Not a Royal Oak, and that's fine
By Hannah Lindqvist, Stockholm ·
Everyone compares the BR 05 to the Royal Oak and the Nautilus, which is a bit like comparing my running club to the Olympic team. Same sport. Different conversation.
Here's what matters on a small wrist. The 40 mm case is a rounded square inside a square, and the bracelet comes out at 26 mm, which is enormous. The integrated links stay wide for a long way before they taper, so the first section sits stiff and flat across the top of the wrist. It's thin at 10.4 mm, and that helps, but width and length are what I'd notice first, and on my wrist the case would sit there like a bathroom tile.
There's plenty to like. The sunburst black dial is crisp, the finishing is better than you'd expect, and there's a display back so you can look at the BR-CAL.321 with its 54 hours. 100 m is plenty for jumping off the rocks at Sandhamn in July. But 5,400 to 6,300 dollars puts it up against the Tudor Royal at roughly half that, and against the Christopher Ward Twelve at a quarter.
For a bigger wrist that wants a cool, slightly brutalist integrated watch, sure. For me, no.