Bell & Ross Interview – Hubert Agency

Sylvain Hubert of Hubert Agency wearing the BR-05 Auto.

A while ago, I had the opportunity to interview Sylvain Hubert from Hubert Agency. Hubert Agency is, among other things, the distributor of Bell & Ross in Scandinavia was hosting an event at Thune in Oslo. At this event, I was able to learn much more about Bell & Ross and this moment to speak with Sylvain Hubert, who kindly agreed to sit down with me for a word.

Let’s just jump into it.

Me: Thank you, Sylvain, for your time. I know of Bell & Ross, but I would like to become more familiar with the brand. Can you tell me, and those who don`t know, about Bell & Ross?

Sylvain: The name Bell & Ross comes from the two founders Bruno Belamich, Bell and Carlos A Rosillo, Ross. They are the two founders, still in the company. Carlos Rosillo is the CEO and president, and Bruno Belamich is the Design Director. He is the link from the headquarters in Paris and the Swiss factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He oversees all the collections and novelties.

Bell & Ross remains an independent company. Founded in 1992, it is quite a young company. The youngest here at Thune, together with Nomos.

Chanel is a shareholder since 1997. It’s a minority shareholder, so Chanel is not deciding anything over Bell & Ross. Carlos and Bruno remain in charge of the global strategy and the brand collections.

As you might have noticed, Bell & Ross is inspired by the aeronautical world. It is a passion and big interest for the two founders. Everything around aeronautical design and history. At the beginning, they used to present pilot watches, experimenting with different shapes, from round cases to tonneau cases.

But in 2005, inspired by cockpit instruments, they decided to miniaturize them to wear it on the wrist! That was the birth of the BR-01, launched with great success at Basel world. In 2006 they launched the BR-03 with a smaller size of 42 mm. This watch BR-03 celebrates now 18 years and has become through the last years a real icon in the watch industry.

Last year the BR03-92 (3 hands and date) was re-designed and downsized from 42 to 41mm. GMT, chronograph and diver collections remain 42mm.

In 2019 we introduced a new line, BR-05 to answer to some customers that really liked Bell & Ross watches but felt that BR-03 was a bit too bulky to wear it with a suit or a shirt. So, Bell & Ross decided to go for something more refined with a sporty-chic feeling. Nevertheless, by looking closely at the BR-05, you find the 3 BR design signatures already present in a BR-03.

What are those 3 signatures?

First, a round shape in a square. Second, 4 screws positioned as an X over the case. Those are functional and not just aesthetical. They are here to seal the watch and insure a water resistance of 100m. The 3rd signature is the military digits at the cardinal points.

Since then, Bell & Ross collections are based on two pillars. The “Instrument” watches: BR-03, BR-03 Diver and BR-01. And the “Urban” collection which is symbolized by the BR-05 and the latest BR-X5 which seems similar to BR-05 but is in fact very different for two main reasons.

First is about the movement. BR-X5 is equipped with Kenissi calibers, owned by Rolex and Chanel and used mainly in Tudor’s watches. This movement provides a 3-day power reserve, is COSC certified and benefits a 5-year warranty. Then, the case is very different from the BR-05. Mostly visible from the side. It is a multi-layer case also called a “sandwich case”. There are an upper and a lower plate sealing the container and suggesting a very technical construction of this watch. This allows the brand to play with different materials.

You can have the upper and lower plate in carbon fibre or with our own LM3D composite material used to make the watch luminescent in the darkness, or why not with gold or bronze. Moreover, since the BR-X5 benefits a 3-day power reserve, you can admire a power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock on the dial.

Bell & Ross is also known for its ceramic watches. If you look at BR-03, half of the collection is made of ceramic watches. Since 2014, BR doesn’t use any black coating any longer to let place only to ceramic case. A signature of BR is the black matt ceramic, a military design inspiration for a rough and appealing look.

Ceramic is a great material, as it is very hard material and very light. Lighter than steel and very scratch resistance. To give you an idea, steel on a scale of scratch resistance is at 5/10 while ceramic is at 8/10.

BR-03 Diver Full Lum Ceramic - An older limited model, not the newest one.

Me: Thank you for a great introduction, which answered a lot of my other questions right from the start. You mentioned Kenissi, do you have any inside knowledge on any further cooperation with Kenissi and if B&R are planning on adding these movements to other models?

