“A movement worn directly on the wrist” is how Bell & Ross describes its latest limited-edition haute horlogerie creation, the BR-X2 Tourbillon Micro-Rotor. Designed by the brand’s prolific Creative Director Bruno Belamich, the timepiece utilizes the emblematic Bell & Ross square case shape to underline an architecture in which the case and caliber unite to form a single element.
Bell & Ross BR-X2 Skeleton Tourbillon Micro-Rotor
Bell & Ross developed an all-new, square-shaped movement for the watch, manufacture Caliber BR-CAL.381, which is set between two clear sapphire plates connected by a narrow band machined from a single piece of steel. The result is an almost entirely unrestricted view of the movement, which has been painstakingly skeletonized to remove as much material as possible while still allowing the components to perform at a high level of efficiency. Powering a two-handed time display and regulated by a flying tourbillon at 6 o’clock, the movement is self-winding by means of a microrotor, itself composed of an excpetionally dense alloy composed of 95 percent tungsten, a material denser than steel and nearly as dense as platinum. The square-shaped movement is set between two sapphire plates.
The use of a micro-rotor allows the movement to be extra-thin ? just 4.05 mm ? and its dimensions fit snugly within the confines of the 42.5-mm satin-polished steel case, which is water-resistant to 50 meters, just in case of the unl...