The BR-X1 WHITE HAWK

From Bell & Ross -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

This is one of a pair of pretty fantastic new pieces from that continue to push Bell & Ross back into the light.  

When it comes to Bell & Ross I have always found myself firmly in the "Vintage" camp.  Having said that, the BR-X1 WHITE HAWK is a pretty exciting take on the "cockpit" or "instrument panel" half of the Bell & Ross family.  This is a watch with function, and form. And for form is pleasingly edgy!

Hours, minutes, seconds, date - and chronograph.  

And yes, I want this watch - and I suspect that many others will as well.  Alas, there will be but 250 of them, so move sharpish!

Here are the pertinents, straight from Bell & Ross -

Movement:
calibre BR-CAL.313. Automatic mechanical. ‘X’- shaped upper bridge. 56 jewels, 28,800 vph.
Skeleton chronograph.

Functions: 

hours, minutes, small seconds at 3 o’clock. Skeleton date at 6 o’clock. Chronograph: 30-min timer at 9 o’clock, central chronograph seconds.

Case: 

45 mm in diameter. Microblasted titanium and matte white ceramic with rubber inserts. Rocker push-buttons. Case-back with opening in tinted sapphire crystal, centred on the balance.

Dial: 

sapphire crystal. Metal applique Superluminova®- filled indices. Metal skeletonised Superluminova®- filled hour and minute hands.

Crystal: 

sapphire with anti-reflective coating.

Water-resistance: 

100 metres.

Strap: 

bi-material: rubber and grey calfskin.

Buckle: 

pin. Satin-polished steel and rubber insert.

 

 

Find out more here - 

BR-X1

Some Changes

As was announced here before, but as a friendly reminder, Tempus Fugit has stopped accepting paid advertising.  On January 1st two of the remaining three side banner ads will be removed, with the third side banner being removed at the end of February.

The top banner will be available, but not in the traditional sense of advertising.  A portion of the fee for the top banner will go to Tempus Fugit, the balance will be donated by the brand to a charity of the brand's choosing.  The idea is to encourage brands to make meaningful contributions to charitable work, and for Tempus Fugit to help spread the word about that.

The Bell & Ross clock will also remain because I personally feel that it adds a unique feature that readers enjoy.

But needless to say, Tempus Fugit has now gotten to the point where it is a bit too expensive to run without some sort of assistance, and as I am trying to move away from paid advertising I am going to go with a bit of a PBS approach.  To that end I have created a Pay Pal link that is located directly under the Bell & Ross clock on the right hand side of the page:

Support Tempus Fugit

Help Support Tempus Fugit

Not to worry, Tempus Fugit will still be free for you to read, enjoy, criticize, print out and line your cat box with ; )

But if you do enjoy it and wish to make a small $5.00 donation, well that's fine too!


Enjoy your watches!

Channeling my inner George Jetson

People who write about watches can often be identified by what tribe they belong to.  But those tribes are not always so understandable and knowable at first blush.

Robert- Jan Broer who is responsible for the wonderful Fratello Watches site is known far and wide (and rightly so) for his knowledge, and more importantly his passion, for the Omega Speedmaster.

Tim Jackson is half of the dynamic duo behind Passion Fine Jewelry (Jana Jackson being the other half).  Passion is perhaps the most important retailer of independent watch makers in North America, if not the world.  But with his blog, Independent in Time, Tim carries the torch for those rare souls out there still doing it on their own - the independent watch makers.

Jack Forster may not have founded Hodinkee, but for many of us he made it SOOOOO much better. Moving from more than merely a promotional vehicle for both the brands and the site, Jack is one of those rare people that can (and does) actually take the time to dig a little deeper into a topic and actually find those esoteric little tidbits that make his articles far more than just posts about watches.

