The famous luxury French watch company, Bell & Ross, supports the 6th edition of the prestigious charitable auction Only Watch.
For this year’s event, the house of Bell & Ross presents the one-of-a-kind Bell & Ross BR01 Skull Bronze Tourbillon, which brings a fresh new take on its square BR01-collections. As its name suggests, the watch features a large square case made of patinated bronze. The watch is crafted in the spirit of Steampunk, taking inspiration and design cues from the 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. The case, which measures 46x46 mm, features an impressive skull-shaped aperture on front to reveal a skull in hand-engraved solid gold, and a small portion of the hand-wound movement with four complications (tourbillon, regulator, accuracy indicator and power reserve.
The cleverly stylized skull, and its crossbones bezel, evokes the Jolly Roger flags, an ancient symbol of terror on the high seas, traditionally flown to identify a pirate ship. The bronze case is micro-blasted to obtain a fine finish, while the black dial features a honeycomb pattern. The material used for the case has already undergone some oxidation, which gives it a nice, green-colored finish – the patina. Patina is a thin layer that forms on certain materials, including bronze, due to oxidation. Since bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, a copper oxide layer forms on its surface, and changes its color… The beautiful green shade is the result of years of air and moisture reacting with the copper in the bronze, which means that this unique piece will very likely grow even deeper patina over time.
As you can see, the imaginative and unique BR01 Skull Brozne Tourbillon for Only Watch 2015 features a regulator display, which separates the minute and hour hands onto two sub-dials, thus preventing the watch hands conceal each other. The four hands shown on the dial are shaped like cutlasses: the hour hand at the center of the golden skull, a large minute hand at the very center of the skull-shaped dial, a torque indicator for the movement at 3 o’clock, and another hand for the power reserve indicator, at 9 o’clock.
Bell & Ross BR01 Skull Brozne Tourbillon for Only Watch 2015 is powered by the BR-Cal.281, which is a hand-wound movement endowed with five days of power reserve. The regulating organ, decorated with Bell & Ross insignia, is partially revealed at the bottom of the dial. The watch is water resistant to 30 meters, and it comes on a brown alligator leather strap with green accents.
Evoking the treasure chests of legend, the watch is presented in a box made of precious wood. The center of its lid features glass dome that allows aficionados to gaze inside and admire this unique watch. The Bell & Ross BR01 Skull Brozne Tourbillon for Only Watch 2015 will be auctioned in November 2015, at the 6th iteration of the Only Watch auction, which, this year, takes place in Geneva. For more information, please visit the Only Watch website, or Bell & Ross.
Author: Marina Milojevic Pinterest
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