Sylvain: Obviously, BR is turning more luxurious and prestigious along the last few years. Moreover, BR is presenting regularly some pieces of haute horlogerie. The recent Cyber ceramic in-house movement is a great example. In the past, BR has presented watches like the BR-X2 with a micro-rotor and a very flat tourbillon. The company has participated at Watches & Wonders for the past two years, so, without knowing the future moves of Bell & Ross, I can take the risk to say that Kenissi calibers might be more and more used by BR.

Me: Now that we have some knowledge of the models, how would you describe your core consumer?

Sylvain: It depends. With our BR-01 and BR-03, our core-customers want to buy a reliable watch for every day, hiking, swimming, and are not afraid of using their watches. There are also those who enjoy, above all, this unique design and to have something special on the wrist. With the BR-05, it is a bit different. It still has a lot of presence on the wrist, but it’s a bit more subtle and refined. It is more made for an urban lifestyle.

Me: What are some of your personal favorites?

Sylvain: Personally, I like the basic models, such as the BR-03, matte black ceramic. It’s an icon; black and white. It matches a lot of different outfits and has a nice contrast between the matte black dial against the white indices and numerals. For the BR-05, I am currently wearing the black model on the rubber strap that I particularly appreciate. I have such a small wrist (16,5 cm). If it were only about taste, I could go for the last Cyber Ceramic, but that model is a bit too bulky for my wrist. When it comes to BR-03 I really like the new downsized 41mm models, especially the latest copper dial and its blue hands, suggesting a fantastic contrast!

A little detail on BR watches which is very nice: The date color is matching the dial, and thus doesn’t break the whole harmony of the dial. The date windows on B&R watches are made to be discrete between the 4 and 5. Even on the copper dial, the date wheel is matched!

The BR-05 Auto on the wrist of Sylvain Hubert.

Me: Working to please watch enthusiasts around the world. We spoke a bit about the current watch market in Scandinavia before we started the interview. How do you feel the Scandinavian market has responded to Bell & Ross since you made your entrance?

Sylvain: We are still a small brand in Scandinavia. But, since I started in 2018, there has been some major changes. We now work with the strongest watch dealers. Like Thune in Oslo where we are today, at a beautiful store and surrounded by beautiful brands! In Stockholm we are at Krons, a famous and luxury watch dealer. In total we work with 9 Authorised Dealers in Scandinavia mainly located in big cities. So, end-customers can see us more and more and we can also see it through the sales!

But of course, it is still challenging. There are still many consumers that have never heard about Bell & Ross, and they rarely buy it without any knowledge. It takes time to communicate around the brand, especially in a very competitive environment where all the other brands want also to show themselves as much as possible!

Moreover, as we talked about before, it seems that consumer behavior in Scandinavia can be quite conformist and play “safe” sometimes. “My neighbor has a Tesla; I will go for a Tesla, too”. “My friend has a Rolex; I want my Rolex too”. Bell & Ross is not targeting this profile. Bell & Ross targets people who are self-confident enough to wear whatever they like and are proud to stand for their difference.

Actually, let me give you an example: We sold a Cyber ceramic few days ago to a man who wanted something completely different. He was a self-confident guy who doesn’t need to belong to a certain group. Something I’ve noticed when I meet these kinds of customers, I ask them, have you travelled a lot? The answer is always “Yes”. This is often a common trait with our customers: They are people with an open mind, often due to the fact they have travelled and experienced other cultures and behaviors. They’ve realized there are other ways to be than looking like your neighbor. And their inspiration is multiple and diversified.

Me: Individualists and adventurers then.

Sylvain: Yes, indeed!

Me: I must be honest, earlier in my watch enthusiast journey, the thought of putting on something very different, something unknown, when all I wanted was to just get to know the regular brands. They were all foreign to me at that time. I very much had a narrow mindset because of the lack of knowledge.

However, I find the more experience you gather, exploring different watches the more you find your own tastes and, like this person you described before, you want to see unique watches and find something personal that suits you.

Sylvain: Exactly, you also start to understand how marketing works on consumers, and you say: “Ok, is it because this brand has invested so much on marketing that I’ll fall into the “trap” or will I follow my own tastes?”. It takes time, but the more you learn, understand, compare, and see, the easier it is to ignore the marketing and go your own way.

Me: You also have some “vintage” inspired models in the lineup at Bell & Ross.

