Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

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Craig64
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Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Craig64 »

Hello folks

I very recently stumbled across this brand, and its American heritage really interested me, as did their watches. I took the plunge and bought their Engineer 3 Legend Automatic, 40mm case size, edition limited to 1000 pieces.

Have any of you heard of, or tried this brand?

Although this model is not my usual preferred style, after 3 days of ownership, I have grown to really love it!

Its Tritium Tubes are fantastic for night time illumination, the finishing of the 904L grade stainless steel used, is outstanding. The bracelet, with two half links removed, fits my 7.25 inch wrist perfectly. Unlike my CW dive watches, this time piece does not have the same degree of water proofing, depth/pressure wise. However it still has a screw down crown, and its slimmer profile makes it such a comfy watch to wear.

Some of the bloggers say that this brand is so under-rated. I am now inclined to agree with them. Anyway, here’s a few images:

First image shows the Ball watch alongside the CW Trident 40mm MK3, and Certina DS Action Diver, 43mm case size. The remaining 3 images show the Ball watch:
Attachments
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60DF6DDB-5671-42FC-9DCE-893E1ED05EA7.jpeg
792C24CD-C0F7-46F1-9CD6-4898FB0367DC.jpeg
6CF0CA6F-D034-47E2-9CAE-683EDC5FE41E.jpeg
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by kiter65 »

I think Hoppers of Boston lincs are AD’s, no affiliation :thumbup:
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by SIB »

I've had quite a few Ball watches, mostly from the Hydrocarbon Engineer range but a few others as well. I found them very well finished in their range and good solid checks of metal. Accuracy has been good on all of them and I generally rate the brand quite highly.
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Budman2k »

Nice looking Engineer III. I've heard nothing but good things about Ball and since I'm from Cleveland, OH (where they started) I've been itching to grab one.I've got my eye on the Roadmaster Marine GMT but it's still on pre-order. If it gets released before the end of the month I'll likely pick one up.

Congrats on the new watch!
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Craig64 »

Thanks for your comments folks. For me this is the only watch I have, that has tritium tube technology for night illumination, and that aspect alone has really impressed me.

Budman, if you do purchase the Roadmaster, do please provide an update with some photos etc. I will be very interested.
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Budman2k »

Craig64 wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 6:43 pm

Budman, if you do purchase the Roadmaster, do please provide an update with some photos etc. I will be very interested.
You got it!
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by malvern_man »

Great looking Ball, here's mine :lol:

Image
CWL - C60 Trident Pro ~ Orange Bezel - C60-TRI-SKCSI
CWL - C60 Trident Pro 600 ~ C60-42-AUTO-SKRT
CWL - C11 Makaira Pro 500 ~ C11-MAK-SKOSI
CWL - C11 Titanium Extreme 1000 Limited Edition ~ C11-COSC-EXT-TKV-SI
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Craig64 »

That too looks great! :thumbup: I bet the night lume on that is fab, as it appears to have bigger gas tubes than mine.
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by malvern_man »

Craig64 wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:49 pm That too looks great! :thumbup: I bet the night lume on that is fab, as it appears to have bigger gas tubes than mine.
From what I can remember it's good but not outstanding.
CWL - C60 Trident Pro ~ Orange Bezel - C60-TRI-SKCSI
CWL - C60 Trident Pro 600 ~ C60-42-AUTO-SKRT
CWL - C11 Makaira Pro 500 ~ C11-MAK-SKOSI
CWL - C11 Titanium Extreme 1000 Limited Edition ~ C11-COSC-EXT-TKV-SI
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Craig64 »

malvern_man wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 4:04 pm
Craig64 wrote: Thu Jul 02, 2020 3:49 pm That too looks great! :thumbup: I bet the night lume on that is fab, as it appears to have bigger gas tubes than mine.
From what I can remember it's good but not outstanding.
On the lume front, this image shows the same 3 watches as above in a nearly blacked out room. Certina DS Action Diver top, CW Mk3 40mm bottom right and Ball Watch bottom left. The Certina and Chris Ward watches were left on my desk for 15 minutes with LED room lights to activate their lume. I am of the opinion that when fully charged, the initial lume of the Super Luminova type watches will take some beating. However after several hours into the night, the Tritium Gas Tubes really do stand out from the crowd.
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Lume Comparison.JPG
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Craig
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by richtel »

I finally picked up this pre-order Roadmaster last week after a wait of nearly a year. A few pictures for now-
99672ABD-0092-4CD2-90E7-6311A797F5B1.jpeg
C5A51A30-9935-45EE-BAB5-7DE647E1DFEE.jpeg
F684B4CB-0817-4CA8-B7CA-2764CDEA11D2.jpeg
C087BC7A-8AFF-4849-8399-B3CBA0F2DFD5.jpeg
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

Odd, isn't it? There are some fine brands (not the ones that tend to take the headlines) which have a small but loyal following on a forum like this. I have a number of brands, and this is one, that I have never even considered. Oris is another. There are quite a few that operate in a similar market sector. They produce some (at times) superb watches but don't seem to attract quite the following of certain other brands.
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by richtel »

I agree Steve. I wonder if it's purely circumstantial or whether there are other market forces at play. Ball are a company which seems to have a far more robust following Stateside which is understandable given their branding USP. There are other US brands which are more popular elsewhere- Monta, Shinola, DuFrane for example, but I wonder how many of us can picture many in their range.

Ball has a (rare) presence on the UK High Street but still doesn't seen to have made it into mainstream consciousness in the same way as many others. Of course it's entirely possible that we don't know what we don't know- there might be a Ball Forum which draws like-minded people together in the same way as CW. Indeed I sometimes wonder if I'd have paid that much attention to CW if it weren't for the Forum- up until a couple of years ago when adverts started appearing I doubt I'd have even heard about CW if it weren't for an opportunistic discussion with a colleage.

I guess a lot may boil down to some kind of unwitting introduction- tripping upon the brand which sparks a desire to know more which then leads to interest, research and involvement. The only way a company can accelerate the process is by marketing- which seems to be an avenue CW seem to be pursuing quite hard currently.
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by watchaholic »

A good friend of mine has, forgive me for the temptation to say "pair of Balls," :lol: but rather two Ball watches. Seem to be extremely well made with extra attention given to extreme shock resistance. One, and forgive me for not knowing the exact reference, he is able to, by turning the back of the case, lock the winding weight so as not to damage the works during extreme situations. He has worn it during competitive cross country snowmobile racing with no ill effects.
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Re: Ball Watch Company - Under Rated Brand?

Post by Craig64 »

Richtel, I absolutely love the look of your new Roadmaster. I like the way its case combines subtle curves with straight and angular sections. I also agree with Steve and your points also, especially in respect of the power and impact of strong marketing campaigns.

The concept of owning a "pair of balls" made me laugh :lol: :lol: The Ball Skindiver watch could also raise an eyebrow or two, if written with spaces in the wrong places. :lol:
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Craig
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