Bell & Ross Launches A Trio Of Alain Silberstein Collaborations

The unmistakable aesthetic of Alain Silberstein gets the pilot’s watch treatment in a new collaboration with Bell & Ross. The trio of models, called Grail Watch 4: Bell & Ross + Alain Silberstein – bear Silberstein’s trademark geometric hands in bold colors – primary red, yellow and cyan blue – combined with the squared case that distinguishes the iconic Bell & Ross BR 03 model, with its iconic airplane cockpit instrumentation style. The cases are black ceramic, with a black matte dial, and because the watch is large (42mm x 42mm), the black background brings out the colors in contrast more than any previous Silberstein collab (there have been several, from MB&F to Menlo Park jeweler Stephen Silver). There are three references, the Klub 22, Krono 22 and Marine 22, all of which bear simply the ampersand from the Bell & Ross logo, reflecting the collaboration.

The Klub 22 is a time-and-date model, with a red circle indicating hours, an oversized blue arrow for minutes and an S-shaped yellow seconds hand. It will be produced in a numbered edition of 200 pieces, priced at $4,400.

The Marine 22 is a diver’s watch, with a large blue circular hour hand and large red arrow minute hand, both with large plots of Super-LumiNova to ensure visibility underwater – Silberstein calls them “Maxi” hands. The two-tone ceramic bezel, with a red 20-minute section helps time dives. It is rated to 300 meters and will be made in a series of 100 pieces priced at $5,600.

The Krono 22 is a chronograph, so it has five hands: a red circle for hours, blue arrow for minutes, S-shaped yellow hand for center chronograph seconds, a small blue triangle for chronograph minutes and a small yellow arrow for continuous seconds. This one is a 100-piece edition priced at $6,700.

The trio of watches will be made in numbered limited editions, with the first 50 of each reference to be sold in packaged sets of all three. Making the designs come to life was not without its challenges. “With the chronograph, the seconds hand was by far the largest one ever used on a Bell & Ross watch, and we had to ensure the reset function worked perfectly every time so it would align exactly at zero,” says Silberstein. “With the diving watch, we had to make sure these huge oversized hands were as light as possible so they wouldn’t affect the overall precision of the movement. And then to make a two-color ceramic bezel was a major challenge.”