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

And if I belong to a tribe, it is perhaps the tribe of "Visceral Appreciation".  What I am drawn to, 9 times out of 10, has precious little to do with price point (low or high), complication (let's face it, I don't enjoy even the most basic aspects of home maintenance, how in God's name am I going to navigate a grand complication?), brand name (okay, I will say that Vacheron pretty much turns my crank no matter what, don't know why, but they do), or what everyone else says I should like (sorry Mr. Biver, not buying what you're selling but feel free to send more cheese).  Clearly I am a focus group of 1.

So getting back to that "visceral memory" thing.  This is the Bell & Ross BR 03-92 AEROGT.  It is one of those watches that, for whatever reason, jumped out at me.  It took me back to that time of wonder, where as a young boy I thought about a world much bigger and interesting than the small town of Oberlin where I grew up (population around 3,000, if memory serves).  When I was 10 years old, my grandfather had the wonderfully misguided idea that I should be given one of the very first LED watches that Texas Instruments made.  So for those of you wondering just how f'ing old I am, that was around 1978.  

I loved that watch!  I made sure that EVERYONE in my class saw it and went to great lengths to share not only how unique it was, but how special I must be because I had it ; )  

I hit the display button with the same intensity that a job seeker hits the refresh button on their email to see if they got the position they interviewed for the week before.  Needless to say, I don't think the watch was "ready for prime time" or for "Henki-Time" for that matter as after a few days it pooped out and was returned to Texas Instruments for service.  Within a week a BRAND NEW watch arrived from Texas Instruments!  And the repaired watch showed up a few days later!  Talk about customer service!!!  Unfortunately, while the after sales service was great, the actual quality of the watch was not.  Within a few days, both the new watch and the one that was repaired had both crapped out.  And my classmates made sure to share with me their "compassion" with that type of empathy that ten year olds are famous for ; )   

Needless to say, a lesson in humility was probably needed.  But that George Jetson / Buck Rogers / Captain Kirk inspired watch haunts me nearly forty years later.  And although they are COMPLETELY different things, I find myself drawn to the BR 03-92 AEROGT for those same, visceral feelings.  It is not rational, it is not based on research or analytics.  I simply like it.

Here are the pertinents -

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.

The BR 01 Instrument De Marine

From Bell & Ross -

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

This is one of the three new pieces offered by Bell & Ross in the latest iteration of their Instrument collection. And as there are three, they are all pretty swell, we'll be sharing them one at a time.

Movement:
calibre BR-CAL.203.
Hand-wound mechanical. 1
7 jewels, 21,600 vph. 56-hours power reserve.

Functions:
hours, minutes and small seconds at 6 o’clock.


Case:
46 mm diameter. Precious wood, titanium and CuSn8
bronze.


Dial:
white lacquer. Roman numerals. Blued hands.


Crystal:
anti-reflective sapphire.


Water-resistance:
100 metres.


Strap:
brown alligator.


Buckle:
pin. Bronze.

For the Man who has Everything - Some News from Bell & Ross

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross officially launched its Flight Instruments Collector’s Box at the concept store Colette in Paris last week.    

Bell & Ross Aviation Collection 2013

Today Bell & Ross announced the release of their Aviation Collection as a BaselWorld preview -

BELL & ROSS AND AERONAUTICAL INSTRUMENTATION

The iconic BR 01 AVIATION collection is directly inspired by the instrumentation of aircraft cockpits, and addresses four fundamental requirements: legibility, functionality, precision and water-resistance.
Pushing its exploration of aeronautical navigation instruments further, Bell & Ross innovates year after year with completely new high-tech models —BR 01 COMPASS in 2010, and RADAR in 2011—, offering a completely new way of reading time, inspired by flight instrumentation. In 2012, Bell & Ross introduced three new versions: BR 01 HORIZON, BR 01 ALTIMETER, and BR 01 TURN COORDINATOR. The result was a collection of exclusive watches with an innovative display and uncompromising legibility: an absolute priority for professionals and for every Bell & Ross watch. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

