B&R BR01-92

[greg_r 81]

One of my favourite watches is my BR02, which a friend tracked down from me in Shenzhen. It's an early 1:1 version with a high-beat Asian movement and it's my regular 'weekend watch'. It gets a lot of wrist time and is only second to my PAMs amongst my favourite watches.

 

Ever since buying it, I've been thinking about buying a BR01 as well. I wasn't intending to buy a cheapie - the 02 was a more expensive model and I was looking for the same feeling of quality again. However when I saw a SS BR01-92 on a leather strap on Tony's site for $108, I thought I'd take a punt at it. I'm glad I did. As it turned out, the leather strap version was out of stock, but Tony offered me the rubber strap instead.

 

This is one of the highest-quality cheapies I've seen - it's close to being in the same league as my Fiddy. It's heavy, feels very solid and is on a wonderful rubber strap that doesn't suffer from the usual dust-magnet issues. There are, however, three things that separate this from a high-end version - No AR, no lume and a 21J movement rather than ETA. Given the difference in price, I think I did real well - I just LOVE this watch.

 

It's big at 46mm, the strap and buckle are of excellent quality and the printing on the dial is clear and sharp. The crown screws down in a very positive manner and feels incredibly solid - this is not one of those screw-down crowns that's likely to suffer stripped threads.

 

I can see this getting a helluva lot of wrist time:

 

 

 

[AllergyDoc 40]

I tried to like the Bell & Ross, but couldn't. I picked a cheapie from Tony as well. I think I wore it twice before my wife told me it was ugly. I ended up agreeing with her. The back of mine said "quartz" instead of automatic movement. It was a well made and heavy watch. A lot of guys like them, though.

[greg_r 81]

I tried to like the Bell & Ross, but couldn't. I picked a cheapie from Tony as well. I think I wore it twice before my wife told me it was ugly. I ended up agreeing with her. The back of mine said "quartz" instead of automatic movement. It was a well made and heavy watch. A lot of guys like them, though.

 

I think they're the kind of watch that you either love or hate - another brand, like Panerai, which appears to polarise people.

 

Personally, it's Breitling that I have difficulty liking (I understand the appeal, but just don't feel that they suit me - many of the models are too flashy for my tastes and a few look downright ugly to me), but I love the functional simplicity of both Panerai & B&R. I only wish more B&R models were repped - they're one of my favourite manufacturers.