The New, Fully Luminescent Bell & Ross BR-X5 Blue Lum

Bell & Ross is among the few watch brands that place luminescence at the heart of their designs, a bold approach that dates to 2019 with the BR 03-92 Full Lum, which featured a dial entirely coated in Super-LumiNova. However, this experimentation began in 2017 with the BR 03-92 Horolum and BR 03-92 Nightlum in 2018, both recognized for the exceptional glow of their numerals, indices, and hands. Fast forward to 2023, and Bell & Ross introduced the BR-X5 Green Lum, featuring a luminescent case with parts crafted from photoluminescent composite material, LM3D, developed by Bell & Ross engineers. The new BR-X5 Blue Lum is another bright addition to the collection, ready to shine and stand out – whether in daylight or darkness – as you can see in our video review at the top of this article.

Like its Green Lum counterpart, the BR-X5 Blue Lum features a 41mm-wide, 12.8mm-thick case with 100m water resistance, topped with a flat AR-coated sapphire crystal and a screw-down crown protected by guards. The case, defined by Bell & Ross’s signature four screws, is made up of several components. The luminescent parts – the bezel insert, upper, and lower sections – are crafted from LM3D, a blue luminescent quartz fibre composite. These upper and lower sections form a shell around the middle case container made from black DLC micro-blasted grade 2 titanium. This durable titanium is also used for the bezel, crown, crown guards, and caseback, the latter showcasing a smoked grey sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating.

The matte black dial of the BR-X5 Blue Lum is designed for optimal readability, staying true to the layout of the BR-X5 series. It features an inclined black flange for the minutes track, marked by blue numerals and indices at 5-minute intervals, while the seconds track, also in blue, is printed directly on the dial’s surface. Applied hour indices in blue Super-LumiNova are accentuated by a black lacquer fill and match the skeletonized hour and minute hands, which receive the same treatment. The central seconds hand, the 3-day power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock, and the outline of the date aperture at 3 o’clock are all highlighted in blue Super-LumiNova. Curiously, the numerals on the black date disc remain unlit.

The new Bell & Ross BR-X5 Blue Lum continues the series’ tradition and is powered by the automatic BR-CAL.323 movement, developed exclusively by Kenissi for the brand. This COSC-certified chronometer offers a robust 70-hour power reserve and runs at 28,800 vibrations/hour.

The watch comes on a black rubber strap, secured with a steel folding clasp finished in DLC. Limited to 500 pieces, the BR-X5 Blue Lum is priced at EUR 13,900. For more details, please visit www.bellross.com.