Bell & Ross Creates Two Camouflage Watches for BAPE's 25th Birthday
It's BAPE's 25th! To celebrate the milestone, the maker of very cool Japanese streetwear—think Ape Head, Bape Camo, Shark Hoodie, Baby Milo—the Tokyo-based label collaborates with 25 partners, a star-studded cast of well-wishers, from Adidas to Barbie.
This may just be the best birthday idea ever, because it's like asking your famous friends to make gifts for you or, in this case, gifts for BAPE lovers. The celebrations have already begun with the Medicom BearBricks, a Montblanc pen, Swarovksi-covered Stas, and more unveiled at the “BAPE XXV” exhibition in Tokyo.
This week, Franco-Swiss watchmaker Bell & Ross, who shares with BAPE a penchant for military style, joins the fray. For its turn with the celebrant, it retools its square-shaped BR03-92 watch into two 42mm editions.
The style of the BAPE watches is decidedly minimalist with matte black ceramic cases. Four screws at each corner discreetly adorn the case, while a raised circular perimeter encloses the dial. The black face is populated by only three elements: the photoluminescent indices and minute and second hands, the logos of the brands, and the very, very tiny date window.
Observe the dial. A clever technique is employed to achieve the look: The topmost layer has cutouts in the forms of the indices and numbers—9, 12, and 3 plus the Bell & Ross logo below 12 o'clock and the BAPE logo (the head of, well, an ape) at 6 o'clock—to reveal the glowing material at bottom, and thereby creating the markers.
As this is, of course, inspired by the counters of airplanes, everything has been designed with utmost legibility in mind. You will never miss the time, whether day or night.
Between the two, it's hard to decide which one is better. The BR03-92 25th Anniversary has that green Superluminova coating piercing through the blacked-out rig, which includes a black-and-white camo on the band, but the the BR03-92 Green Camo, as its names implies, has BAPE's distinct green camo pattern on its face.
The Anniversary edition comes with a larger water-resistant Pelican box and two straps, black rubber and gray camo leather, while the Camo version has a slight smaller box. Both are very limited with only 25 and 100 pieces respectively.
You may not be able to get you hands on these special watches, but feel free to steal this birthday concept for your own celebration.
