Though the model’s lineup is historically dominated by square-cased, plane instrument-inspired designs, the Bell & Ross catalogue has no scarcity of distinctive and offbeat appears as properly. The BR 01 Cyber Cranium would possibly properly be probably the most dramatic of those extra experimental choices. First launched in 2020, the Cyber Cranium reinterprets the model’s long-running cranium and crossbones motif by means of a low-res 3D filter, delivering an announcement piece that owes as a lot to trendy pop artwork as luxurious watch design. For its newest launch, nonetheless, the model takes this audacious idea a step additional, constructing on the success of its one-off Solely Watch 2021 design with bombastic all-sapphire development. The brand new restricted version Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire is a playful and hanging piece of haute horlogerie spectacle, with sufficient artistic motion design to impress on a mechanical degree as properly.
The high-impact design of the Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire begins with its 43.5mm-wide by 45mm-long faceted sq. sapphire case. Whereas this low-poly type retains the model’s sq. design lineage intact, the general execution feels futuristic and virtually computer-generated in pictures, with easy angled case sides, notch lugs, and a tall sloping planar bezel that tapers inwards towards a flat sapphire crystal. The brand new sapphire case materials offers this design a gemstone-like high quality in pictures, with the aspects of the case sides and bezel creating reflections and highlights not in contrast to a reduce diamond. The one actual concession to utility with this avant-garde clear design is the undersized stainless-steel crown at 3 o’clock, with a faceted angular look that echoes the general design language properly however could show tougher to grip than a standard coin-edge design. Though its clear development results in a virtually unimpeded view of the motion inside, like most sapphire instances this new mannequin appears to undergo from low sturdiness, because the model charges the look ahead to a meager 30 meters of water resistance.
Naturally, the skeletonized (no pun supposed) sapphire dial is the centerpiece of the Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire. The one actually practical components listed below are the easy baton handset and a set of ghostly baton indices engraved on the underside of the crystal, presenting not less than a token effort in the direction of legibility in pictures. In fact, the visible spotlight right here is the faceted cranium and crossbones design, stretching from edge to edge throughout the case and persevering with the playfully futuristic computerized fashion set forth by the case. Every ingredient of the cranium itself offers a window into the Cyber Cranium Sapphire’s motion. One of many eyes acts as a porthole into the gear prepare, whereas the opposite cheekily frames the model’s ampersand emblem engraved onto a motion bridge. At 12 o’clock, the cranium splits open to border the “mind” of the motion, the beating steadiness wheel, making a pure point of interest in pictures. It’s at 6 o’clock, nonetheless, the place the Cyber Cranium Sapphire performs its biggest visible trick. Because the motion is wound through the crown, the jaws of this stylized cranium open and shut, revealing the 6 o’clock mainspring barrel and performing as a makeshift energy reserve indicator. Whereas it could not utterly reinvent the idea, the swap to sapphire for this new mannequin’s dial provides even larger visible drama to this stylized design in preliminary pictures, and may result in intense mild play on the wrist as every aspect of the cranium catches a serious mild supply.
Bell & Ross powers the BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire with the in-house BR.CAL-209 handwound motion. Barely modified from earlier iterations of the Cyber Cranium to raised showcase the gear prepare, the stylized skeleton type of the BR.CAL-209 bends and tapers to evolve with the contours of the cranium and crossbones design. The stouter plates that make up the “bones” anchor the motion to the case, whereas a lot of the “cranium” itself is reduce away to border the mainspring barrel, steadiness wheel, and kit prepare. Given the weird skeleton form of the motion itself, Bell & Ross properly opts to maintain the ending of the BR.CAL-209 clear and trendy, with a mixture of brushing and matte blasting, together with polished chamfers for the rhodium plated bridges. Efficiency-wise, the BR.CAL-209 is stable if unspectacular, with a 48 hour energy reserve at a 28,800 bph beat charge. Bell & Ross pairs the dynamic clear design of the BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire with a colorless translucent rubber strap within the model’s signature tapering layered sample. This distinctive materials takes on an virtually frosted look in preliminary pictures, complementing the general design handsomely whereas reintroducing a extra acquainted ingredient to the combo.
Whereas its wild, clear future-pirate aesthetic will definitely not be for everybody, the restricted version Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire stands as an audaciously eye-catching new poster youngster for the extra adventurous facet of the model’s steady. Solely 10 examples of the Bell & Ross BR 01 Cyber Cranium Sapphire will probably be made, and the watch is offered now by means of licensed sellers at an MSRP of $117,000. For extra particulars, please go to the model’s web site.
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