Mandarin Gallery Blog

Last week, on September 15, Bell & Ross threw a glamourous party to celebrate the launch of its Vintage Collection at the prestigious National Army Circle in Paris. Having unveiled two of the vintage-inspired watches at Baselworld earlier this year, the watchmaker brand is now introducing four more pieces to the series. Inspired by mid-20th century aviation, the collection pays tribute to military pilots, who were the first professionals to use the wristwatch as a tool on their missions.

Stepping away from its iconic square case, these watches feature traditional round 41 mm faces, which exudes the old world charm of timepieces of yesteryear. The Vintage Collection consists of two separate lines, the Vintage Original and the Vintage Heritage. Both lines are crafted along the same design principles but each one is stunning in its own distinct way.

With black or beige dials, stainless steel cases and white hands, the Vintage Original line are modern versions of the 1940s aviator watches and remain faithful to their classicism and simplicity. In the Vintage Heritage line, vintage is given a contemporary facelift with sleek matte-black PVD cases and stylish beige hands. To further distinguish the two lines, the straps of the pieces are also stamped with the Bell & Ross ‘ampersand in a circle’ logo.

While there are a total of 6 models, the BR 123 and BR 126 definitely stand out as the focus of the collection. The BR 123 is a time and date model that showcases a small second and date dial at 6 o’clock, while the BR 126 chronograph is more complex with a central second hand, a 60 second counter, a 30 minute totalizer and a round date opening. Both models are equipped with water resistance up to 100 metres.

With the help of more developed watch-making techniques, Bell & Ross is able to improve upon the original aviator watch and fuse its alluring vintage elements with 21st century reliability. Although the domed crystal recalls the crystals of the 1940s, they are made of sapphire crystal instead of the acrylic crystal used previously, which renders them impervious to scratches. The pieces’ modern ergonomics ensure comfort and their refined dial graphics optimise readability.

Bell & Ross enthusiasts need not wait for long to get these handsome darlings on their wrists. Shipment of the Vintage Collection is set to hit the Bell & Ross boutique at Mandarin Gallery (#01-15) towards the end of this month. With a wide array of straps in various colours and styles to chose from, picking just one will be a real task.

Time and date models of the Bell & Ross Vintage Collection are priced from SGD4400 while prices of chronograph models start from SGD6700