BR-05 Chrono S.T. Dupont: Bell & Ross’s Cigar Triptych

Key Highlights

• Fourth entry in Bell & Ross’s cigar-inspired Edición Limitada line, and the first created in direct collaboration with French maison S.T. Dupont
• Limited to 150 numbered pieces; reference BR05C-STD-STPG
• 42 mm automatic steel and 18-carat rose gold chronograph, Calibre BR-CAL.326, 60-hour power reserve
• Brown sunray dial with rose gold-coloured appliqué numerals and Super-LumiNova®-filled skeletonised hands
• Each piece presented in a Macassar ebony box containing the watch, an S.T. Dupont Ligne 2 lighter, and a matching cigar cutter
• Interior convertible into a humidor for 50 cigars, lined with aromatic Spanish cedar

Why It Matters

The BR-05 Chrono S.T. Dupont is not simply a watch released in a decorative box. It is a formal alliance between two French maisons whose shared values—craft heritage, a devotion to sensory pleasure, and an exacting approach to materials—give the collaboration genuine substance. Carlos Rosillo, co-founder of Bell & Ross, and Alain Crevet, President of S.T. Dupont, built this edition on a personal rapport between two collectors who happen to run luxury houses. The result carries that specificity.

For the GCC collector, the appeal is direct. The cigar world occupies a meaningful place in the region’s culture of connoisseurship, and a limited edition that treats the ritual seriously—rather than using it as decorative shorthand—commands a different kind of attention. At 150 pieces, the edition is genuinely rare.

The Watch Itself

Construction and Dial Architecture

The 42 mm case combines satin-finished and polished steel with 18-carat rose gold, measuring 14.25 mm in thickness. The Calibre BR-CAL.326 automatic movement provides 60 hours of power reserve and drives a two-counter chronograph layout: a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock and central chronograph seconds, with small seconds at 9 o’clock and a date display. Water resistance reaches 100 metres, supported by a screw-down crown and crown guard.

The brown sunray dial shifts in tone with the light, evoking the gradated colour of a premium wrapper leaf. Rose gold-coloured appliqué numerals and indices sit above skeletonised hour and minute hands, polished and filled with beige Super-LumiNova® for a green glow in low light. The S.T. Dupont logo appears at 6 o’clock—a mark of partnership rather than an afterthought. Strap options are a brown calfskin leather with black patina and faux alligator texture, or a two-tone rose gold and steel bracelet with folding buckle.

The Triptych Presentation

The Macassar ebony box that houses each set is itself a considered object. The lid carries both maisons’ emblems; the interior, lined with Spanish cedar—prized for humidity regulation and its natural aromatic properties—converts into a humidor for 50 cigars. To the left of the watch sits the Ligne 2 lighter in steel and gold, engraved with both brand names and decorated with a gradient brown lacquer that matches the dial exactly. A harmonised cigar cutter occupies the right. The three objects read as a single composition rather than a promotional bundle.

The Line Behind the Edition

Bell & Ross’s cigar-themed Edición Limitada series began in 2006 with the BR Vintage 126 XL, a round rose gold chronograph limited to 99 pieces and presented in a humidor for 50 cigars. The 2015 WW1 Edición Limitada followed — 99 pieces in red gold with a curved brown dial — accompanied by a second dedicated humidor. The 2022 BR-05 Chrono Edición Limitada widened the format to 250 pieces, introducing a palette of brown, rose, and deep red evoking the Maduro cigar. This fourth edition is both the most restricted at 150 pieces and the first to involve an external maison. The progression is legible: each release has deepened the conceptual and material commitment rather than repeating it.

S.T. Dupont’s own credentials reinforce the choice of partner. Operating from the Faverges manufacture in Haute-Savoie since 1924, the house is one of very few European artisans to have maintained mastery of lacquer technique. The gradient brown lacquer on the Ligne 2 lighter—mirroring the dial finish precisely—required that expertise. The BR-05 Chrono S.T. Dupont can be explored alongside other recent BR-05 family releases such as the BR-05 Grey Mirror Steel, or the avant-garde BR-X3 Black Titanium for a sense of where Bell & Ross is directing its design language more broadly. The edition’s debut sits within a busy luxury calendar tracked at Watches and Wonders.

Broader Significance

Within the BR-05 urban collection, the S.T. Dupont edition marks a deliberate departure from function-first watchmaking. Bell & Ross built its identity on professional instrument watches; the Edición Limitada series represents the house allowing itself, in its own words, a hedonistic pause. That the pause now extends to a formal maison-to-maison partnership signals intent: the BR-05 line has the breadth to carry both the cockpit and the smoking room with equal conviction.

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