Worn & Wound
Introducing the Bell & Ross BR-05 Skeleton Phantom Ceramic
Like a moth to the flame, I am drawn to Bell & Ross novelties. I can’t help myself. This is a brand that many have levied legitimate criticisms at. They are too expensive, too big, there are too many releases, and on and on. And I’ll be honest, the core watches, the normal ones (the watches the brand probably needs to sell a ton of to remain in business) do very little for me. But if you put a skull on the dial, or inject luminescent material into the case, or add several timing scales that are almost impossible to read with the naked eye, well, I find those watches hard to resist. My beloved BR-03 Multimeter looms large in my mind here. There are times, even recently, where I’ve thought to myself “I really should sell this – I just don’t wear it much.” But then I take it out of the box, put it on, and am charmed by it once again. How could I part with something so strange? The latest release from Bell & Ross is not as wild as the Multimeter, or a watch with a skull for a dial, but it’s a few clicks out from the norm, and adventurous in its own way. The BR-05 Skeleton Phantom Ceramic sees the brand playing in a genre that just a few years ago was reserved for only the highest end watches from the highest end brands: integrated bracelet sports watches in ceramic with skeleton dials. The BR-05, at this point, feels like a mature collection. It’s kind of hard to believe it’s been around for more than five years at this point. But it was, in fact, one of ...
