Bell & Ross BR-03 Skeleton Collection with Black Ceramic, Grey Steel and Lum

Bell & Ross have had a huge amount of fun with their recent releases: tackling concepts of space with the Astro, ice with the Arctic and playful interpretations of flight instruments with the Horizon. However, at Watches & Wonders 2025 they’re evidently keen to show that they’re still committed to serious watchmaking as well with the launch of the new BR-03 Skeleton collection. It’s a collection that showcases multiple high end techniques and design elements.

The core elements of the three watches that make up the collection are the new skeletonised displays. Hence it being the BR-03 Skeleton collection. Recently I’ve been waxing poetic about the semantic difference between ‘skeletonised’ and ‘open-worked’ and Bell & Ross have really scuppered me by making some watches that don’t neatly fit into either definition I had in my head. To me, a skeleton display removes material from the movement to provide a superior view into the heart of its mechanisms while an open-working means removing portions of the dial to show the movement beneath. The BR-03 Skeleton watches kind of do both of those things simultaneously.

At the heart of each of these watches is a new movement, the BR-CAL.328, which is their new skeleton movement with automatic winding and a solid 54-hour power reserve. The bridges and plate have been intentionally shaped and designed to allow the wearer to see into the movement better than normal. You can see the intention behind the skeletonization from the X-shaped structure of the bridges arching out towards the screws in the case. Then, the skeletonised movement has been placed beneath a tinted sapphire dial or partially open dial (depending on the model) meaning it’s both skeletonised and open-worked at the same time.

Before we get caught up in being too pedantic, let’s look at the individual models one at a time, starting with the BR-03 Skeleton Black Ceramic.

BR-03 Skeleton Black Ceramic

As with all three models here, this watch is presented in a 41mm case in the signature rounded square design Bell & Ross have become famous for. It’s a large tool watch design with a hint of industrial style thanks to the exposed screws, which give the impression that you could screw the watch into the cockpit of a plane and it wouldn’t look out of place. This model feels like it would be at home in a stealth bomber thanks to the dark tone of the black ceramic it’s made from, an extremely scratch resistant and hard material.

What makes the BR-03 Skeleton Black Ceramic different from its sister watches is the transparent dial. It’s the only one of the three with a full sapphire dial, tinted grey, giving a complete, uninterrupted view of the movement below. That technically makes it the best for seeing the skeletonised architecture of the BR.CAL.328 movement such as those exposed X-shaped bridges.

BR-03 Skeleton Grey Steel

Next up is the BR-03 Skeleton Grey Steel, which as the name suggests trades out the ceramic case for brushed steel. To my mind it feels much more industrial in a utilitarian sort of way than the black models, as if the manufacturer hasn’t even gone so far as to give it a lick of paint in order to save costs. I also like the lighter grey tone of it and alternative finishing including polished edges.

The dial here is an example of what I mean by openworked. There is a grey dial on top of the skeletonised movement but there are exposed windows that let us see through to the movement below. The architecture of the dial emulates that of the movement, following the contours of those signature X-shape bridges. They’ve also swapped from a 12/3/6/9 Arabic numeral hour track to simple lumed hour markers, which also gives a better view into the movement, especially at 6 o’clock where you can see the main spring of the power barrel.

BR-03 Skeleton Lum Ceramic

Last up is the BR-03 Skeleton Lum Ceramic, which brings back the black ceramic case of the Skeleton Black Ceramic. However, it’s also like a fusion with the Grey Steel because it has the same open-worked dial but in black. Yet, making it different from either of the other models, the inner edges of the dial around each of the open windows is coated with Super-LumiNova, meaning it gives a skeletal glow in low light conditions.

Not many people talk about it but Bell & Ross have quietly become one of the leading brands when it comes to use of lume. They’ve taken it from a simple functional aspect of design and turned it into a core stylistic element of their watches. Just look at the Full Lum or the almost alien glow of the BR-X5 Green Lum.

Choosing a favourite from among the three is tricky, though price and availability might help with that decision. The BR-03 Skeleton Black Ceramic is non-limited at £5,500, the BR-03 Skeleton Grey Steel is limited to 250 pieces at £4,990 and the BR-03 Skeleton Lum is also limited to 250 at £5,900. I also think that between the 54-hour power reserve and skeletonised framework, the new BR-CAL.328 is a step in the right direction towards justifying Bell & Ross’ mid-range luxury prices.

More details at Bell & Ross.

​Oracle Time 

Read More