FROM THE COCKPIT TO THE WRIST

With this new trio, Bell & Ross recreates the graphic style of navigation instruments as closely as possible, once again going beyond the traditional approach to reading the time.
These three new models —BR01 HEADING INDICATOR, BR 01 AIRSPEED and BR01 CLIMB— are each available in limited editions of 999 pieces. The first 99 will be offered exclusively in a lavish collector’s box containing the six instruments: BR 01 HORIZON, ALTIMETER, TURN COORDINATOR, HEADING INDICATOR, AIRSPEED and CLIMB. The box is designed as a control panel where the essential instruments are laid out in T shape for optimum legibility.
An exclusive box that will make its owner feel as though they own a fragment of an aircraft’s cockpit, delighting both aviation fans and watch collectors. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

BR01 AIRSPEED LIMITED EDITION OF 999 PIECES    

DESIGN THAT ENHANCES LEGIBILITY
Bell & Ross designers have borrowed the graphic characteristics of the anemometer, or airspeed, to create an original and extremely legible display of time.

• To enhance legibility, the hour, minute and second graduations have been separated to promote the minutes on the main dial – as in the
  original instrument –, while the hours are displayed in the center.
  
• The three colors that indicate critical levels in the original instrument – green, white and yellow – also appear on the watch dial and indicate the zones by quarters of an hour.
  
• The hands and index marks are covered in a white photo luminescent coating, contrasting with the black of the dial, echoing the legibility principles of professional aeronautical instruments.
  
• The anti-glare, matte black carbon finish of the case is inspired by the color of an instrumentation panel, designed to make the dials easier
  to read by eliminating glare. 

BR01-92 AIRSPEED
Movement: ETA 2892 mechanical automatic.
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds.
Case: 46mm diameter. Black PVD* steel finish. Screw-in crown.
Dial: Black. The hour, minute and second graduations have been separated, with the minutes in white on the main dial, and the hours in the center in yellow. Seconds are read on the outer raised dial. The three colors of the original instrument – green, white and yellow – are used on the raised dial and indicate quarters of an hour. The index marks and hands have a photo- luminescent coating for nighttime reading.
Glass: sapphire crystal with anti-glare coating.
Water-resistance: 100 meters.
Straps: rubber and heavy-duty synthetic fabric. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

BR01-97 CLIMB LIMITED EDITION OF 999 PIECES

A GRAPHIC STYLE INSPIRED BY THE VARIOMETER OR CLIMB
Bell & Ross designers have borrowed the graphic characteristics of the climb to create an original and innovative display of time.

• The frame reflects the style of the original instrument. Instead of the variometer, a power reserve indicator allows the user to measure remaining power, which is vital for the smooth functioning of the movement. This indicator is yellow, contrasting with the black of the dial
  and the other time information. The date is also displayed in a window at 3 o’clock.
  
• The typeface of the graduation is reminiscent of CLIMB. Since it only has one white hand, the hour hand has been darkened to render the
  best imitation of the original instrument.
  
• The hands and the digits are covered in a white photo luminescent coating, contrasting with the black of the dial, and echoing the legibility
  principles of professional aviation instruments.
  
• The anti-glare, matt black carbon finish of the case is inspired by the color of an instrumentation panel, designed to make the dials easier
  to read by eliminating glare. 

BR01-97 CLIMB
Movement: ETA 2897 mechanical automatic.
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds. Date.
Case: 46mm diameter. Black PVD* steel finish. Screw-in crown.
Dial: black. Date window at 3 o’clock.
Yellow power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock. Hands, index markings and date window covered in a photo-luminescent coating.
Glass: sapphire crystal with anti-glare coating.
Water-resistance: 100 meters.
Straps: rubber and heavy-duty synthetic fabric. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

BR01 HEADING INDICATOR 
LIMITED EDITION OF 999 PIECES    

DISC-BASED DISPLAY INSPIRED BY THE HEADING INDICATOR
Bell & Ross designers have borrowed the graphic characteristics of the heading indicator to create an original and innovative display of time.

• The dial comprises three independent concentric discs, graduated for the hours and minutes. The seconds are displayed in the center on a disc, which is not graduated, but features a yellow marker. The hour reading is indicated by the yellow triangle, which appears on the outer
  hours’ disc. Minutes are read from the middle disc.
  
