First live pics and initial thoughts - the new Bell & Ross BR 03-92 reps
Initial thoughts: an excellent first run and accurate enough for all but the most discerning B&R aficionados. Hopefully V2 will get us all the way there.
Pros
Tells
Pics of the rep and my gen to show the blue AR around the crystal of the rep and the noticeably larger bezel:
Crown is decent but just seems a bit off
Engraving is spot on
Funky shaped (&) on the back of the rubber strap
Update with a lume pic (iPhone exposure makes it look much better than it really is). As you can see, the minute hand lume has much less glow.
Initial thoughts: an excellent first run and accurate enough for all but the most discerning B&R aficionados. Hopefully V2 will get us all the way there.
Pros
- Built quality is great
- Thickness is correct, unlike the old version which was based off the 03-94 chrono case
- PVD finish is spot on
- Color of the military dial seems correct (although I've never seen it in person)
- Rubber strap is very close to gen, the (&) logo is slightly funky
- Engraving text and serial numbers are spot on. The engraving depth might be a tiny bit less than gen.
Tells
- As we've all discussed the top case is copied from the ceramic, so the bezel is pretty noticeably too big
- As a result of the incorrect bezel, the dial is made smaller causing the hands copied from the gen PVD version too long as they
- Watch supposedly has double AR, and it is slightly blue at certain angles. Gen is single inside colorless AR
- On the "Carbon Orange" the dial has a matte finish, which is the way the ceramic dials are being produced, the gen PVD watches have a different finish that is a bit deeper black and less reflective of light. It's less noticeable on the green dial of the military type
- Lume is OK on the dial and very bad on the hands.
- Lume is green on the dial and hands, which is incorrect for all square B&Rs (except the phantom and commando which should be a deep, dark green. All others should be teal blue on the dial and hands.
- Dial numerals have less of a painted feel than the gen does, I think there's just less lume applied so it doesn't have the 3D effect that the gen does (nitpicking on this one)
- The shape of the buckle is slightly off, which is strange because I believe it was spot on last time. PVD seems a bit shiny on the buckle.
- Date seem to be slightly off from the bottom of the numbers being flat. Slightly skewed to the right on both watches.
Pics of the rep and my gen to show the blue AR around the crystal of the rep and the noticeably larger bezel:
Crown is decent but just seems a bit off
Engraving is spot on
Funky shaped (&) on the back of the rubber strap
Update with a lume pic (iPhone exposure makes it look much better than it really is). As you can see, the minute hand lume has much less glow.