What The World Needs Now, Are Skulls, Sweet Skulls: New Bell & Ross BR01 Airborne 415 & 672 Watches

Only Watch 2009 saw the sale of Bell & Ross’s black diamond studded BR01 Airborne piece unique. As a one-off piece it was interesting, but now the brand is further putting resources into the controversial line of skull and cross-bone dialed watches with two new limited edition models of just 99 pieces each. The standard Bell & Ross BR01 Airborne is in all black with the skull dial painted in lune for an eerie but fun look in the dark. Like the Only Watch 2009 version of the watch, these two new models are richly decorated in black diamonds and come with black galuchat (also known as shagreen, and the material is stringray) or rubber strap.

The models are the Bell & Ross BR01 Airborne 415 and 672. The numbers correspond to the number of diamonds there are on the faces of the watches. The dials have the skull portions luxuriously appointed in white diamonds, while the rest of the case is has various amounts of black diamonds. The 672 version being fully covered, while the 415 version having just the skull itself done in the shimmering black stones. As such, the 415 version has 2.78 carats of diamonds, while the 672 has an impressive 4.57 carats of stones.

Using the standard 46mm wide bead blasted black steel cases, the watches also contain the high quality Swiss ETA 2892-2 automatic movement. The hands are swords to complete the adventurous theme. The watches actually have no relation to pirates, but are instead meant to honor the US Army Airborne division, specifically in their efforts in World Word II on D-Day in France.

What the BR01 Airborne watches lack in legibility or practicality, they make up for in character and novelty. While not the only “skull themed” watches out there, they are unique in appearance, and certainly a stark departure from what you’d expect normally from Bell & Ross. I can’t say I would wear such watches on a daily basis, but with Halloween coming up, my mind begins to ponder all the instances such a timepiece would be fun to wear. Like Bell & Ross points out, the timepieces are really a flirtatious dance between military inspired watch design and haute joaillerie. Strictly for a luxury budget only though.

By Ariel Adams

Tags: 415, 672, airborne, bell ross, br01, watch

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 2:13 pm and is filed under Watches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.