Bell & Ross is proud to announce its partnership with the Tara Ocean Foundation, the first foundation protecting the ocean that is recognised as promoting the public interest. It’s a strong commitment that embodies a value dear to Bell & Ross: expertise in action. This new partnership brings together two French organisations driven by the same values of exploration, precision and excellence.
Earth and sky may be mapped spaces well known to humans, but the ocean is a different story entirely: 95% of its depths are still a mystery. But whatever continent we live on, our future depends on the waters. From this observation, the need to encourage discovery and knowledge of the Ocean became apparent, which is why since 2003, the Tara Ocean Foundation has been working to push the frontiers of ocean knowledge to raise awareness, both worldwide and among younger generations, about its fragility and importance.
For its part, Bell & Ross contributed to this discovery of the Ocean very early on by equipping many professionals with precision instruments. Indeed, right from its creation, Bell & Ross has been creating exceptional tools such as, for the marine world, the Hydromax which was launched in 1997. Certified at 11,100 metres, this diver’s watch pushes the limits of the quest for depth. Always with the same level of excellence, the watchmaker presented in 2007 the BR 02, a professional diver’s watch, water resistant to 1,000 metres, which meets the requirements of the extreme. Finally, in 2017, the BR 03-92 DIVER was created: a diving watch, with an iconic shape, designed for professionals who demand tools of optimal reliability.
Equipping professionals with the tools they need to complete their mission while also pushing the limits of the extreme have always been integral to the Bell & Ross DNA. This is why its partnership with the Tara Ocean Foundation makes perfect sense.
Today, the Tara Ocean Foundation and Bell & Ross have decided to combine their skills. During expeditions on board of its namesake schooner, launched just a few months before the birth of Bell & Ross, the Tara Ocean Foundation brings together researchers who share their knowledge and their views on the largest ecosystem on the planet around a single goal: to study the Ocean and understand it better. The crew is mainly made up of sailors and scientists. However, to ensure that all disciplines and cultures are represented, in a spirit of openness and transparency, the Foundation also invites photographers, journalists, artists, designers and other talents to complete its 360° vision of the Ocean.
The credibility, expertise and scientific impact of the Tara Ocean Foundation and its science partners no longer need proving. The figures speak for themselves: 300 scientific publications, 150 million genes discovered from the marine universe, and 200,000 types of viruses defined, among many other achievements. Such eminent results have been possible because, since being founded, the Foundation has been carrying out its expeditions in partnership with the largest international scientific research institutes: centres of excellence such as the CNRS, CEA, MIT, and even NASA. Just as Bell & Ross strives to collaborate with the best engineers and watchmakers to design exceptional watches.
For the Tara Ocean Foundation, scientific exploration is only possible thanks to its schooner: a real floating laboratory that looks like a ship of the future, where a crew of 14 people work, sleep and sail around the planet. The schooner Tara has clocked up more than 270,000 nautical miles. That’s half a million kilometres: an astronomical figure! The faithful schooner has also taken up incredible challenges when it comes to temperature (-41°C!) and geography, amassing 12 expeditions and more than 250 stopovers in 56 countries. The latest Microbiomes mission ended last October, after 2 years at sea.
On board the Tara, explorers, researchers and navigators are immersed in the heart of their machine. The success of their mission depends on it, with potentially extreme conditions like the Tara Arctic mission in 2006.
For 30 years, Bell & Ross has been equipping exceptional pilots and divers whose mission and life depend on their instruments and their machine. In essence, Bell & Ross is the supplier for explorers and elite units, with every watch designed to meet the precise specifications of the field for which it is developed. This is why, as of today, the entire crew of Tara wears watches from the DIVER collection, which will become faithful allies in their daily missions.
The heart of the Tara Ocean Foundation mission is closely connected to that of a Bell & Ross watch. Each has the same top priority: precision. The studies carried out by Tara are led with the rigour and precision required in research, without which Tara’s missions would not have the required credibility. The same goes for Bell & Ross instruments, which must meet international watchmaking standards, and which require the House to keep pushing its limits when it comes to precision and reliability.
Through this new partnership, Bell & Ross aims to promote and support all of Tara Ocean Foundation’s actions and missions, whose primary objective is to “explore to understand and share to create change”. This partnership brings a new dimension to the Bell & Ross’ commitment to the seas, which goes beyond the simple idea of exploration for the sake of it. Firm in the belief that the future of mankind and that of the ocean are intimately linked, Bell & Ross wishes to promote open, action-oriented research, a founding principle since its beginnings.
