At the end of his life, my father used to question and invert the order of the saying “it’s not where you’re born, it’s where you graze”, instead giving more and more importance to origin as a form of identity and meaning. This desire to rescue the origins has made me think about the importance of reconciling the roots with the need to create, innovate and reinvent oneself.. On this occasion it makes me reflect on the history of a luxury brand that has the permanent need and obligation to promote creativity and innovation.
As I look at the evolution of our brand, I can see that in my experience it has been like that of a person who has roots, ancestors, legacies and even a gender of their own. Honoring the past and reflecting on the present and the future is not simply a nostalgic or sentimental attitude; it is a way to honor and celebrate ancestral principles, values and philosophies, but that serve as motivation and inspiration to face the future with creativity and enthusiasm. reminds me too the recommendation made by the American thinker Henry David Thoreau to undertake new projects, but wearing old and familiar clothing. In our growth, we have to continually find this balance between tradition and modernity, legacy and future, history and innovation.
My passion for watches began with a pocket watch that I inherited from my maternal grandfather and I discovered that watches could be a life project in my youth, during a trip to Mexico. Bell & Ross was born in 1994, after a gestation period of 2 years, with very defined values and with the aspiration to combine talents, skills and needs of design, engineering, watchmaking and professional applications. The design was fundamental, always framed with four essential principles: legibility, functionality, reliability and precision. Each element and detail always have a utilitarian justification. The goal was and still is to conceive instruments designed for professionals who demand maximum reliability tools, balancing technical rigor with pure lines and timeless elegance..
We have never deviated from these founding principles. In our history we have also taken advantage of the possibilities of blending diverse individual and corporate cultures of a fluid firm, blending French creative culture with Swiss precision and our own family legacies in France and Spain. In the constant coexistence between the Bell and the Ross, we have successfully combined our personalities, our own cultural roots and our shared aspirations.. Balance is achieved by imagining a common vision, celebrating our differences and maintaining an ongoing dialogue with respect and friendship.
The gender of our brand was male from its birth. In the beginning, we were inspired by aviation dashboards and instruments, thinking about their attributes and qualities necessary for professionals, whether they are airplane or Formula 1 pilots. Strength and courage are symbolized by the skulla symbol of courage and defiance for military elites. With the new 05 range, however, we set out to venture into urban exploration and in all collections we aspire to differentiate the timeless from the contemporary. and to continually imagine the collection of the future, the one that celebrates the past, but looks to the future, conserving its roots, preserving the heritage, building on solid pillars a strong brand that preserves its character over time, so that it is “genius and figure to the grave.” We know that some professions demand absolute precision. When everything is decided in seconds, having a legible, reliable and accurate watch becomes essential. Bell & Ross has become a reference brand in the exclusive universe of professional users. Today, many astronauts, pilots, divers and even mine clearance specialists use Bell & Ross watches as a tool in the service of their professions.
Deep down, our reason for being goes beyond our history and future projects. Our future will always depend above all on the dreams and aspirations of the people who honor us as clients and followers of our brand., all those who want to touch the stars and explore the depths of the ocean, those who live their passions to the limit, who want to measure themselves against time, and turn a few seconds into an instant of eternity. For all of them we share and celebrate our origins, as my father did at the end of his life, and we dedicate our future with optimism.
*Carlos-Antonio Rosillo is CEO of Bell&Ross.
