Viridescent Bell & Ross BR 05 Chrono Green Steel Watch Since its debut in 2019, the Bell & Ross BR 05 has quickly become the focus of the brand's product strategy. In just four years, the "Urban" BR 05 has grown into a collection of four different models: automatic three-hand watch (including skeleton watch), power reserve watch (with exclusive Kenissi movement), GMT watch watches and chronographs. The last model was released a year after the original three-needle model, and there have been some limited editions. The latest regular production model is the Bell & Ross BR 05 Chrono Green Steel, which comes with a rubber strap or bracelet and features a bright green dial.

There isn't a watch in the BR 05 collection that isn't chunky. With its shape and lack of any mitigating factor, the collection as a whole has a blocky, contemporary style with a strong presence on the wrist, especially for the chronograph’s 42mm-wide steel case. Model. Thanks to the new movement, the BR 05 Chrono models, which were previously 13.5mm thick, are now all 14.25mm thick. I mentioned the chunky part earlier, because while the extra 0.75mm makes the watch a bit top-heavy, the wear on these models is already evident. Bottom line, 14.25 is not bad for an automatic chronograph.

In this context, enablers are especially noteworthy. Its design is unobtrusive, but its operation is very clear. They're placed and sized so you can use them with almost any finger, from any angle. The watch features sapphire crystal, is water resistant to 100m, and has an integrated bracelet with a butterfly deployment (which may cause size issues for some). It also offers rubber straps for a few hundred dollars less, and the two options can be easily swapped out thanks to a push-button quick-release mechanism.

The dial here takes on a truly vibrant emerald green. Depending on the light, the sunburst can range from explosive green to almost black. In addition to the circular grooves, there is a very subtle silver texture on the subdials, creating a striking textural contrast. Bell & Ross is known for putting a 4:30 date on nearly every watch, for better or worse, and this one is no exception. While it's not to everyone's liking, the vertical orientation of this display suggests it's very intentional, albeit dated, and the color matching is impressive. The handset is reminiscent of the Royal Oak, but is complemented by stick applied hour markers and brushed applied numerals that match the rounded ends of the hands. One thing that caught my attention were the subdial hands, with their square bases matching the shape of the subdials – an extraordinary attention to detail from the brand. Of course, all parts are coated with Super-LumiNova, even the chronograph seconds hand.

The Bell & Ross BR 05 Chrono Green Steel is powered by the Bell & Ross BR-Cal.326, which is based on the Sellita SW-510 automatic chronograph movement. Visible through the sapphire case back, the movement features a bespoke 360° oscillating weight, a 28,800 rpm power reserve of up to 60 hours, and a cam-operated chronograph mechanism. The BR-Cal.326 replaces the modular BR-CAl.301 (which is an ETA 2894-2 with a chronograph module), and was launched earlier this year in the Bell & Ross BR 05 Chrono A523, the brand's newest addition to the BWT's newest partnership with the Alpine Formula 1 team. The biggest difference is the noticeably increased height (I can't see anything else that would cause swelling), and the extra 18 hours of power reserve. BR-Cal.326 is now the standard movement on all BR 05 Chrono models,

With this new addition, the BR 05 collection has expanded to 21 available models, excluding all the different strap configurations. While green is nothing new, the richness of this dial stands out from the other BR 05 Chronos and is by far the best option for me.