Watches crafted from silver and various silver alloys are rarely seen in high-end watchmaking. But there are certainly some of the high-end brands that occasionally break with this tradition and Bell & Ross is one of them.
Two most recent creations by Bell & Ross are PW1 and WW1 Argentium Hand-Wound, both crafted from Argentium, as their names imply. The Argentium sterling silver is a modern silver alloy that is actually a variation of the traditional silver alloy, an amalgam of silver and copper. The copper is added to strengthen the silver, which would otherwise be too soft for practical use. Argentium retains 92.5% of the silver content in the alloy, but partially replaces some of the copper with metalloid germanium. The result is “the new silver,” with new purity standards for silver – 395 and 960. This silver alloy is extremely white and bright, even brighter than platinum, paladium, rhodium and white gold. Traditional silver rapidly loses its whitens and luster, but Argentium is something completely different – a low maintenance silver that doesn't require frequent polishing.
A couple of new watches by Bell & Ross are an extension of the Vintage collection. The PW1 Argentium is a pocket watch equipped with a minute repeater, while the WW1 Argentium uses manual wind ETA 7001 movement and comes in two different versions: with silver and ruthenium dial. I've already reviewed Bell & Ross Vintage PW1 and WW1, about a year ago, when these models were just introduced to the market. Both models are inspired by the pieces worn and tested by French soldiers of the WW1 and their names actually mean Pocket Watch 1 for PW1 and Wrist Watch 1 for WW1.
The Argentium models retain most of the characteristics of the original WW1 models, but there are some slight differences. For example, the wristwatch diameters are a little bit reduced. While the original modes featured 45mm in diameter, the Argentium WW1 measures only 41mm. WW1 originally came in three variations: with power reserve indicator, with big date indicator, and with both of them together. The Argentium WW1 offers hours, minutes and small seconds while its design features remain the same: the same military-inspired look with wire lugs, clean and simple lines, and domed sapphire crystal. The only difference in design is, obviously, the new sunburst silver and ruthenium dials, instead of the galvanic one.
The same goes for the PW1 Argentium, even though the pocket watch retains the proportions of its predecessor. PW1 Argentium measures 49mm in diameter, but it features a new kind of movement, with the minute repeater function. The complication is activated on request, by pushing the button positioned on the left side of the case. When it runs, the low-pitched sounds are marking each hour, while double low-pitched and high-pitched sounds indicate the time rounding to the nearest 5 minutes. The watch is powered by Dubois Dépraz manual winding movement
with 56 hours of power reserve.
Take a look at the interview with Carlos-A Rosillo - President of Bell & Ross - to learn more about the WW1 Collection. This video was made at BaselWorld 2011, and it speaks about the evolution of military watches.
Author: Marina Milojevic
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Bell & Ross collections
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