Artist collaborations with watchmakers often are some of the most interesting pieces they put out and that’s no different for Bell & Ross’ collaboration with designer Alain Silberstein. The new collection was created for the Grail Watch series, a project helmed by Wei Koh that curates and sells limited edition watches made by independent watchmakers. This collection edges very closely to something you might see in Play School or Sesame Street (if Big Bird had drip) but manages not to go too far with it.
This new batch sees three new watches all based on the 42mm BR03 with hands and dials decorated in Silberstein fashion. What is Silberstein fashion? Think primary colours and cut out geometrical shapes. Of the three models there’s a BR03 time-only with date, a BR03 diver’s, and a BR03 chronograph.
All three are black ceramic with black rubber straps – all the better to let Silberstein’s designs shine. The designs themselves are incredibly fun and playful. Squiggly seconds hand, big arrow minutes, and a rather unorthodox circular hours hand make these a joy to look at. And despite all the zaniness of the dial, it’s still quite legible. They’re colourful without being distracting.
While the time-only and chronograph share the same hand (for the most part), the diver model switches it up a little. The BR03-92 Marine 22, features Silberstein’s “Maxi” hands, a red triangle minute hand inlaid with lume (all the better to read elapsed dive time), a blue circular hand for hours, and still the yellow squiggly seconds hand. This model has a 300m depth rating, a screw-down crown, and the same movement as the time-only model, the BR.CAL-302 with a 42-hour power reserve.
The chronograph (BR03-94 Krono 22) goes even further than the other two with no less than five Silberstein hands. The seconds, minutes, and hours are the same as the time-only, but with two other sub-dials to play with, we get a blue triangle indicator on the 30-minute counter, and a yellow arrow for the continuous seconds. The best touch has to be the inlaid chronograph pushers – blue for the reset, yellow for the start/stop, and while not related to the chronograph, a nice little red triangle on the crown. This also features the automatic chronograph movement with date, calibre BR.CAL-301.
Prices for these are as follows:
- Time only – $6,700 AUD ($4,400 USD)
- Diver – $8,600 AUD ($5,600 USD) [Sold Out]
- Chronograph – $10,200 AUD ($6,700 USD)
- Box Set – $25,500 AUD ($16,700 USD)
At a Glance
Model: BR 03-92 “KLUB 22”, BR 03-92 “MARINE”, BR 03-94 “KRONO 22”
Reference: BR0392-AS-CE/SRB, BR0392-D-AS-CE/SRB, BR0394-AS-CE/SRB
Diameter: 42mm
Case: Ceramic
Lume: Yes
Water Resistance: “KLUB 22” 100m, “MARINE 22” 300m, “KRONO 22” 100m
Strap: Black rubber with additional black fabric
Movement: BR.CAL-302. and BR.CAL- 301
Power Reserve: 42 hours
