Bell & Ross watches have taken the luxury world by storm, with their dynamic combination of bold style and uncompromising capabilities. Coveted by divers, pilots, and professionals in many demanding fields, Bell & Ross timepieces have become equally sought after by collectors and enthusiasts around the world.
Bell & Ross was founded in 1992, by Carlos Rosillo and Bruno Belamich, two men who shared both a long friendship, and a passion for dynamic, functional design. Guided by the idea of "function shapes form", the founders of Bell & Ross focused on the development of watches which embrace four parameters: water resistance, precision, readability, and performance. Although young, the Bell & Ross brand has defined itself with a strong character, as its appealing collections continue to grow, embracing everything from focused instrument-based timekeepers, to cutting-edge high complications such as tourbillons.
ViaLuxe had the pleasure of speaking with the creative Mr. Rosillo, and gaining insight into the Bell & Ross brand philosophy, as well as directions that the brand may pursue in the future.
VIALUXE:
Hi Mr. Rosillo. Thanks for taking the time to meet with us. Bell & Ross has made a big splash lately. Can you give us a little history behind the brand?
CARLOS ROSILLO:It started with a passion of two friends. Bruno, the Bell of Bell & Ross, and myself, the Ross. We have known each other since we were fifteen years old. We were at school. We met each other and had a good friendship. He became a designer and I went to business school and then went into investment banking. We had a common passion, watches. Then we met the right people at the right moment. An incredible engineer and a professional pilot. By combining all of our experiences we created Bell & Ross. Only because we wanted to regenerate professional watches. These are the kind of watches we love.
VIALUXE:
Where does Bell & Ross find its design inspiration behind its watches?
CARLOS ROSILLO:
Very simply. We love professional watches. The best professional watches you can find are instruments. Instruments that you can find in a dashboard. We have been doing dashboard instruments like this - that you can find on the dashboard of a car. The BR 01, started with this idea, 5 years ago, of taking our knowledge of instruments and taking them from the cockpit and putting them on the wrist.
The BR 01 concept was this - from the cockpit to the wrist. Of course it was a simple idea - but it was also a powerful idea. Since then, we have reinvented what should be an instrument for professionals.
VIALUXE:
We talked a little bit about the design inspiration but I am curious - In your opinion What does Bell & Ross stand for? What is the essence of the brand? CARLOS ROSILLO:Bell & Ross stands for two things - our names, a short cut of our names - and the ampersand (&). What does the ampersand stand for? First the name - Bell & Ross means watches and you can understand that from the logo. The logo is a watch. Second is the ampersand. The ampersand represents the union of expertise between designers, engineers, watchmakers and professional users. This is the origin of our name.
VIALUXE:
Mr. Rosillo, I have been hearing about this "Big Jump" that Bell & Ross is sponsoring. Can you tell me more about it? It sounds really interesting and a bit crazy. CARLOS ROSILLO:When we started the company, we were a little crazy. We started with twenty thousand dollars in our pocket and we started a company from it. But we had a passion. Recently we found someone who was crazier then us. His name is Michel Fournier. and he is going to do "The Big Jump". He is going to beat 4 records including one that was set by someone from NASA in the sixties.
With a balloon he is going to go up to forty thousand meters - An altitude not even a fighter plane can reach..And from there he will jump. He will immediately gain the record for the highest jump - the second record will be the fastest. The third record is he is going to break the sound barrier without being in an airplane. It is also the longest jump every made in history.
He is going to spend eight minutes at minus one hundred forty degrees. The pressurization and depressurization that he is going to feel is crazy. He has to inhale a lot of acid so that his body can resist these extreme conditions. On his arm, he is going to wear the Bell & Ross BR 02. A watch that we have created for its water resistance. Bell & Ross creates watches for sky, land and sea. He is going to break the world record from the sky to the land and we already have the record for deep sea diving (11,100 meters) with Hydromax.
This watch - with the helium valve can resist these various states of pressurization and depressurization. We are very proud to sponsor this man who - if he makes this challenge - will be know as one of the craziest men the world has ever seen. By the way, NASA has helped a lot because they have given all of the material support needed on this project. This expedition will take place on the 25th of May in Saskatchewan Canada.
VIALUXE:
Wow. Thats sounds amazing. We will definitely tune in on the 25th to watch. It is pretty clear that Bell & Ross has made its stamp as a professional watch. Where do you see the company in 3-5 years? CARLOS ROSILLO:Bell & Ross currently is in over fifty countries world wide. Within 5 years we want make sure the brand is recognized as the original instrument watch all over the world.
VIALUXE:
Lets talk a little bit about current watchmaking trends. What do you appreciate most about the some of the recent trends in modern day watchmaking? CARLOS ROSILLO:The diversity. Today you can find any creation that corresponds to your desires. The excitement today about watch competition is at its peak I think. There is a lot of creativity in the traditional fields with modern materials within watchmaking - in engineering, new materials and this is really exciting. I think the difficulty is to make sure that it last because there needs to be consistency - you have a brand who has a soul and philosophy. In terms of creativity, I got to tell you, I am quite surprised.
VIALUXE:
Mr. Rosillo, as you mentioned, there is a lot of diversity in the market. Are there any other brands out there that you admire other then Bell & Ross?
CARLOS ROSILLO:We are in the modern field and of course you admire the one who correspond to the something you totally don't do. For instance, I have always been a fan of traditional watchmaking. A brand like Lange I think is most admirable. They control the technical aspect in the best way, and they have a strong philosophy. They are also by the way comparable to Bell & Ross because they are readable. When I have a watch, I want it to be readable and Lange's watches are very readable.
VIALUXE:
Bell & Ross has seen some incredible success in the United States over the last few years. What do you attribute this success to?
CARLOS ROSILLO:Functionality. You appreciate efficiency and we are an efficient brand. Of course we were very lucky. We had a great model with great timing and a great model. Our team in the US is an incredible team and did an incredible job. We were also lucky when Mr. Ralph Lauren chose BR 01 as the watch for his Black Label campaign. It was a incredible promotion and I want thank him because he has been extremely generous and I am a big fan of what he is doing and I am waiting to see his watches because I know I am going to love them. So we have been very lucky.
VIALUXE:
This year looks like it is going to be another banner year for Bell & Ross. I am especially impressed with the look of the Minuteur. Can you spend a few minutes talking about it? CARLOS ROSILLO:When you talk about watches there are two things that are important in the horological world - the time that goes by and the time that you are going to control. The Chronograph on one side and the hour on the other. In the Minuteur Tourbillon we have made a separation between the time and the chrono functions. With the same new movement you have the time on one side and the chrono on the other with the flyback - and its a Minuteur because you can calculate minutes and hours. This is with the tourbillon.
When you see the piece - the piece is quite impressive. The power of the Instrument look. Of course if I show you the back - you see the craftsmanship of the movement which is amazing. The manipulation of this piece is very simple. As simple as the reading. Reading as you understood is from one side hour - the other side chrono functions. manipulation is here - with one pusher - you have a flyback chrono. You press and very smoothly it resets. Also what you will notice is the way it looks. Big enough for all those functions - it also is a piece that looks very impressive on the wrist. We are very proud of the Bell & Ross Minuteur Tourbillon.
VIALUXE:
Congratulations on another great year Mr. Rosillo - thanks for your time
CARLOS ROSILLO:Thank you