By John Galt
Bell & Ross have long been passionate about military history and in particular aviation with their collection of vintage inspired pieces, this new piece from them with GMT & flyback is no exception.
The BR 126 sport heritage is fitted with GMT & Flyback which normally would mean the dial is very cluttered but B & R have pulled it of very well indeed; case size is 43mm so not too big but in my opinion just right to give a lovely vintage feel with its brushed stainless steel case.
The dial is a nice deep black with two sub dials at 3- and 9 o’clock, chronograph is started/stopped by the pusher at 2 o’clock with crono seconds dial at 3 o’clock and a minute hand with the tip shaped like an aeroplane, a nice touch to its inspiration and to keep it separate from the time minute and hour markers, the chronograph is also fitted with a flyback to instantly be able to restart the measurement enabling the wearer to measure several successive times. Fitted at 9 o’clock is a dial showing the GMT time function displaying a second time zone in 24-hour format and can be adjusted by a small button located at 10 o’clock.
Dial is finished off nicely with gold-plated appliqué index and numerals with skeletonized hands with applied super-luminova all adding to the vintage inspired feel. The heart of this piece beats an ETA based automatic movement with an added flyback module produced by Dubois Depraz, and is water-resistant to 100 meters.
Bell & Ross always Finnish there pieces off just right and don’t scrimp on straps and this is another example of their finishing the aged look brown calfskin strap with stitching round outside and an excellent stainless steel clasp really add to the vintage inspired look.
Limited to 500 pieces worldwide at a cost of 5,900 euros.
Conclusion
I like Bell & Ross for their aviation inspired pieces and personally have a BR01 -92 in my collection, with Bell & Ross solid build coupled with a strong vintage feel there vintage inspirited collection is definitely worth a look. For more info, please visit bellross.com
John Galt – Contributing Editor
John Galt caught the horology bug 4 years ago on his first visit to a London watch show and has snowballed since; John has become an avid writer and blogger of timepieces of all kinds, from everyday timepieces to modern Luxury Haute Horology, his favorite brands being HYT and Greubel Forsey that push the bounders of modern watch-making. John keeps a keen interest in the UK watch scene with their many emerging brands and timepiece’s. John Galt currently contributes watch related articles for online publications in the UK and USA. You can follow John on Twitter @johng73 Read his articles here.
