Bell & Ross BR 03-92 H.U.D – Just the right amount of digital display on an analogue dial

It’s not every day you see a mechanical watch brand look to digital displays for inspiration but that is exactly what Bell & Ross did for their latest BR 03-92 H.U.D watch. With a long history of taking the instrument gauges from aeroplane cockpit and transferring them onto the wrist, this new BR 03-92 continues that tradition and aims to replicate the heads-up display of a jet fighter on a watch.

The heads-up display is the little green indicators that jet pilots see, almost as if it were floating on the canopy of the cockpit. As the name suggests, the heads-up display will showcase all the most important information to the pilot within their line of sight, thus allowing them to keep their focus where it matters. The way these displays work is by reflecting the information on a clear pane of glass that is in line with the windscreen of the aeroplane. By doing this, they achieve a sort of ‘augmented reality’ display where it looks like the green indicators are just floating about in the air.

To replicate this effect on a watch however, Bell & Ross had to employ a few clever design elements of their own. Firstly, the sapphire crystal has been tinted green to match the colour of the H.U.D indicators. Then the four brackets reminisce of the H.U.D has been printed directly on the underside of the glass, thus giving it the illusion that it is hovering just above the dial. The minute and seconds hand have their centre blacked out and in combination with an arrow printed on a disc as the hour hand, it looks as if all of the components are not connected to each other – similar to a digital display.

This effect becomes even more pronounced when the lights go out as the indices, hands and even the bracket on the crystal has been coated with green C3 SuperLuminova.

For the 42mm wide case, Bell & Ross has chosen a matte black ceramic, a material that is a little more ‘technologically advanced’ compared to steel. As for the movement, the Calibre BR-CAL.302 powers this watch.

The Bell & Ross BR 03-92 H.U.D is limited to only 999 pieces worldwide and will retail for MYR 16,900.