The graphics show the scanning motion of the light beam on a radar screen with stunning realism. The bright red crystal topping the dial is reminiscent of the flight control instrument. It was a phenomenal success at the time and remained one of the brand’s best-sellers for a long time.
Exploring the world of aviation has always been close to the hearts of founders Carlos-Antonio Rosillo and Bruno Belamich who, together formed Bell & Ross in 1994 — a combination of the first syllable of their last names Bel (Belamich) and Ross (Rosillo) — which specialises in timepieces that are classic and unique.
The brand’s design and material choices have always focused on the aviation industry — it uses materials such as titanium and carbon fibre to craft timepieces suitable for pilots and their extreme flying conditions.
BR 03-92 Red Radar Ceramic forms part of the brand’s flight Instruments collection that has about a dozen exclusive timepieces. Each revisits the graphics of aircraft navigation instruments, transposing these to the watch, thereby offering a new way to read the time.
It all started back in 2005, with the launch of the iconic BR 01, which was reminiscent of a jet cockpit clock. This legendary timepiece was the first to feature the famous Bell & Ross case: A circle within a square.
This range also includes the Radar collection. The first in this line —theBR01Radar—made its appearance in 2010. It was the first to feature an innovative display with rotating discs. In 2011, the Red Radar was added to this range. Its dial was topped with a mysterious red sapphire crystal.
This year, the BR 03-92 Red Radar, in ceramic, is the third addition to this successful family.
BR 03-92 Red Radar Ceramic system comprises two concentric discs which fuse with the dial. Its playful design is reminiscent of a stylised toy. These elements replace the hour and minute hands. In a major new feature, the discs move two tiny screen-printed planes, giving the impression that these are flying over the dial.
The hour scale is screen-printed on the inside (back) of the sapphire crystal, and so is well protected from impacts and abrasions.
For this innovative display, two ultra-light discs had to be designed to preserve the power reserve. These very robust discs will not deform and they maintain constant parallelism. Our watchmakers worked hard to ensure that the precision of the watch movement was not altered by friction. The assembly of each of these components was fine-tuned to the nearest micron. Guaranteeing such precision required all our in-house engineers to pool their expertise.
The principle explained
The two rotating discs on this ground-breaking display take the place of the conventional hands. The two stylised planes replace the traditional arrows:
• The passenger plane travels on the large, outermost disc, showing the hours.
• The fighter plane flies on the smaller-diameter disc, nearer the centre of the dial, showing the minutes.
• A slim, analogue central hand accompanies these two planes, showing the seconds.
The passenger plane travels more slowly than the fighter plane, as it does in reality. The former completes one lap of the dial in 12 hours, the latter in sixty minutes.
Ultimately, there are two levels on the display:
• Lower level: The discs, the planes.
• Upper level: The hour scale printed on the inside of the sapphire crystal.
• The large red hand navigates between the two.
Playful yet striking
In this year’s iteration, the BR 03-92 Red Radar Ceramic revisits the innovative display of the Red Radar with a more realistic, playful look. The newcomer adopts the BR 03 case, which is 42mm in diameter. In constant pursuit of innovation and performance, on this occasion, Bell & Ross has chosen to use ceramic. This high-tech material is scratch-resistant, yet soft to the touch.
Movement:
BR-CAL.302. Automatic mechanical
Functions:
Hours, minutes and seconds.
Case:
42 mm in width. Matt black ceramic
Dial:
Black, centre minute disc and outer hour disc with small red aircraft markings. Red painted seconds hand.
Crystal:
Sapphire with red anti-reflective coating and red painted numerals and indices.
Water-resistance:
100 metres
Strap:
Black rubber and ultra-resilient black synthetic fabric
Buckle:
Pin, steel with black PVD (physical vapor deposition) finish
