Despite their vintage, lifted straight from an old cockpit look Bell & Ross has only been around since the 1990s. Yet, in a short time, they have established a persona where they are one of the few brands in the world where everyone interested in watches can imagine what a BR03 looks like, so iconic is the base design.
Bell & Ross BR03 Gyrocompass - Credit Bell and Ross
The BR03 family are not to everyone's taste; one could call them divisive, but when you handle the watches, they are undeniably engaging. The premise of the Gen 1 BR03 models was to replicate an instrument display from an analogue aircraft cockpit. Pre-LCD screens cockpits were a wonderfully complex array of black and white circular dials set in square bases. Arguably, this design is becoming less and less relevant as cockpits evolve to look more like the dashboard of a Tesla; nevertheless, the Bell & Ross BR03 survives and is beloved by aviation enthusiasts.
This latest 2023 iteration, the Gyrocompass, sounds most intriguing, so let's explore it.
Origins
Bell & Ross BR03 Gyrocompass - Credit Bell & Ross
Front and centre of the new watch, dominating the dial, is the yellow outline of a fighter aircraft. Aviation lineage is immediately established; check! Technically, the watch is based on a specific cockpit instrument called the Course Indicator. In an aircraft, this dial shows a representation of an aeroplane in the sky and tells pilots their direction of travel, allowing the position to be realigned on a magnetic compass if necessary. Aviation engineers developed the flight gyrocompass many years ago. Even today, it still takes the form of a simple display that transfers the plane's position into a vertical graphic representation.
BR03 Gyrocompass
First, it is important to stress (disappointingly) that despite its external appearance, the BR03 Gyrocompass has no compass complication. This is a shame, given the name and the fact that the technology is available to do this. Consider the impressive Casio SGW-500H-1B, available for just £60, with a fully functional analogue compass. One can't help but feel Bell & Ross missed something here.
Bell & Ross BR03 Gyrocompass - Credit Bell & Ross
The BR03 range is in a 41mm ceramic case and is listed bravely as "waterproof" to 100m. Limited to only 999 pieces, this model is supported by a black rubber strap with matching steel PVD buckle, underlining what B&R call a "professional" look.
Reading the time on the BR03 Gyrocompass is not straightforward, with some brain re-training required. There are no hands in the ordinary sense. Each element has been redesigned to more closely represent the original display from a cockpit. In place of an hour hand, we have the yellow aircraft itself. This revolves around a central pinion with the nose of the plane pointing to the hour, mirroring how this indicator moves on a real aviation gyrocompass.
The minute hand looks like a 24-hour GMT hand, and the seconds hand is a unique double-sided affair, with the operational end having a white accent and the counterbalance being plain black. The upshot is that this watch does look like an aviation dial. A discreet, colour-matched date window is displayed between 4 and 5 o'clock.
Bell & Ross BR03 Gyrocompass - Credit Bell & Ross
Ensuring low light legibility, the watch features a complete luminescent treatment with the compass cardinal points coated with green Super-LumiNova while the time indications are highlighted by blue emission. The aircraft silhouette still stands out in a yellow tint with green emission.
Powering the BR03 is not a Rolls Royce jet engine but an equally complex proven BR-CAL.302 self-winding movement. Beating at a frequency of 28,800 vph (4Hz), it has a 54-hour power reserve, 25 jewels and uses the Sellita SW3030-1a as a base. This movement allows the watch to be just 10.6mm thick which is a very favourable size.
Even by Bell & Ross standards, this watch is a little odd, and you would have to be a serious flight fan to want it. To our calculations, there have been around 15 BR03 variants to date, with each one bringing a different theme to the watch, be that radar, altitude or now direction. Bell & Ross are systematically working their way across an entire cockpit of dials, and the Gyrocompass is the next in line. Who knows what will be next? Artificial horizon or maybe airspeed? For sure, there are many more to choose from.
Bell & Ross Gyrocompass BR03 Specs:
- Brand: Bell & Ross
- Model: BR03 Gyrocompass BR03A-CPS-CE/SRB
- Price: EUR 4,500 (£3,910)
- Material: PVD Ceramic
- Movement: BR-CAL.302 - Selitta SW300-1a
- Crystal: Sapphire Crystal
- Dial: Black aviation dial design
- Size: 41mm x 41mm square, 10.6mm thick,
- When the reviewer would personally wear it: I wouldn't, to be honest, but if I had to, then at an airshow watching a vintage fighter jet like a 1960s Lightning Interceptor being put through its paces.
- A friend we'd recommend it to first: Anyone who loves aviation and is interested in the mechanical process of flight and pilot interface with an aircraft.
- Best characteristics of the watch: The watch genuinely looks like it has been lifted directly from an aircraft cockpit. This B&R have done well.
- The worst characteristic of the watch: The lack of a compass – the name is so misleading, especially when the technology is there and proven to put it into the watch. I appreciate that this would negate the use of the ubiquitous SW300 movement, but if ever there was a case for something a bit special, this was it.
