By Jovan Krstevski
During the wild craze that is the Pirates movie stuff, everybody appreciates the naughtiness of being one, well at least for a fantasy. However, do that in the real world with some real piracy stuff and you’ll have the authorities knocking at your door in no time. Nonetheless, I’m kind of excited thinking about it though but kidding aside we’ve all been a pirate of some kind especially if we’re talking about the real Pirate’s Code which is all about bravery, valor, and whatnots. The funny thing is that if you’re visiting the Only Watch charity event on 7th of November 2015, you’re kind of a Pirate yourself to say the least but for a really good cause that benefits the Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
As if I’m being taken seriously, Bell & Ross somewhat understood the need to show off that manly bravado through their unique watch for the said event. Their watch is no other than the baddest BR 01 Skull Bronze Tourbillon that comes with a fantastic handcrafted skull made of 18k gold. That’s a real treasure if you ask me and the only way to get it is to bid during the charity event making it a rather collectible item.
So what’s the deal here? It’s made by the Parisians alright and one thing I can ascertain them is their taste for design which is clearly mirrored on the BR 01 and if you’ve been following their releases such as their square BR01-collections, then you know what I mean. So for the new BR 01, we can immediately see the Airborne style case albeit with copious styling. The golden skull has been carefully crafted by hand and to signify the classic jolly-Rodger piracy thingy, the bezel features the skull-and-crossbones commonly seen on Pirate flags. Don’t be afraid of what it represents since basically it is meant to ward off misfortunes that I’m not sure if the anti-Piracy advocates would love the symbolism. Heck, to each his own right? The case is also micro-blasted giving it a unique smooth finish designed to also look with a nice deep patina over time.
As for the dial, it’s made of a black honeycomb surface where the shivers-me-timber skull sits complete with 4 hands shaped like cutlasses. The funny thing I’ve found is the hour hand is mounted at the very nose of the skull, heck could they find a better place, err maybe I’m talking about a whole redesign. Nonetheless, the minute hand is found at the focal center whilst the torque indicator for the movement is placed at the 3 and the power reserve indicator at the 9.
What powers the watch is the BR-Cal.281 from the now defunct BNB Concepts. The hand-wound movement is capable of lasting up to five days. Fortunately, you can see the regulating piece at the lower part of the dial where the tourbillon cage is also adorned with the B&R logo. You get to wear it with a leather strap, but the most interesting part is the packaging which makes it look like a long lost treasure. It comes in a wooden chest with a glass dome covering that simply screams, “look at me now!” So if you wanna ward off some misfortunes in your life, perhaps you can give this watch a try. For more info, please visit bellross.com
JOVAN KRSTEVSKI – FOUNDER, PROPRIETOR & EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Watch collector, aficionado and an Event profile in the Swedish nightlife. He launched Watchgeek back in 2011, which is now known as WristReview and is one of the most widely read watch blogs on the Web. He quotes ’WristReview is a site to help people find, explore, discover and enjoy wristwatches.’ His passion jump started in his early teens when he was given his first mid-range wristwatch which was an Omega Seamaster. Since then he has always been in love with wristwatches! Besides WristReview, he also writes for a number of publications. Read his articles here.
