Anybody who’s an actual scuba diver will tell you that dive watches are almost never actually used underwater. Most of them are only seen around the resort, some make it as far as the boat.
Understandable, because computers do a much better job, and many of them don’t look half bad too. But this hasn’t stopped Bell & Ross from continuing on with its path of subaquatic technical innovation. A path it’s been pursuing since 1997.
That’s 23 years ago. If Bell & Ross were a person, it’ll be a millennial now. And as is often the case with millennials, the brand doesn’t do anything by half measures—a good mantra for watchmaking and perhaps life as well. Hence we have here this incredibly bold and unbelievably bright Bell & Ross BR03-92 Diver Full Lum.
All Systems Glow
Built like a tank and tailored to the extreme, this watch however balances stealth with visibility. How so? By day, it stays pretty much out of sight because of the matte black ceramic case. Paired with a unidirectional rotating bezel in the same material, the watch’s graphic dial in almond green and large indexes exude urban understatement.
This is the second Full Lum model Bell & Ross has released thus to date, but the first dive-worthy one.
Yet all the Bell & Ross signature touches are there. Four exposed screws, labelled crown guard, fluted crown, and knurled bezel reinforce its utilitarian nature. It’s a professional timepiece after all—something you’ll definitely take notice when night falls.
In fact, you probably can’t look away even if you tried, for the entire dial is an explosion of light. Where luminosity is concerned, you could say that this sporty limited edition timepiece just blows everything else out of the water.
Luminosity is indeed a key element in all professional dive watches. To be ISO 6425 certified, a dive watch needs to tolerate a minimum depth of 100 metres. It also needs to have a unidirectional rotating bezel including a graduated minutes scale and be shock- and magnetic-resistant.
Another requirement is the presence of an operating indicator, which is fulfilled here by the running seconds hand. Then of course that little issue of perfect legibility in the dark, which the Bell & Ross BR03-92 Full Lum nailed with absolute panache.
After all, why limit the Superluminova to just the hands and indexes? Let us see everything!
So the entire dial glows. With unparalleled brightness, if we may add. What’s also very cool is that Bell & Ross played with two different shades of luminescence.
While its metal basis dial is fully coated with a paint made of green Superluminova® C5 pigments, the metal applique skeletonised indices and the bezel’s numerals are filled with green Superluminova® C3.
The latter is an ultra-phosphorescent green light with extra-long durability in the dark. It offers a continued optimal visibility even in complete darkness and at the ISO-required minimal distance of 25cm.
Dive Deeply
As with all of Bell & Ross’ professional diver timepieces, the BR03-92 Diver Full Lum is designed for comfort and ergonomics. Dressed in a very practical woven black rubber strap, it is also accompanied by an ultra-resilient black synthetic fabric strap secured with convenient and adjustable Velcro fasteners.
Now, we know full well that mechanical timepieces don’t generally get to fulfil their life mission underwater, but maybe—just maybe—you’ll want to give this one a shot the next time you back-roll off a boat.
Cause if you’ve made it this far down the page means you can’t be anything but a Bell & Ross fanatic. And Bell & Ross fanatics simply won’t can’t leave their watches alone.
Yours for S$7,000, the Bell & Ross BR03-92 Diver Full Lum is available in stores now. Shop this and other Bell & Ross timepieces here.
