Hands-on – Bell & Ross Expands the BR03-92 Diver Collection with Blue and Bronze Editions
A year ago, Bell & Ross surprised with the introduction of one of their coolest recent watches, the BR03-92 Diver (first introduced in Black). This was not an easy one, however, as including all the codes of a true dive watch in a squared case might sound tricky. Yet, success was here and the result is more than pleasant. For Baselworld 2018, the brand is creating a collection around this concept, with the new Bell & Ross BR03-92 Diver Blue and Bronze editions.
Now a third year into the Sixties series of watches — one that started with a limited production of five colourways of the watch seen here in 2016, and a similar set of colours in a square chronograph for 2017 — Glashütte Original have opted to cut choice out of the equation for Baselworld 2018. A beautifully textured green dial, stamped using vintage dies from the brand’s archives, will be available from boutiques and retailers for a one-year period (rather than being limited to a specific volume of watches). We’ve been seeing green making the rounds of luxury watch brands for a good couple of years now, but with the combination of colour choice, unique texture, and the generally funky ’60s-era vibe to this piece, I can’t help but lock it in as my favourite green dial to date. Now I know a lot of you will want to have my head for not picking the new green-dialled H. Moser Pioneer, but rest assured, it’s a mighty tight race between the two. Vital statistics Depending on the variant, as the new Sixties model is available as either a no-date or Panorama Date configuration, buyers have the option of either a svelte…
Editor’s note: Full disclosure, this one slipped past the keeper in those hectic pre-Basel days. So to all of you people eagerly awaiting your dose of Spotted! (I know you’re out there), I’m sorry. But you know what, it might be late, but it’s still great. And with that, over to Andy. My March ‘Spotted Dispatch’ is always a fun one. It feels like just yesterday I was adding the finishing touches this time last year, before boarding my flight to Europe, destined for Baselworld. Well, this year is no different! Very shortly I’ll be jetting off to do some international watch spotting, but for now, enjoy some solid watch spotting, which if you noticed the banner image, is a pretty special one! First up, I kicked off the month over coffee with a collector friend, Rich, who happened to be sporting one of my favourites. Rich was rocking one of the classics, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak (reference 15300), which he likes as it’s smaller than the current offering, the 15400. The 15300 was 39mm in diameter and discontinued in 2012, where it was superseded by the reference 15400 (41mm). For Rich, the Royal Oak is all about the…