A watchmaker who cannot have enough of aviation inspiration has launched a recognizable silhouette with a display that never stands still. Meet BR-03 Helipad, the latest Bell & Ross Flight Instrument timepiece that replaces the traditional hands on the dial with a helicopter hovering over a helipad. The only thing missing is the “whomp-whomp.”
Yes, that’s for real! For some it may be a surprise. But for the Bell & Ross community, it’s another iteration of the interesting BR-03 Horizon, which itself pushed aviation-inspired horology to the next level. Designed again to make you green in envy, the Bell & Ross BR-03 Helipad “is especially extraordinary,” the company says. While it wears a very reminiscent set of features including an identical square-shaped case and those four screws on the four corners, the BR-03 Helipad is a different league altogether.
Designer: Bell & Ross
A horological interpretation that pays homage to the oft-overlooked part of aviation, the helicopter, the BR-03 Helipad is way beyond the aircraft cockpit dashboard instruments that most of the watch displays in the brand’s Flight Instrument series are inspired by. While each model in the series released before this has faithfully translated the aesthetic codes of the flight cockpit, this one puts an entire functional helicopter motif on a helipad-esque dial.
The new BR-03 Helipad, powered by an automatic BR-CAL.327 movement with a 54-hour power reserve, does follow the same DNA of the Flight Instrument series, but adds a new dimension to it, which is equally immersive and distinctive. To that accord, the Bell & Ross BR-03 Helipad is a limited-edition pilot’s watch priced at $4,800. Limited to just 500 pieces worldwide, the watch features a 41 mm case made from micro-blasted black ceramic, which keeps the timepiece lightweight and makes it durable.
The case is only 10.6 mm thick, packing a distinct dial under its sapphire crystal complete with an antireflective coating. The dial, as mentioned earlier, is styled after a helipad with a white “H” marker in the center. A helicopter can be seen hovering over the helipad, which sits inside a rotating disc with the hours marked on a yellow circle inside the chapter ring. The minutes are indicated by the rotating helicopter fuselage, while the spinning blades denote the seconds.
The hour markers and the yellow helipad outline coated with Super-LumiNova, for clear night visibility, mimic the nighttime landing scene on the dial. The BR-03 Helipad is water-resistant up to 100 meters, and comes with two interchangeable straps. One is a yellow rubber strap that matches the visual aesthetics of the watch, while the other is made from black synthetic fabric. The black ceramic caseback is pretty modest, it’s only etched with the details of the watch.
