First introduced in 2019, the BR 05 had a gray dial and later, a one-off Gold Blue Skeleton was introduced before a blue version was released in 2020. Fast forward today, there is another new BR 05, the Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Watch.
Sharing the same silhouette has its previous models, the Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Watch is dressed in black skeleton dial with a hint of green – lent to it by Super-Luminova C5 on the metal appliqué skeletonized indices and hands for ease of time telling both in day and night.
The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Watch is powered by calibre BR-CAL.322 automatic mechanical with hours, minutes and seconds functions.
It is presented in a 40 mm stain-finished and polished steel case, paired to a screw-down crown with crown guard, sapphire case-back that offers a peek at the 360-degree oscillating weight.
The dial is, of course, skeleton but with smoked sapphire plate and black movement while the sapphire gets an anti-reflective coating for highest clarity under any lighting conditions.
Finally, the watch is complete with a black rubber for a sporty chic silhouette or satin-finished and polished steel strap with folding buckle in satin-finished and polished steel for a touch elegance suitable for black tie events.
The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Watch has a limited run of just 500 pieces and it is available for pre-order now. It sells for US$6,400 for rubber strap version and US$6,900 for steel bracelet model.
Swiss watch manufacturer Bell & Ross combine their BR 05 wristwatch for city exploration with the unmissable luminosity witnessed on their pilots’ watches. Dressed in stainless steel, paired with smoked sapphire crystal and limited to only 500 pieces, meet the new Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum…
Some of the biggest news from Bell & Ross in the last few years was the introduction of their BR 05 collection. Boasting integrated bracelets, perfectly flat surfaces and new dial designs, the series was designed to be their interpretation of the luxury sports watch, taking a more modern direction in comparison to so many of their other vintage-inspired pilots instruments. In our eyes, the Bell & Ross BR 05 was a huge success and over the last 18 months, we have had a fantastic selection of references to choose from. The original Bell and Ross BR 05 Skeleton was the first limited edition in the collection engineered entirely in stainless steel with a matching silver skeleton dial. More recently, we have seen the unveiling of the BR 05 Skeleton Blue with blue smoked sapphire crystal and now, the same aesthetics are revealed but paired with Bell & Ross’ Nightlum dial.
Bell & Ross’ “Lum” series, which includes the likes of their BR V2-94 “Full Lum” Limited Edition, BR 03 92 “Grey Lum” and BR 03 94 Hololum, takes inspiration from aircraft cockpit clocks and the bright lights at airport runways by incorporating green Superluminova on the dial. From the Latin word “Lumen” for light, the new Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Limited Edition continues to deliver exceptional readability despite its complex skeletonised dial with green coloured C3 Superluminova richly applied on the hour markers and hands. Despite its status as an urban instrument, Bell & Ross has fulfilled its promise in making all their watches, including the BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum, as legible as a cockpit instrument.
With the new Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Limited Edition watch, the luxury watch brand continues to rebel against the confines of a traditional round watch and instead retains their own invention of a square case presented with a perfectly round dial at the centre. The case measures to 40mm in diameter, about 10.3mm thick and just under 48mm lug to lug distance with satin-brushed and polished finishing. As with all the BR 05 watches, the case feels incredibly solid and features a crown at 3 o’clock protected by two sleek crown guards which ensure a comfortable 100 metre water resistance.
Similarly, to how the BR 05 Skeleton Blue was topped by blue-tinted glass, the new Nightlum Limited Edition watch is protected by black smoked sapphire crystal. The glass offers a view into the skeletonised dial beneath which has been industrially finished with vertical brushed surfaces and framed by a circular brushed inner flange. For a skeleton watch, the dial of the Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Nightlum Limited Edition is amazingly easy to read, largely down to the green Superluminova markers. It is the BR-CAL.322 automatic winding movement on show here, based on the Sellita SW 300, which has been visually modified but maintains its specifications including a 42 hour power reserve and frequency of 28,800vph. The movement can also be spotted through the exhibition case back.