In Depth · Bell & Ross

Can three aircraft make the Bell & Ross Green Radar easy to read?

The BR-03 Green Radar Ceramic gives each unit of time its own aircraft. Its fixed scales reveal how much familiar watchmaking survives the spectacle.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 8 October 2026

• Bell & Ross uses three rotating aircraft discs to display hours, minutes and seconds, with fixed graduations beneath the green sapphire crystal.
• The 41 mm black ceramic case contains the automatic BR-CAL.327, while the layered display combines aircraft silhouettes with green radar-like trails.
• The 999-piece Green Radar Ceramic costs A$7,700 or €4,900, with Australian boutique pre-orders listed for delivery at the end of October.

Three aircraft, one familiar problem

An aircraft instrument is an appealing model for a watch because it promises information that can be understood quickly, with little room for ambiguity. Replace a pair of hands with miniature aircraft, though, and that promise needs another look. The result might describe aviation more convincingly while asking its owner to spend longer reading the time. That tension gives me more to think about than another instrument-shaped case, and it sits at the centre of the Bell & Ross BR-03 Green Radar Ceramic.

Bell & Ross describes three independent rotating discs, carrying a Falcon business jet for the hours, a Rafale fighter for the minutes and a Neuron combat drone for the seconds. The periods remain familiar: twelve hours, sixty minutes and sixty seconds respectively. What changes is the visual grammar. Instead of following two long pointers back to a shared centre, the reader identifies separate silhouettes travelling around their own tracks. It is a logical system, although logic and instant recognition are different tests for a wristwatch.

The fixed markings do the quiet work

Look past the aircraft in the brand's photographs and the more useful design decision becomes apparent: Bell & Ross places the hour markers and graduations beneath the green-tinted sapphire crystal, above the moving discs. Those markings remain fixed while the aircraft circulate below them. The discs supply movement and the crystal supplies the reference, preserving the relationship between a moving indicator and a stationary scale that makes an analogue watch understandable. The spectacle has a framework, rather than asking three little aeroplanes to explain everything themselves.

The green also has a structural role in the composition. The crystal is coloured throughout, while the three black discs carry green gradients and the aircraft receive Dark Green Super-LumiNova with a green glow. In Bell & Ross's illuminated photograph, the circles, numerals and silhouettes stand out against the dark background like symbols on a monitor. I find that image persuasive as graphic design; it cannot establish how quickly a particular wearer would read the watch in changing light, which remains the important practical question.

A radar screen is not a conventional dial

There is a history behind this choice, rather than simply an aircraft motif applied to a standard watch. Bell & Ross dates the BR-01 Radar to 2010, with further Radar interpretations in 2011, 2014 and 2021. Its press kit describes the 2021 Red Radar Ceramic as using two stylised aircraft, while the Green Radar combines aircraft silhouettes with the luminous trails associated with the earlier radar-beam displays. That combination explains the density of the presentation: each aircraft is both a time indicator and part of the scene.

That is where I hesitate over the instrument argument. The separate tracks give the eye three places to look, while the aircraft offer more distinctive identities than similarly shaped hands. Both are potentially helpful. Yet the trails and silhouettes also ask for attention that a plain pointer would leave to the scale. I would judge this display on whether that extra act of recognition is enjoyable, rather than assume that its aviation references guarantee faster reading. The pleasure may lie in looking longer.

Keeping the display inside 10.60 mm

Bell & Ross houses the assembly in a microblasted black ceramic case measuring 41 mm across and 10.60 mm thick. Those dimensions describe a fairly restrained depth for such a layered display, although the square outline still deserves consideration beyond its width alone. The matt black enclosure keeps the visual emphasis on the green interior, rather than competing with it through polished reflections. Sapphire with an anti-reflective coating covers the display, and the watch carries a 100-metre water-resistance rating, giving the theatrical face a recognisably practical specification behind it.

The automatic BR-CAL.327 provides a 54-hour power reserve, but the interesting engineering question here concerns what it has to move. Bell & Ross says the discs must combine low weight with enough rigidity to prevent deformation or friction between the layers. That is the useful mechanical detail: these are working indicators, and their relationship to each other matters beyond their appearance. The brand describes careful adjustment to maintain parallelism, which helps explain why a display that looks like an animated screen still requires watchmaking to make it behave.

Turn to the caseback photograph and the aircraft become a small identification chart, with the three silhouettes and their names engraved underneath. Black rubber and an additional black synthetic-fabric strap keep the surrounding material visually quiet; the pin buckle is black-PVD steel. For me, that restraint makes the Green Radar more coherent than adding further aviation decoration around the dial would. The most convincing reason to choose it is the desire to learn this particular display, and then enjoy recognising its three moving occupants whenever the time is checked.

Bell & Ross BR-03 Green Radar Ceramic pricing and availability

The BR-03 Green Radar Ceramic, reference BR03A-GRDR-CE/SRB, is limited to 999 pieces. Bell & Ross lists it for pre-order through its Australian online boutique with delivery at the end of October. A black rubber strap and an additional black synthetic-fabric strap are supplied. The brand's listed prices are A$7,700 | €4,900. The Australian and French boutiques quote their respective regional prices; buyers ordering for Australian delivery can use the Australian storefront linked below.