The phrase “glow-in-the-dark” can apply to adult’s toys as well as kids’ – as proven by Bell & Ross’s BR-X3 Night Vision: a 250-piece limited edition piece designed for extreme performance in low-light conditions. The third model in a trilogy (following versions in black titanium and blue steel), it has a 41mm, constructed using a multi-material ‘sandwich’ method whereby carbon fibre is alloyed with a luminescent SLN resin in a material the manufacture calls LUM-CAMO to make two plates, with titanium coated with black PVD providing the ‘filling’. These layers are fastened with four through-screws housed in protective cylinders.
In dark conditions, dial furniture as well as a line surrounding hands, indices and the date window are illuminated in a green glow which, in tandem with a Super-LumiNova® coating, make for exceptional nocturnal legibility. Worn in daylight, the open-worked dial takes over the visual language duties, exposing the intricate mechanics through a smoked sapphire crystal. A black openworked rubber strap – what else? – complements the case and dial stunningly, whatever the lumen count.
The skeletonized dial of the new Bell & Ross BR-X3 Night Vision is highlighted by a green X and protected by a tinted sapphire crystal, revealing the automatic movement. The black tinted sapphire caseback showcases its oscillating weight. RRP: £11,900
The beating heart within is BR-CAL.323 calibre, a self-winding movement developed by Swiss manufacture Kenissi, with a 70-hour power reserve and chronometer certification by COSC. All of which combines to make this a genuinely fit-for-purpose professional instrument that wouldn’t look out of place on the wrist of a Navy SEAL carrying out a low-flying, night-time stealth operation, or the intrepid control officer working in a blacked-out aerospace control centre.
And that’s the point. Since its founding in 1992, Bell & Ross may have become known for distinctive square-shaped watches inspired by aviation and military instruments: but theirs are tool watches which are actually fit for purpose. This, after all, is a company which has actually been commissioned by professional units including the French Navy commandos and Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace, and which often tests pieces via space simulations and high-altitude flights.
“Our watches are made to answer specific professional needs,” Bruno Belamich, Bell & Ross’s Creative Director, once said of the brand’s determination to design timepieces with actual mission contexts in mind. “They are models inspired by professional tools and watches.”
Mission accomplished, in the case of the BR-X3 Night Vision, we say!
Author: Nick Scott
Other watches with exceptional legibility at night recently reviewed by I-M Inquisitive Minds, include the new Omega Speedmaster ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, the Nomos Glashütte Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer Night Navigation, the Hublot MP-17 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire, and the
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