The Shit That Killed Elvis 4 / 12

So I'll start off right away and clearly state that Bell & Ross does support Tempus Fugit.  And moreover, I am fairly certain that this particular watch "dropped" a while back.  But it makes it this year because, frankly, this is the year I personally discovered it.

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

A watch, is a watch, is a watch.  I get a fair number of press releases in my in box.  Brands mighty and small in equal measures.  And while some of my colleagues will dip into their horologic thesaurus to drip honey on the virtual page, I don't generally get over-enthused about yet another celebrity partnership, re-boot or Brand X telling me something is awesome because their media puppeteer/CEO puts on a pair of lederhosen, gets on the stage to spin the wheels of steel and mugs for the camera.  More succinctly, you can put a cat in the oven, but that doesn't make it a biscuit.

So it really comes down to what moves you personally.  Some things that I suspect, by now, are  known about me: I enjoy driving the speed limit (in my sensible 4-door sedan), I am smart enough to know that energy drinks will not enable me to "shred" the half-pipe (although drinking them could lead to tooth decay, an accelerated heart rate, and the desire to use the word epic as an adjective), and my idea of death defying is a nice bowl of shredded wheat topped with (drum roll please) coconut!  So I am not, by definition, a "bad-ass".  But I am a romantic.  And romance, at least by my definition, is not something tangible.  It is not something that is easily defined by focus groups,  quantified by the number of Instagram followers, or Facebook likes.  It is either there, or it isn't.  It is, in my estimation, a visceral reaction.

visceral

adjective 

vis·cer·al \ˈvi-sə-rəl, ˈvis-rəl\

Definition of visceral

1. 1 :  felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body :  deep visceral conviction>

2 :  not intellectual :  instinctive, unreasoning <visceral drives>

3 :  dealing with crude or elemental emotions :  earthy visceral novel>

So while I might not have been the demographic envisaged when this watch came to be, it has grabbed me.  It takes me back to my preteen years watching Speed Racer -

 

Shameless borrowed from the world-wide infoweb

A watch, is a watch, is a watch...

Unless it moves you.

Here are the pertinents -

 

BR 03 - 92 AEROGT

Limited Edition of 500 pieces.
Movement: 

calibre BR-CAL.318. Skeleton automatic mechanical.
Functions: 

hours, minutes and seconds.
Case: 

42 mm in diameter. Satin-polished steel.
Sapphire case-back with anti-reflective coating.
Dial: 

skeleton. Metal appliqué indices. Metal skeleton Superluminova-filled hour and minute hands.
Crystal: 

sapphire with anti-reflective coating.
Water resistance: 

100 metres.
Straps: 

black calfskin stitched with red piping and ultra-resistant black synthetic fabric.
Buckle: 

pin. Satin-polished steel.