity and freedom, the marriage of gold and steel is making a strong comeback in contemporary watchmaking. Bell & Ross is, of course, appropriating this in its own way.

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The new BR 05 Artline Steel & Gold is anything but nostalgic or neo-vintage. As a contemporary urban watch, it takes the stance of not choosing between strength and refinement. "With the Artline, we aimed to offer a watch that is adorned and elegant at the same time. Decorating its large surfaces (case and central links) allowed us to reveal the potential of the BR 05 through the prism of refinement, the precious and jewellery", says Bruno Belamich, Creative Director at Bell & Ross. Another significant advantage is that by combining these two materials, a precious watch with parts in 18-carat rose gold becomes more accessible.

A PRECIOUS AND POWERFUL 
TIMEPIECE DRAWING FROM AVIATION

On the new BR 05 Artline Steel & Gold, one graphical element immediately catches the eye of fine watchmaking connoisseurs: the gold elements. The bezel and central links of the integrated bracelet are fluted. Appreciated for both high-end watchmaking craftsmanship and goldsmith ornamentation, the reliefs of this finish evoke modern architecture.

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Unusual on technical pieces, the fluted design provides the BR 05 Artline with a distinctive and singular character. The Artline line stands apart from the rest of Bell & Ross's BR 05 collection, carving out its own unique space while still honouring the defining characteristics of its lineage.

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The ripples created by the fluting also hold a resonating evocative and emotional power for aviation enthusiasts. This is, of course, one of Bell & Ross' favourite areas of expression. 

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On the BR 05 Artline, they evoke the aluminium fuselages of 1940s cruise planes, known for their particularly sturdy structure. "Several references were swirling in my mind while creating this piece. The first of these was about air travel", confirms Bruno Belamich, Creative Director at Bell & Ross, who is now delighted to incorporate a more valuable dimension into the Maison's urban collection. Underneath the refinement lies strength.

DISTINCTIVE DIAL AND A HIGH-PERFORMANCE MOVEMENT

The large numerals typical of Bell & Ross's time indicators give way to baton indices coated with luminescent material, just like the hour and minute hands. For this highly exclusive limited series of 99 pieces, the seconds hand is made of gold to complement the new exclusive colour of the dial.

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A bright sunlit brown that requires a specific manufacturing technique. To achieve the desired effect, the metal plate from which the dial is cut must be coated with a tinted brown varnish. This dial adorns a precise and high-performing Swiss self-winding movement, the BR-CAL.321-1 calibre, equipped with a reassuring power reserve of 54 hours. A sapphire case back on this 40mm watch, waterproof to 100 metres, reveals the finishes and the full 360° oscillating weight.

Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO   Abounding in symbolism, the new BR 05 Artline Steel & Gold embraces multiple and complementary references, blending architectural rigour, versatile urban style, modernist industrial aesthetics, and aeronautical evocations. A statement of contemporary elegance.

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 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Collection: URBAN

Model: BR 05 AUTO ARTLINE Steel & Gold Edition 

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Ref:   BR05A-EL-GLST/SSG   -


Movement
Calibre BR-CAL.321-1.
Automatic mechanical. 54-hour power reserve.

Functions: hours, minutes, small seconds and date at 3 o’clock.
Case
Diameter: 40 mm, 10.33 mm thick.

Satin-finished and polished steel and 18 ct rose gold with striated bezel.
Screw-down crown.
Crown guard.
Sapphire case-back with 360° oscillating weight.
Water-resistance: 100 metres.
Dial
Brown sunray. Applique indices filled with white Super-
LumiNova® (green glow).
Skeletonised hour and minute hands filled with white Super-LumiNova® (green glow.)
Strap
Two-colour satin-finished and polished steel and 18 ct rose gold with striated links.
Folding. Satin-finished and polished steel

 

🔰 Edition of ✅99 pieces

🔴 Price: Pre-order only Delivery in July  $ 12,800 / 12,900 EUR -

 

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Press Release - 2024
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Schofield – OBSCURA Damascus Steel Edition

Schofield – OBSCURA Damascus Steel 44mm Edition 2024

Obscura because this watch is explicitly obscure, where a list of design choices, materials, and finishes would suggest it has too much going on. But the watch was designed as a whole so everything had to work. This creation is unfettered by expense, detail, materials, and craftsmanship.

The Obscura is a watch that began in 2017 and and has since been constantly adjusted and refined. A project of self-indulgence. “It is my best work and finally I can retire, happy. I am not retiring of course and probably never will, the point being the Obscura is unfettered by expense, detail, materials and craftsmanship. A watch that could only ever be made now, with the experience, team and makers accumulated over the last 15 years,” says Giles Ellis of Schofield.

In summary the Obscura is an artefact. It was designed specifically within all the normal watch constraints, i.e. a round watch that tells the time with central hour and minute hands but manipulated to look less conventional and more like a mysterious timing device. Something (when housed in its canister), that if discovered in the undergrowth should probably be left alone, or handed in. This is a watch of suspicious origins, perhaps military, perhaps alien. It is obscure, subtly so and definitely more than the sum of its parts, the details of which tell the Obscura’s story.

Ellis elaborates, “Obscura because it is obscure like some of my designs can be, or at least parts of them. Nothing is done without reason but sometimes those reasons are hard to articulate in words. So, this watch is explicitly obscure where a list of bullet points outlining design choices, materials and finishes would belie a watch with too much going on - something I generally dislike. The Obscura had to work regardless of this, which is why it took so long.”

