It has been 13 years since Bell & Ross started making the watch that has a circlular dial within a square case. The impetus for this idea came from observing the gauges within the cockpits of aircrafts which led to the aviation theme being one of the strongest mainstays of the brand. More recently Bell & Ross started branching out, looking at land and sea for its inspiration; and although their round watches existed long before the square case of the BR 01, it is this collection of watches, that its reputation is built upon (at least for now).
Naturally, the BR 03, which is the extension of the BR 01 collection has the same effect on me. I had the pleasure of wearing the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Nightlum for just over a week the watch has such an unmistakable presence that you won’t soon forget that you have a slice of Bell & Ross DNA right there on your wrist.
The watch itself is a gorgeously built timepiece. The case is 42mm in matte black ceramic complimented with a matte black dial. This combined with a grey-green calfskin strap really demonstrates their commitment to not only building professional instruments but also their affinity for military design.
For round watches 42mm may be a decent size but when you surround that circle with another square, suddenly the diameter seems to be amplified. As such the case of the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Nightlum did seem a touch too big at first but as I got used to the heft I got quite comfortable with how it looked on my wrist. Another thing I really liked about the watch was that even with its size, it never once felt bulky, in fact, it was surprisingly comfortable to wear. Part of that comfort comes from the ceramic on the case that adapts to your body temperature rather quickly and another part is contributed by the flat caseback construction.
Over the years, Bell & Ross has added quite a few functional complications to its BR 03 collection (like the chronograph or GMT) but the BR 03-92 Nightlum is on the opposite end of that spectrum. It sets out to do one single thing, which is to tell the time and it does this exceedingly well. First, they removed all unnecessary distractions leaving the four Arabic numerals 3, 6, 9 and 12 in the classic Bell & Ross font. Then comes the contrast between the hands and indices, and the dial. And lastly all the important components of time telling are coated in SuperLuminova C3 – which as far as I can tell, is the brightest lume within the SuperLuminova range.
At the time of writing, the price for the watch is MYR15,500 at 0% GST. This may be a little steep but is justified considering that ceramic is quite a difficult material to work with. Considering that ceramic is harder to scratch than steel, hypoallergenic and adapts to your body temperature rather quickly it may be worth the price tag after all.
I love that the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Nightlum brings it back the focus to the most basic function of a wristwatch and the amount of thought they put into it. I may not have the urgency of a pilot or a professional when it comes to reading time but it is still quite nice to be able to do it quickly at the flick of a wrist, day or night.
Movement: calibre BR-CAL.302. Automatic mechanical.
Crystal: sapphire with anti-reflective coating.
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds and date.
Water-resistance: 100 metres.
Case: 42 mm in diameter. Matt black ceramic.
Straps: grey-green calfskin and ultra-resilient black synthetic fabric.
Dial: matt black. Hands, numerals and indices coated in Superluminova®C3.
Buckle: pin buckle. Black PVD.