• The WES (West, East and South) indications are also displayed on this disc, as on the original instrument, and the N for North indication has
  been replaced by a yellow triangle marker for reading the hours.
  
• To allow the markers to stand out against the background, an airplane – identical to the one found on the original instrument – and yellow
  index marks are engraved under the glass.
  
• The anti-glare, matt black carbon finish of the case is inspired by the color of an instrumentation panel, designed to make the dials easier
  to read by eliminating glare.
  
  TECHNOLOGICAL FEATS
  The BR 01 HEADING INDICATOR is highly sophisticated. The technical challenge posed by its design and production required the collaboration of the best watchmaking engineers.
  

• Since each disc weighs 30 times more than a watch hand, ultra light discs needed to be created in order to not reduce the power reserve
  nor the accuracy of the watch. furthermore, each disc needed to be sufficiently resistant so as not to become deformed or risk any friction.
  This dual challenge has required the development of specific materials and new techniques.
  
• As they rotate, an adjustment to the nearest micron ensures that the discs are constantly parallel. The accuracy of the assembly requires all the know-how of master watchmakers.
    

BR01-92 HEADING INDICATOR 
Movement: ETA 2892 mechanical automatic.
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds.
Case: 46mm diameter. Black PVD* steel finish. Screw-in crown.
Dial: three independent concentric discs, graduated for the hours and minutes. The seconds are marked out in the center on a disc, which is not graduated, featuring a yellow marker. The hour reading is indicated by the yellow triangle, which appears on the outer hours’ disc. Minutes are read from the middle disc. Markers: a plane and yellow index marks are engraved under the glass.
Glass: sapphire crystal with anti-glare coating.
Water-resistance: 100 meters.
Straps: rubber and heavy-duty synthetic fabric. 

www.bellross.com

Bruno Belamich, creative Director - Bell & Ross

The folks at Bell & Ross were kind enough to share this with me so I thought I'd share it with you -

VISIONARY BEGINNINGS
A childhood marked by the birth of the hi-tech revolution
From a very young age, Bruno Belamich developed a passion for drawing. His natural curiosity and inclination soon led him to what lay behind the object: its design. As a teenager in the 1980s, he grew up in the midst of the technological revolution, a period rich in innovation. His memories from that time include emblematic landmarks such as the Publicis Drugstore in Paris, as well as his first calculator. He then began to take an interest in innovation and performance, at a time when the masters in those arts were bringing them from Japan. This explains his early fascination with that captivating country which presented an insight into the world of the future.

His interest in watchmaking was born out of the transformation sparked by the first quartz watches.
The first iconic sports watches from this period also made a lasting impression on him. As a teenager, his passion for aviation led him to develop an interest in fine engineering and instrumentation. His father gave him his first "quality watch" for his 16th birthday – a LIP watch by Roger Tallon. This was the start of a burgeoning interest in traditional Swiss watchmaking, combining precision mechanics and advanced technology. This interest was to become a passion...

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

AN EARLY TASTE FOR FUNCTIONAL DESIGN
A very specific culture and apprenticeship
At the age of 20, Bruno Belamich saw design, which was still little known to the general public, as an indicator of things to come. He already felt that "Every opportunity should be taken to transform a moment into design.” So it was quite natural he should turn toward a career as a designer.
In the early 1990s, he enrolled at ENSCI (École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle) and designed his first pieces.

A precise vision
He then took a break from his studies for two years to do his military service in New Caledonia. This first long journey to the other side of the world appealed to his naturally curious spirit and his thirst for learning. It also made him want to explore new lands. His attraction to Asia took him to Hong Kong, the watchmaking mecca, where he settled down. He carried out a six- month placement in a design agency there, giving him a very clear vision of his future career and plunging him into the country’s watchmaking culture. He also found a real source of inspiration in avant-garde magazines such as MONO. 