The watch was designed as a whole and if one element changed, everything had to follow. It is obscure because it uses Damascus steel but unlike anything used before in watchmaking. However, the watch is not about it being Damascus, that is just a part of it. It is not about the triple glazed case back or the lume tracks in a rhodium dial, the odd hands and a statement crown. All obscure choices on paper perhaps, but here as a whole, not at all.

The case is Damascus steel made for this project by the lads at Vegas Forge in the States that uses enormous Nazel Hammers to smash the different steels together. The design chosen for the Obscura moves away from the ubiquitous wavy form that so many associate with Damascus and appears more cellular. Akin to Super Conductor material but timeless, traditional and artisan.

The recognisable Schofield case shape is fully machined and finished in Sussex by acid etching the surface, less for colour but more for texture. In a more recent update we added bronze bushings around the strap bar holes. This contrasting material acts like a friction bearing but also frames the steel strap bar screws, creating an obvious boundary and shadow line.

The case back is built around the three smoked sapphire crystals in the centre. A grey PVD coating is used to partially obscure the manual wind Unitas movement beneath. These crystals slightly magnify elements on the movement, like the blued screws, which scintillate as they catch the light. The three circles in a triangle is a classic Sci-Fi meme - think Predators tri-beam laser sight or a UFO undercarriage, but they also represent planets among the stars.

The fonts are interesting, obscure, one that could be Mayan, Witcher or Incal – who knows? It does not rank for legibility but is still cool. The other shows semaphore flag positions - a contracture of the N and the D in this alphabet makes the CND logo, a masterpiece of design by Gerald Holtom done in 1958. It is worth noting that all the detail on the case back is letters up, not down, meaning that it is the background that is machined away. It is then DLC coated and the top surface ground back to give contrast.

The Obscura dial is an extremely complex, multi-levelled affair with runnels of Super-LumiNova in different colours and different emissions (the glow colour). Schofield has mostly been ’business at the front, party at the back’, and lume design is no different - austere in the day and a laser show at night. Some of the Super-LumiNova was developed for us, not pigmenting which we and many others have done, but the emission colours. Concept luming is something we know a thing or two about. The dial base is dark grey rhodium-plated with a fine matt texture.

When designing the Obscura dial the question was how can it be more interesting and moderately obscure within the constraints of using ‘normal’ hands that rotate around a central point? To start with the hour and minute hands are different colours, the minute hand skeletonised, the hour hand lumed. At 12 o’clock the hands align to reveal the lume strip of the hour hand through the window of the minute hand. The minute hand obscures the lume ring on the dial beneath, thereby marking time at night with an absence of luminescence. The sub seconds ‘dial’ is again a milled pocket of Super-LumiNova and unusually the seconds hand sweeps beyond its boundary. The sub-dial is white, the hand blue and the dot - red, white and blue - just a nod to our British manufacture.

The crown is oversized like all Schofield crowns, better for leverage and easier to handle. A DLC coated pull out type, best for manual wind movements. It has fine knurling and our nail groove, multiple steps and different finishes but the real fun is with the red/pink Super-LumiNova fill in the engraved front face. A glowing dot under your cuff, a concept we introduced with the Blacklamp in 2013. The DLC crown colour matches the minute hand and the buckle, the crown lume colour with the red flanks in the dial. The dial base with the case back.

The exclusive Obscura strap is a high quality Italian tanned and British finished grey calf with a mottled and matt finish (called Cloud leather). The underside is our bark calf with green foiled logo. All other Schofield straps will fit the Obscura. The box is not a box - but a canister. Made specifically for the Obscura and expanding the idea of dubious providence. An object of beauty in its own right, designed to be displayed. Inside the watch spins on a gimbal, negating the need for upholstery. 

The design is based on Japanese tea caddies and military ordnance with the stainless steel bolt resembling a percussion cap of sorts. This buckle was also designed for the Obscura and retro-fittable to all other Schofields, this is why the Obscura buckle is not Damascus, that was too obvious and watch specific. Overall, it is slightly bigger than the old types, an appropriate shift in the visual balance of weight. The buckle uses a blued pocketed strap bar that prevents accidental skidding-off with a screwdriver. Engraved and paint-filled with a negative meniscus reminiscent of steam engine name badges.

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 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Movement
Calibre Unitas 6498-2, Geneva stripes, blue screws. Manual wind
    Functions: Hours, minutes, sub seconds
    Power reserve 46 hours
    Diameter 36.6mm/16.5”’
    Height 4.50mm
    Jewels 17
    Frequency 18,000 VPH
Case
Damascus steel. Stainless
    Diameter 44mm
    Crystal diameter 35.5mm
    Height not including lugs 15mm
    Width between lugs 24mm
    Lug length 52.7mm
    Weight with strap and buckle 128 grammes
    Crystal: Double dome sapphire, Swiss AR coatings in green or red
    Case Back: Text-up, three window - smoked grey sapphire crystals, DLC coated and brushed finish
    Crown: Double o-ring pull out type with nail groove, Super-LumiNove filled, DLC
    Water resistance 200m
Dial
Multi-level, electro-plated, machined grooves of Super-LumiNova
    Date: None
    Luminescence: Super-LumiNova C3, pink/red with green, blue, purple and orange emissions
    Hands: Machined hands (thick) Sage green, blue (seconds) and DLC
Strap
    Buckle: Obscura Best Ever type, DLC with red paint fill. 
    Brushed and bead blast, laser engraved 
    24/22mm Cloud grey leather

Box: Polyester and steel canister
Serial: Limited to 40 watches not individually numbered

British made    Warranty 2 years

🔰 Limited Availability: 40 pieces 

🔴PRICE: £ 9,558.00 💰

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