“Say it with me… I LOVE GOLD!”
I trust that all you cultured people out there read it in that voice.
Now, on to a slightly more serious note. In an even more concentrated effort to push the “fashion” aspect of its BR 05 line up, Bell & Ross has released this. Ladies and gents, the BR 05 Skeleton Gold. Don’t get me wrong, alright? There’s nothing wrong with a fashion watch. I know all you sErioUS collectors and enthusiasts out there tend to give the fashion watch a lot of flack but when was the last time you truly used your watch as a tool? Come on, I’ll wait. In truth, I’m willing to wager that a good majority of us today wear watches for the “perceived” purpose of using it as a tool.
Plus, I’m kind of a sucker for rose gold.
“Tech specs first or…?”
Let’s get the specs out of the way first, I reckon. It’s more or less the same story for those familiar with what’s powering the regular BR 05 models. The automatic Calibre BR-CAL.322 (a modified Sellita SW-300 essentially) beats at a rate of 4 Hz and has a power reserve of 38 hours thereabouts. The 25-jeweled movement features hacking, hand-winding and water resistance is quoted at 100 m.
The key difference here compared to the regular BR 05 variants is the absence of a date function. Not a particularly noticeable annoyance, let’s be honest. It’s probably gonna’ be faster to whip out your phone and check the date compared to squinting and trying to look for the date window if it had one. Seriously, just look at this dial.
Another addition is the inclusion of an 18-carat rose gold rotor – exclusive to this model for obvious reasons.
“On to the golden bits then…”
Bell & Ross claims that the BR 05 Skeleton Gold uses up to 155 grammes of gold in the construction of the watch. So, where does it all go? Well, there’s the 18 k rose gold (integrated) bracelet along with the brushed and polished 40 mm case. Should you go for the rubber strap option, that one comes with a clasp made out of, yeah you guessed it…
Elsewhere, the dial features “rose gold-gilded applique indices” with SuperLuminova and skeletonised hands. SuperLuminova is also to be found on the “gold gilded” hands. With a skeletonised setup, we get to see the 18 k rose-gold plated skeleton movement in all its blingy glory.
“So. Much. Gold. Must fetch a pretty penny, eh?”
In short, yes. The Bell & Ross BR 05 Skeleton Gold (reference no. BR05A-PG-SK-PG) starts at RM99,900 for the rubber strap variant. If you want the bracelet, that’ll be RM150,000, thank you very much. Once again, the BR 05 Skeleton Gold is limited to 99 units worldwide.