Sylvain: Yes, those were the round case watches. Two years ago, BR did a survey to make sure that they went in the right direction. They were already thinking to focus on the round within a square design. This survey confirmed the suspicion: People associate BR with the square shape and the cockpit instrument design. Therefore, BR decided to stop making round case watches. Our customers wanted to buy our watches due to the strong design, not because they look like other watches. This is completely linked to our previous discussion.

Me: We have two BR-03 watches here today. I have recently learned that I love chronograph watches. I wanted to be the classic dress watch type of guy, but the more I see, the more I understand that I love sporty watches and especially chronographs.

This is why I wanted to take a closer look at this matte black ceramic BR-03 Chronograph. What can you tell me about this model?

Sylvain: First, this is an icon in our collection. Just as our three hands BR03-92, this has a matte black ceramic case with white indices. We like say that this is an “ambassador” of our brand. The design is very much pilot watch inspired and you can already imagine this on the glove of a pilot in his cockpit. It is a bigger watch but the lugs are short. What’s most important here is that the lugs don’t protrude from your wrist. While this watch has a lot of presence, it doesn’t look ridiculous because of those short lugs. As you can see, you have a smaller wrist but it doesn’t look too big.

Of course, using this ceramic case which is a point of pride for the company because we offer such a good price point despite the ceramic case with a unique design. But, it is not an invisible watch, being a square watch of 42mm.

Me: Which movement is in this watch?

Sylvain: : It is a Sellita. You can find some BR03 with an ETA movement too, but for the last 3 or 4 years, ETA is not supplying brands outside the Swatch group any longer.

Me: I like that you have the tachymeter scale on the rehaut and not on the bezel. Keeping the clean bezel and allowing the watch to be ever more legible.

Sylvain: I agree. For a diver, a separate bezel is necessary, but on the chrono it looks sleeker.

Me: Next up, we have the BR-03 lume dial.

Sylvain: Yes! This is a limited edition run of 999 watches: A BR-03 diver. This is the last one left in Norway. It is a true full lume, from the dial, indices to the hands. A unique piece, also with a ceramic case. It features Super-luminova C5, so it turns really green in the dark. It is a true diver with 300m water resistance.

Me: It is very cool. I love the pistachio green on the dial. A great proposition for a summer watch I would say. It might be a bit big for my wrist, even though the lugs don’t protrude outside my wrists.

Sylvain: Yeah, it is a matter of taste. I wouldn’t say it is too big, but I understand that you might something lighter and smaller.

Me: Lastly, we have the Cyber ceramic watch.

(Editors note: Unfortunately the photos if this watch, were not up to par. Therefore I don`t have any photos of this watch in this post. You can find photos of the watch on the Bell & Ross website).

Sylvain: We have done several limited editions with a skeletonized dial with a “laughing skull”, at 45 or 46mm. They had hand winding movements, so that when you wound the watch the jaw was moving up and down, making it look like the skull was laughing at you.

Here we see the principle following those skull watches. The skull has been removed, but the X in the dial has been preserved. A little bit of a back story. The skull watches were introduced in 2009. It is a symbol that the paratroopers stamped on their parachutes to scare the enemy and and to symbolize that they were prepared to die to bring death upon their enemies. These watches were a big success.

The Cyber ceramic is even nicer in my opinion. It is smaller than previous models, at 42 mm it is more wearable than the previous ones. As I mentioned the skull has been removed, but they kept the X and it is more inspired by stealth aircrafts. The case was kept in matte black ceramic.

Me: I find this to be skeletonization done in a good way and it is still possible to tell the time while showing off the movement. This is the first time seeing a true skeletonized watch that I can actually read. I like it.

Thank you so much for your time, Sylvain, it has been a pleasure to get to learn more about Bell & Ross.

Sylvain: You`re welcome, this is why I am here today.

Another big thank you to Sylvain for taking the time to teach me about Bell & Ross. I am honestly very much excited to see what Bell & Ross will release in the future and I hope to be able to get some hands-on experience with their future releases.

A huge thank you to Sylvain Hubert for making himself available for an interview and for taking the time to read through the post and providing feedback. And lastly a big thanks to Zachary Pierce, the founder and editor in chief of Horology Republic,(for whom I also write) for acting as my editor.

Thank you for reading, and feel free to share your feedback with me on my Instagram.

Bell & Ross Interview – Hubert Agency

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