A crucial meeting
Having gained valuable experience, he returned to Europe to continue his studies, while also working for the company Sinn. This German watchmaking brand, specializing in navigation watches and on-board instrumentation offered him his first real immersion in a world that fascinated him: aeronautics. There was an immediate affinity between the young student designer and the experienced manufac- turer of aviation watches, Helmut Sinn, fuelled by a shared passion for functional watchmaking.

Bruno Belamich’s end-of-course dissertation entitled "The launch of a watchmaking brand specializing in the production of functional watches for professional use" was a career concept where the first seeds of the Bell & Ross brand were sown. 

A PROJECT BASED ON WATCHMAKING PASSION

In 1992, their shared passion for watchmaking brought together Bruno Belamich and his childhood friend Carlos Rosillo. It led them to team up to work on an ambitious project: founding a watchmaking brand.

Alongside Bruno Belamich’s progress in the field of design, Carlos Rosillo studied finance, finally graduating from the H.E.C. business school. Combining their perfectly complementary skills, they founded Bell & Ross with the ambition of creating functional watches for professional use, inspired by aeronautical instrumentation.

Their military standard specifications led them to work with master watchmakers, engineers, designers and professionals with complementary talents.
They immediately began reflecting on a logo to lay the foundations of the brand. Bruno Belamich pictured it as extremely simple: pure, visual, effective, and capable of firing the imagination and evoking professionalism.

It soon became obvious they should contract their two names, Belamich and Rosillo. Above all, Bruno Belamich wanted a functional, legible typeface, reflecting utilitarian and timeless professional features. This led to the selection of the Din* and Franklin fonts, commonly used in the fields of aviation and security.  As a final touch, the ampersand completed the logo, which forms the shape of a watch laid out flat. The circle surrounding the ampersand represents the case, with the hands at the center. The "Bell" and the "Ross" form the two parts of the strap. The "&" in the circle is the symbol that identifies the brand. A character often used in functional signage, it was chosen to symbolize the unity of different skills.

The Bell & Ross logo was the first concrete manifestation of the designer’s functional training.
Never changed since it was first created, this logo is evidence, if any were needed, of the correlation between the spirit of the past and the modern brand.
Two years of research and development were required before the first Bell & Ross watches were released in 1994. The first of these were produced with Sinn and sold under the label Bell & Ross by Sinn. The Bell & Ross adventure had begun, with this first collection immediately winning acclaim from watchmaking professionals. After all, the most specialized retailers and the trade press can’t be wrong...

*Din ("Deutsches Institut für Normung" – the German Standardization Institute) 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Bruno Belamich has always been fascinated by aeronautical instrumentation and by the plane as a design object so intimately linked to its functionality and a key testament to technological changes. From the first timepieces, this inspiration has nurtured the development of the Bell & Ross collections, based on two clearly defined focuses:

• On the one hand, aeronautical instrumentation, specifically that of the instrumentation panel: the AVIATION Collection.

• On the other, the evocation of key eras in the history of aviation, through the development of pilots’ watches: the VINTAGE Collection.

Bruno Belamich develops his creations based on a key principle: "Every detail has its own meaning and function.” To design and manufacture his watches, the designer adheres to precise specifications, focusing above all on the needs and requirements of professional users. Functionality is key, and minimalism— sacrificing the simply ornamental and superfluous in favor of the essential— is vital. All Bell & Ross watches are therefore designed according to four fundamental principles necessary for the completion of missions under extreme conditions: legibility, functionality, precision and water-resistance.

