The Art of Crossing Time: Why Bell & Ross’ BR-05 GMT Green Steel Is the Modern Traveller’s Ultimate Power Watch

At 4.30am, the departure board at Paris Charles de Gaulle flickers awake. Fashion’s favourite young Malaysian export barely glances at it. By noon, he will be in Milan for a runway fitting. Tomorrow, San Juan awaits for a Spring/Summer editorial. 

Days later, Bogotá calls for a television commercial with a Korean electronics titan before a fleeting escape to the snow-covered slopes of Santa Catarina, Brazil, where winter still lingers below the equator. London follows soon after for contract negotiations that may shape the next chapter of his career.

His passport collects stamps. His body collects jet lag. Yet his wrist never loses its bearings.

That, ultimately, is the quiet brilliance of the new Bell & Ross BR-05 GMT Green Steel.

Luxury sports watches often promise versatility. Few genuinely understand the realities of a life lived between continents. Bell & Ross does. 

The French maison has transformed one of its most compelling urban timepieces into a remarkably elegant travelling companion, proving that practical watchmaking can still stir genuine emotion. 

The BR-05 has always occupied an intriguing place within modern horology. While many luxury sports watches chase heritage for heritage’s sake, Bell & Ross built its identity from aviation. 

Founded in 1994 by friends Carlos-A. Rosillo and Bruno Belamich, united by their passion for flight and fine watchmaking, the Franco-Swiss brand rapidly established itself by designing professional instruments first and luxury objects second. 

That philosophy culminated in 2005 with the revolutionary BR-01, whose unmistakable “circle within the square” transformed an aircraft cockpit instrument into one of contemporary watchmaking’s most recognisable silhouettes. Its enduring mantra—“From the cockpit to the wrist”—remains one of the industry’s most authentic mission statements. 

The BR-05 translates that aviation DNA into metropolitan sophistication.

Its integrated steel bracelet flows effortlessly into the 41mm case, giving the watch an architectural presence that feels purposeful rather than decorative. The celebrated “circle within the square” design language remains unmistakably Bell & Ross, yet here it appears softer, sleeker and infinitely more cosmopolitan. 

It looks equally appropriate beneath a sharply tailored suit in Mayfair as it does paired with relaxed knitwear in Milan’s Brera district. 

Then comes the dial.

Not emerald. Not forest. Not racing green.

Bell & Ross instead chose an exquisite sage green, enriched by subtle silver-toned reflections that constantly evolve beneath changing light. It possesses an understated confidence rarely found in contemporary watch design.

Achieving this remarkable finish demanded an unusually meticulous three-stage process. A finely brushed metal plate first receives its radiant sunray texture before being coated with a specially tinted green varnish. Finally, a transparent glossy lacquer seals the surface, amplifying both colour depth and long-term durability. 

The resulting effect is hypnotic. Depending on the angle, the dial appears almost metallic one moment before revealing warmer botanical hues the next. It is restrained luxury at its finest. 

Yet beautiful aesthetics only tell half the story.

The letters “GMT” carry extraordinary historical significance. As commercial aviation expanded dramatically during the early 1950s, pilots and international crews required watches capable of tracking multiple time zones simultaneously. 

In 1953, Pan American World Airways commissioned precisely such an instrument, one that displayed local time alongside Greenwich Mean Time—the international standard rooted in the Prime Meridian established at Greenwich in 1884. 

What began as an aviation necessity has since become one of modern watchmaking’s most practical complications.

Bell & Ross honours that heritage with refreshing clarity.

Powered by the automatic BR-CAL.325-1 movement, delivering a robust 54-hour power reserve, the BR-05 GMT Green Steel simultaneously displays local time alongside a second time zone using an independently adjustable arrow-shaped GMT hand. 

Around the dial, a green and silver-grey 24-hour flange instantly distinguishes day from night elsewhere in the world, making international travel delightfully intuitive rather than unnecessarily complicated. 

There are faster watches. There are more complicated watches.

But increasingly, modern collectors seek something different.

They want authenticity.

The BR-05 GMT Green Steel embodies precisely that. It neither shouts for attention nor hides behind excessive nostalgia. Instead, it speaks fluently to today’s globally connected generation—individuals whose lives unfold across airports, boardrooms, fashion capitals and distant adventures.

Like the model racing between Paris, Milan, San Juan, Bogotá, Santa Catarina and London, it understands that true luxury is not measured by excess.

It is measured by arriving exactly where you need to be—on time, impeccably dressed, and always ready for whatever horizon appears next. 

The Bell & Ross BR-05 GMT Green Steel retails at RM 26,400 and is available now in all Bell & Ross boutiques worldwide. 

*Photos courtesy of Bell & Ross.