Bell & Ross is developping aviation-inspired watches. We recently reviewed the charming Belly tanker bronze chronograph. This watch has a traditional round design, which differs from the typical Bell & Ross big square watches with analog cockpit-instrument design. Bell & Ross is back to its roots and is now releasing a new cockpit-instrument watch with an integrated-bracelet instead of rubber starps. The watch case is smaller than the standard Bell & Ross square cases, and that is a smart move. The case has a 40mm diameter and a thickness of 10.3mm. It is satin-finished on the top and polished on the sides. Decorative screws, giving the cockpit-instrument aspect to the watch, are located in the four corner of the square case.

Bell & Ross is proposing two round dial options for its watch. The watch is available with a round sunburst blue dial, with rounded baton markers. Arabic numeral are places at 12, 6 and 9 o'clock. A date window is located at 3 o'clock.

A skeleton-dial is also available. This dial has no arabic numeral index, only rounded baton markers and no date window. "Bell & Ross" in witten on the sapphire glass. The hour and minute hands adopt a rounded baton shape with silver color for the two watch designs.

The case of the two watches is identical. As mentionned above, the case has four decorative screws on the bezel and it is equiped with crown gards. The crows is signed with the "&" logo.

Of course the bracelet is one of the most important features of an integrated-bracelet watch. I will therefore not talk about the rubber strap option, which has according to me no interest in the present case. The integrated steel bracelet of the B05 has a tapered profile, with satin-finished side links and polished central links. The barcelet is not thick and not stiff, it is bending nicely. That is a good news for small diameter wrists. The watch fits well on a 16cm diameter wrist.

Bell & Ross has a collaboration with Swiss Sellita to produce an exclusive movement and automatic rotor. The B05 watch is thus powered by a calibre BR-CAL.321 (Sellita SW-300 base). Its has a power reserve 42-hour. It is not very much these days, many watches now have a 70 power reserve.

The watch movement and the rotor can be seen though the transparent case back. The rotor has an original shape. It adopts the round shape of a sport alloy wheel. It is a big surpring for a aviation-inspired watch. Even the car-inspired Bell & Ross Belly tanker bronze chronograph does not have a rotor as beautifull as this one. The rotor is round but an extra weight with the inscrisption "BELL & ROSS - SWISS MADE" is discretely placed on one side. The skeleton dial watch is a edition limited to 500 pieces. The number of the watch is written on the circle painted in the center of the case-back sapphire.

The steel bracelet and the rubber strap are both closed by a triple folding clasp with push-button. The polished "&" logo, surrounded by a circle is visible on the clasp.

Until now I liked the Bell & Ross watches with the classic round design, but I was not a big fan of the Bell & Ross cockpit-instruments square watches. They were too big, too "rought". That was until I tried the B05, this watch changed my mind. Bell & Ross engineered a beautifull integrated-bracelet watch. It was a great move to select a medium size of 40mm, that gives a watch a real touch of elegance.

Despite the cockpit instrument design of the watch, the alternace of the satin and polished-finish of the case gives to this sport watch a dressy aspect. I like the design of the round rotor visible through the transparent case back, handsome. The watch is not powered by an in-house caliber but by a sellita base. The purists will be upset but that helps to lower the price of teh watch and the cost of maintenance.

Concerning the dial options, I love the sunbust blue dial with arabic numerals. It is a clean and legible a dial, even the date window is well inserted and is not too intrusive. I am less convinced by the skeleton dial and its low legibility. Place side-by-side, the blue-dial watch is the clear winner. I have to say that Bell & Ross surprised me with the blue dial B05. It is an beautifull integrated-bracelet sporty-dressy watch at a decent price; "only" 4'500 euro. It is a bargain, when considering that the price of integrated-bracelet watches usually starts at around 10'000 euro (and I even don't even consider the iconic integrated-bracelet Patek Philipp and Audemars Piguet models). Let's have a quick comparison with another model we rescently reviewed; the Piaget Polo S. The B05 is an integrated-bracelet watch with round dial in a square case, Piaget did the opposit with the Polo S, which is an integrated-bracelet watch with square dial in a round case. The Polo S is powered by an in-house caliber but it costs 10'900 euro, so roughtly twice more than the B05. However it is not beacuse the B05 costs twice less than it is less attractive. So I can only recommand you to your authorized dealer and try the B05; you will be happy surprised by this model.