Most superheroes don’t wear watches, but if there was one gadget-loving crime-fighter that a timepiece would look great on the wrist of, it’s Batman. For Bell & Ross’s latest collaboration that’s exactly who the French-founded watchmaker has turned to, for the creation of the Wayne Enterprises x Uncrate x Bell & Ross BR 03-92 which blends the visually subtle with the technically thrilling.
This latest expression of the BR 03-92 forms a part of the wider whole that is the Wayne Enterprises x Uncrate collection, comprising more than a dozen products created in collaboration with Rogue Territory, Danner, Kross Studio, and more. All products in the collection have a distinctly Batman-feel to them, from Kevlar jeans and punching bags to bat-branded dumbbells and sunglasses, it isn’t a stretch to imagine Mr Wayne reaching for his favourite Wayne Enterprises protein shake.
Focusing on Bell & Ross’s offering, we’ve got a 42mm stainless steel case that has been radially brushed on its surfaces, while the facets are finished with a clear mirror polish. Standing just 9.65mm tall on the wrist, it’s thin enough to slip under the cuff of a dress shirt and doesn’t look like it would be too bulky to wear as an everyday watch.
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The real talking point of this BR 03-92 is the dial, which is skeletonised in its centre with black sandblasted bridges, while the flange that frames the dial and hosts the minute track has been executed in a subtly compelling shade of copper. Despite the city of gears and cogs humming away beneath the hands of the watch, the time is still very easy to read thanks to high contrast white Super-LumiNova that has been applied to the hands and hour markers, cleverly solving the legibility issues that many skeletonised dials create for their owners.
The movement in question is the BR-CAL.321, which ticks away at 28,800vph and serves up a power reserve of 50 hours. With the large steel-tone mainspring visible around the 6 o’clock position on the dial, you’re also able to get a rough sense of how much power reserve you’ve got left by assessing how tightly wound the spring is.
With a quintessentially Bell & Ross solid caseback and 100 metres of water resistance, the other enticing detail of the BR 03-92 is you get both a padded black calfskin strap and a black velcro tactical strap with the watch, giving you the choice of dressing the timepiece up or down. The calfskin is obviously a little more Bruce Wayne’s speed, while it’s hard not to imagine the velcro tactical strap on the wrist of Batman.
The Wayne Enterprises x Uncrate x Bell & Ross BR 03-92 is a limited edition watch of just 100 pieces worldwide and is currently available with an RRP of US$4,800 (AU$7,368).
