Bell & Ross BR 05 Copper Brown

The new BR 05 Copper Brown watch is part of the three-hand BR 05 family from Bell & Ross. The BR 05 revisits the famous square case with a round opening and screws at the four corners of the iconic BR 03 design. It softens the lines, rounding the angles and reducing the dimensions. Less extreme, more mainstream, the BR 05 is easier to wear as a day-to-day accessory. Graphic and stylish, it is a resounding success. It has become Bell & Ross’ second icon. Designed for the city life, it is the ideal companion for urban adventurers.
Since its creation, the BR 05 experimented with colours and shades.
“You have to breathe life into a range”, explains Bruno Belamich, Creative Director and co-founder of Bell & Ross. “It can be achieved through technique (movement), materials, or details. For the BR 05 CopperBrown, we chose the colour”, he adds.
As its name suggests, this watch is adorned with a golden-brown dial, enriched by a sunburst finishing which gives shine and a sense of preciousness recalling the light of the end of a summer’s day.
This colour was developed specifically for the BR 05, which is the only Bell & Ross watch to feature it.
“Brown is a colour that is increasingly in demand in watchmaking”, recalls Bruno Belamich. “It’s an easy-to-wear, stylish colour commonly found in the modern man’s wardrobe”, adds the designer. The BR 05 Copper Brown is intended for elegant city dwellers looking for a chic, dressy, contemporary watch. Its mainstream light brown hue, which recalls the soft leather tints, is easy to wear every day.
On the BR 05 Copper Brown, we find the integrated bracelet of the BR 05. This means that the 40 mm case and the bracelet, both in steel, blend to create a single element. The indexes on the dial, also featuring a metallic colour, contribute to this desire for continuity. This watch has the effect of a block of metal simply adorned by its sunburst brown dial. This warm shade contrasts with the dominating grey metal creating a combination playing with the feeling of hot and cold.

For a sportier feeling, the BR 05 Copper Brown is also available on a rubber strap which comes in a colour, specifically developed for it, harmonising perfectly with the light brown of the dial.
When first introduced, the Bell & Ross BR 05 collection gave us a more toned-down, urban-oriented take on the circle-within-a-square design that made the Parisian brand famous. And gradually the collection has been expanded from a simple yet handsome three-handed watch to chronograph, GMT, and skeletonized variations in a range of colours and materials. Returning to the most restrained member of the family, the time-and-date model, Bell & Ross now provides a bit of warmth for the coming autumn and winter months, with the Bell & Ross BR 05 Copper Brown. The stainless steel case of the BR 05 Copper Brown features the familiar soft-rounded square-ish profile of the entire BR 05 line-up. The bezel has a brushed finish on top, with a broad polished bevel all-around and functional screws on each corner. The crown guards are screwed in place, and protect the screw-down crown from unwanted knocks and bumps. Sapphire crystals cover both sides of the watch and are given an anti-reflective coating. With a water-resistance rating of 100m, it’s more than capable to withstand a splash in the pool if you feel like it. The dial is where the BR 05 Copper Brown stands out from its siblings. Now finished in a copper-brown tone, obviously, it provides a warm, luxurious appeal. It’s the fourth colour to appear on the three-handed BR 05, after the more common colours of silver, black and blue. Spread around the dial are applied indices and numerals with luminescent inserts. The central hour and minute hands have a Super-LumiNova fille centre spine, with a needle-like seconds hand completing the set. The date window at 3 o’clock has a metal frame to make it stand out a bit more.
The BR-CAL.321 automatic movement, based on the tried-and-tested Sellita SW 300-1, is visible through the rear sapphire crystal. Driven by a full skeletonized rotor, much like the other Bell & Ross BR 05 Copper Brown models using this movement, it runs at a rate of 28,800vph and provides 42 hours of power reserve. The movement allows for a quick setting of the date through the crown and has a stop-second function when the crown is pulled out.