Hip To Be Square

How a shape took Bell & Ross's success to the next level

- Martin Green

In 1986, Huey Lewis and the News launched the song Hip to Be Square as their second single from their album Fore!, which achieved multi-platinum status. As well as the song might have worked for them, the square shape in watchmaking was always met with varied success. While some brands have made successful square watches in the past, it still played third fiddle at best, behind the more popular round and rectangle shapes. As sports watches became increasingly more popular at the expense of dress watches, it was unlikely that the square shape would ever lay a claim to fame again in the watch world.

That all changed when Bell & Ross saw its potential and used it to create a watch whose design was so powerful that it fast became the hallmark of the brand. Founded in 1992 by Bruno Belamich and Carlos Rosillo, Bell & Ross quickly made a name for itself with its tool watches that stood out because of their clean design with high legibility. Inspiration came from the world of aviation and the military, where form follows function. The brand often explored the less beaten tracks of the watch world. This resulted in the Space series, a collection of chronographs housed in ergonomically shaped cases made for and also worn on space missions. The Type Démineur was a timepiece made to the specification of explosive ordnance disposal specialists, while Bell & Ross also joined the quest to explore the deepest parts of the ocean with the Hydromax, which, thanks to its oil-filled case, could withstand the pressure of 1,110 ATM.