Bell & Ross
It Was All Yellow: Renault Sport and Bell & Ross
Bell & Ross
It Was All Yellow: Renault Sport and Bell & Ross
Before the big reveal, team bosses including Renault Sport President Jérôme Stoll and Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul, took to the stage to explain that, while the 2016 F1 season had set the vision and ambition for Renault Sport, 2017 would be about reaping the rewards thanks to the integration and growth of the team and, of course, the right car. The key words for the event were passion, spirit, performance and technology, which meant that Renault Sports official watch partner since 2016, Bell & Ross, felt right at home; Renault’s mission statement echoing its own standards of “legibility, functionality, precision and reliability”.
Due to its exclusive relationship with Renault, B&R’s Co-founder and CEO Carlos-A. Rosillo chose the London debut of the R.S. 17 to introduce the first in a trilogy of new watches dedicated to the team. Although the threesome won’t have its official launch until Baselworld later this month, Rosillo allowed a sneak peek at the first of the set: the BR03-94 RS17. While the signature 42mm square case is pure Bell & Ross, most of the material influences and design cues come straight from Renault Sport – if you don’t like yellow, this is not the watch for you!
Within the case is the automatic chronograph calibre BR-CAL.301, which is based on the ETA 2894-2. The central chronograph seconds hand, 30-minute totaliser sub-dial at 9 o’clock and tachymeter scale at the dial’s edge are all in yellow anodised aluminium, again highlighting the livery colour of Renault since its entry in to Formula 1. A small-seconds at 3 o’clock and date at 4:30 complete the dial layout.
Speaking of Renault’s current livery colour when it was unveiled in 2016 in Melbourne, Australia, MD Cyril Abiteboul said: “[It] is about our identity and what Renault stands for. I look around and it looks like people are trying to disappear from the tarmac, so we’ve gone for something different. I think it works well. We’ve gone for yellow, which has been the colour of Renault since 1946, so we’ve been true to our history. The first-ever Renault F1 car, the RS01, hit the track in yellow and black in 1977, and this latest livery is a nod to this formidable car.”
One thing is for sure: the R.S 17 will not be missed as it travels around GP tracks in 2017 –and neither will the 500 pieces of the BR03-94 RS17 and its Renault-inspired siblings when they are introduced at Baselworld on 23 March.
Tech Specs
Movement
Chronograph Calibre BR-CAL.301, based on an ETA 2894-2.
Case
42mm ceramic.
Strap
Woven black rubber and black synthetic fabric; black PVD-coated steel pin buckle.