When the original Bell & Ross BR01 watch collection debuted about a decade ago, it was a sort of manly dress watch and there was nothing like this BR01-93 GMT model. There were a few versions, but many of them focused on the piece's inherent luxury status and ability to not look like "just" a 46mm wide wrist instrument. As the collection evolved, Bell & Ross increasingly turned the BR01 into just that - a military-inspired instrument-style wrist watch without too much polish, and lots of matte surfaces. There are exceptions of course, but from a sales perspective I think that is what ended up being best for the line.
Bell & Ross' challenge is to keep the BR01 collection fresh, while at the same time maintaining the look and feel of the genre (i.e. the design DNA of the BR01 family). That is a tough task for sure. Only brands like Rolex and Omega are able to sell the same watch year after year with little or no changes. Today the BR01 is still important for the brand, and my hope is that Bell & Ross will update the BR01 with minor upgrades and tweaks and keep it as an icon. Until they get to that point, the consumer is presented with a relatively large range of limited and non-limited BR01 (and its smaller BR03 sibling) to choose from. One of my favorites is this BR01-93 GMT watch originally released a few years ago.
No comments:
Post a Comment