Bell Ross: Watches for Professionals

Although I do not own a Bell & Ross watch myself, and therefore cannot speakdirectly from experience, in reviewing their collections, there are four watcheswhich seem particularly exceptional to me:The Bell & Ross Space 3The Bell & Ross Space 3 chronograph is designed for space mission pilots. Theemphasis of the nice seiko is on readability and profile: the pushers and the crownare set down into the case so that nothing protrudes. The crown is hidden by whatBell & Ross calls the T-Crown System. The crown is attached to a toothed telescopicextension which can be protracted to allow the crown to be unscrewed. Once thecrown is screwed back down, the extension can be fully retracted into thecase where it automatically locks flush into position through a spring loaded systemto give the watch a smooth outside edge.Features of the Bell & Ross Space 3 include:Automatic movement.Titanium or brushed steel case.Sapphire crystal.Three-counter chronograph.Date and day.Ask the average American to name a fine Swiss watch, and nine times out of tenyou're going to hear Rolex. You might get the occasional Omega or Tag Heuer, andif they really know what they're talking about, Breitling, IWC, Zenith, or maybeeven Patek Philippe.What you are not likely to hear is Bell & Ross, not because they don't makesome very compelling timepieces, but primarily because they have only been aroundsince 1992, which for a Swiss my watches company, is practically brand new (compareto Rolex which has been around since 1908, Omega which dates back to 1848, TagHeuer which has been around in one form or another since 1860, and Patek Philippewhich was founded in 1839). Not only is Bell & Ross a relative newcomer to theworld of Swiss watches, but they are also not widely distributed in the UnitedStates. With only 45 retail locations throughout the country, you're averagingless than one store per state, which makes a Bell & Ross watch more than threetimes as difficult to find as a Patek Philippe. Fortunately, I happen to live about20 minutes from the only Bell & Rossretailer in the Washington DC area, so I went in one day for an afternoon of windowshopping and questions. What I found was a display case full of beautiful, unique,and very well made watches. Bell & Ross watches primarily focus on dependability. They are watches forprofessionals like pilots, divers, astronauts, and even bomb disposal experts,whose jobs -- and in some cases, even lives -- may depend on their watches. EachBell & Rosstimepiece is designed and built with four basic principles in mind: readability,performance, precision, and water-resistance. When designing and engineering anew watch, the Bell & Ross motto is "the essential is never compromisedby the superfluous" which I think is apparent in their stark, straightforward,and professional designs. Each watch is tested under varying conditions in variouspositions, monitored, and adjusted over a two week period until it is 0 to +10seconds per day (for automatic watches) with a 40 hour reserve. Additionally, each watches brand is tested for its resistance to water, pressure, ultra-violet radiation,heat, humidity, shock, magnetic fields, hostile chemicals, and substantial temperaturevariation. If the watch survives all that, it is examined by a master watchmakerwho makes the final decision as to whether it can actually leave the factory ornot.