This vision also characterizes Bruno Belamich’s belief in Functionalist Design from Scandinavia, Germany and Denmark. The heritage of the Bauhaus school, a pioneering artistic movement, which laid the foundations of modern architecture, also strongly influences the culture and work of Bruno Belamich.
This places him firmly in the tradition of the illustrious predecessors and design experts who have been his inspiration. These great names in design include Arne Jacobsen, George Nelson, Jasper Morrison and Marc Newson, for their modernity and creativity; Dieter Rams, the Braun designer in the 1960s, and Mies van der Rohe. And, of course, Jonathan Ive, the Apple designer for the way he popularized functionalist design. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

BIRTH OF A BELL & ROSS WATCH
According to Bruno Belamich, the role of creative director is to harness design to benefit the company.
He must firstly respond to the user’s needs, then reconcile these with the company’s technical and production constraints, and finally incorporate them into a watch. Belamich starts by painstakingly iden- tifying the user’s needs to establish a list of specifications making it possible to define the watch’s functions. During the creative process, the concept initially finds its expression in a drawing produced by hand. This drawing is then reproduced as a plan, using specialist 3D modeling software such as CATIA. Technical studies are then carried out in close collaboration with Bell & Ross’s master watchmakers and engineers, in order to optimize the watch’s performance. A prototype is then produced and a long series of tests are carried out before mass production and commercial launch.

Depending on the model, this creative process may last from one to several years. Once the models have been optimized, Bell & Ross watches are developed, assembled and fine-tuned in the production facilities of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

THE HISTORY OF MILITARY AERONAUTICAL WATCHES

The Bell & Ross watches created by Bruno Belamich are divided into three collections: AVIATION, VINTAGE and MARINE, and five types of cases, each corresponding to a key stage in the history of aviation.  whatever the style of the case, the watches have a distinctive sign immediately indicating their origin: the use on the dial of Adonis Cyrillic, a special typeface inspired by aeronautical signage.

A COHERENT AND ORIGINAL VISION 

The creative vision of Bruno Belamich, which has always driven him to design watches for professional use inspired by aeronautics, has not wavered. Over the years and the various collections, he has cultivated originality in consistency.

As he himself emphasizes: "The designer works for the brand and must adapt his creative approach to incorporate technological innovations.” This permanent quest for innovation and performance is what inspires him on a daily basis to create the Bell & Ross collections of tomorrow.   
 

Over time, Bruno Belamich has forged a philosophy based on three key aspects:
An approach, functionalism; a method, the union of skills; and a vision, the development of watches and the brand he founded.

Fired by the same passion and enthusiasm as when he produced his first collections, he remains more loyal than ever to this maxim: “Because he wants to reach for the stars and explore the ocean depths, because he lives out his passions to the fullest, man has always measured himself against time.... to turn a few seconds into a moment of eternity.” 

A FEW OF BRUNO BELAMICH’S FAVORITE THINGS
• a favorite car: the Land Rover, which according to him, is to automobiles what Bell & Ross is to
watchmaking.
• a favorite place: driving alone in his car, his way of recharging his batteries.
• a favorite plane: two legends, the Bell X-1 experimental supersonic rocket plane (1945) and the Rafale, the pinnacle of French aeronautical technology.
• a favorite country: Japan, a country of visual perfection, which has the art of perfecting the smallest thing with precise refinement.
• a favorite piece of architecture: the Villa Savoye, the Le Corbusier-designed house epitomizing modernity.
• a favorite image: the work of photographers William Eggleston, Ronan Guillou and André Kertész for their sublimation of daily life and, more recently, Bruce Weber.
• a favorite clothing: pieces from CP Compagnie, which offers very practical, military-inspired clothing. Technical clothing from Stone Island, which has an innovative approach, particularly in terms of textiles.
• a favorite food: Asian cuisine. 

New Bell & Ross Boutique Opens in Vienna - Lucky Number 13

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Bell & Ross announced that they have opened a new boutique in Vienna, Austria. 

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

Carlos Rosillo was on hand with the new team - Adriana Juric and Renée Grossman.

Courtesy of Bell & Ross

This is the second European boutique for Bell & Ross, and is the thirteenth Bell & Ross boutique world wide.

www.bellross.com

In Santa Barbara - Richard and his Bell & Ross

Richard at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art 

Wendy and I were taking in the museum this past Saturday when I met Richard. As a rule, I try not to be too intrusive on other people's museum experience, but Richard was kind enough to agree to a photo with his Bell and Ross Chronograph. But more than just a cool watch, I have to say that Richard is a very dapper fellow!