Speed Kings: Renault F1 Team partner Bell & Ross releases this year’s R.S. 20 Collection

If there’s a single element that unifies Bell & Ross’s diverse collection of sporty, largely vintage-inspired timepieces, it is the brand’s acute sense of proportion, and eye for emotive design. Its square watches take a leaf from aviation instruments before the advent of today’s everything-computerised glass cockpits, while the round-cased watches in its collection evoke a sense of adventure, inspired by classics worn on the field by soldiers, sailors, and assorted men of action. At the same time, the company is also forward-looking, leaning on design acumen and cutting-edge technology to reimagine a future where high tech is harmonised with traditional watchmaking. Some of its collections informed by this futurist vision is the fruit of its partnership with the Renault F1 Team. F1 racing is a caldron of technical innovation, with materials and techniques on the cutting edge of shaving micro-seconds off the clock. Since its partnership with the Renault F1 Team, Bell & Ross has dipped into this cauldron and released an R.S. collection every year. It’s fifth, the R.S. 20, is inspired by the yellow-black livery of the 2020 season Renault F1 cars, and the R.S.2027 concept car. The collection consists of four chronographs, and one tourbillon, as detailed below:

BR V3-94 R.S.20: Round-cased Tool Chronograph
BR V3-94 R.S.20: Round-cased tool chronograph

Steel is not quite the material that comes to mind when thinking about Formula 1, but it makes for a very robust everyday sports watch, with chronograph function complemented by a convenient bi-directional rotating bezel with countdown markings. Chronograph readings are especially legible with yellow tachymeter scale and hands; ‘racing dial’ and hour numerals in Renault F1 Team typography inject yet more dynamism into an attractive dial. In a limited edition of 999 pieces.

BR V3-94 R.S.20: Round-cased tool chronograph

Technical Specifications

Movement

Automatic BR-CAL.301; chronograph with 30-minute totaliser; date

Case

43 mm satin-polished steel; bi-directional rotating steel bezel with anodised black aluminium ring with countdown timer; domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating; sapphire caseback; 100m water resistance

Strap

Black-yellow carbon-effect calfskin or satin-polished steel bracelet

BR 03-94 R.S.20: Iconic Square
BR 03-94 R.S.20: Iconic Square

This might conceivably be worn while racing and indeed for anything: the most iconic square in the Bell & Ross catalog is cased in light, and scratch-proof ceramic that will weather anything without a wrinkle. Clean, strong, means business. Limited to 999 pieces.

Technical Specifications

Movement

Automatic BR-CAL.301; chronograph with 30-minute totaliser; date

Case

42 mm matte black ceramic; sapphire with anti-reflective coating; 100m water resistance

Strap

Perforated black rubber and ultra-resilient black synthetic fabric

BR 03-94 R.S.20: Iconic Square
BR-X1 R.S.20: Skeletonized Machine Aesthetic
BR-X1 R.S.20: Skeletonized Machine Aesthetic

It’s the above BR 03-94 amplified: the case is now a multi-material affair, composed of PVD-coated titanium, ceramic and rubber, materials often seen in F1, and the rocker push-buttons for working the chronograph are reminiscent of the paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Presence and utility also gets a bump from the bi-directional rotating timing bezel. A open-worked dial seals the machine aesthetic by baring the gears and levers of the skeletonised movement underneath. Limited to 250 pieces.

Technical Specifications

Movement

Automatic BR-CAL.313; chronograph with 30-minute totaliser; date; ‘X’-shaped upper bridge; 4Hz; skeletonised

Case

45 mm satin-polished titanium and ceramic with rubber inserts; bi-directional rotating PVD bezel ring with time marker; rocker push-buttons; case-back with opening in tinted sapphire crystal centred on the balance wheel; 100m water resistance

Strap

Perforated black rubber

BR-X1 R.S.20: Skeletonized Machine Aesthetic
BR-X1 tourbillon R.S.20: Classic on the Cutting Edge
BR-X1 tourbillon R.S.20

This model is the epitome of how Bell & Ross is able to harmonise cutting edge modernity with classical fundamentals. Lying within the high-tech case fashioned from titanium, ceramic elements and high-density rubber is a manual-wind monopusher chronograph with column wheel, instant-jump minutes and flying tourbillon, with 100 hours of power reserve! In a limited edition of 20 pieces.

Technical Specifications

Movement

Manual-wind BR-CAL.283; flying tourbillon; monopusher column wheel chronograph; 3Hz; 4-day power reserve; instant jump 30-minute counter; power reserve indicator

Case

45mm satin-polished titanium and matt ceramic with rubber insert; bi-directional rotating PVD bezel ring with time marker; rocker mono-pusher; sapphire caseback with anti- reflective coating; 100m water resistance

Strap

Perforated black rubber

BR-X1 tourbillon R.S.20
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