Horological Meandering

Hi Everybody,

I've recently read a piece (published in a well-known watch magazine) about Ball Watch Company, an Cleveland-based watchmaker with a history that stems back to the 19th Century (1891 to be precise).  They seem to have been a watchmaker for the U.S. railroad industry and have quite a colorful history.  I took a look at their Web site after reading the article and noticed that their watches are constructed in Switzerland and have an assortment of mostly ETA or ETA based (e.g., 2824-2, 2836-2, 2892-2, 2893-2, 2895-2 & 7750) movements inside.  They seem to emphasize chronograph-date combinations.  The watches strike me as aesthetically very attractive.

What is the general opinion of this watch line among all of you on this site?  Where, in the horological pecking order, does this watch line fit in?  Do you think these watches are worth owing and if not what's the better alternative?

Thanks
DB Darien

and find that the watches represent a good value in terms of workmanship. My watch appears to be quite rugged and I tend to wear it in environments where I would not want to wear a more expensive watch.

That being said, Ball is not anywhere near a top tier, haute-horlogerie brand. Like many new brands, it resurrects an old watch brand for some good 'ole marketing oomph.

In short, I would not hesitate in buying one as long as you realize that you are most probably not buying "the next JLC, GO etc etc."

Mitch

Loved my engineer hydrocarbon. the main attraction for me is the gas lights. very useful for rough and tough trips where power supply cannot be taken for granted. had mine for a oupe of years now and thoroughly enjoyed it. Warning...it's heavy and chunky...not unlike it's "buddy" next to it....(pl no flaming for putting the 2 watches next to each other LOL!!)

 

cheers!

 

sh

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I definitely prefer the watch on the left...LOL

Best.Nicolas

Massive piece. But very tall on the wrist. Rugged. The standard version as depicted here has 40 mm nominal diameter. 300m WR. drsh's piece is a "Mad Cow" Titanium version with 42 mm diameter (Congrats and envy on that Lange & Söhne...).







That trademark crown lock of this series is more a cool gadget than really useful - it's already a screw-down crown.


Massive clasp


On the wrist:


Looks good on a NATO as well:


Comparison to another "tool watch"- the Fortis B-42 Marinemaster:


More shots on flickr: click here

Not often that we get pictures of Ball watches here, but your pictures are just great! Thanks for sharing. Have you had the opportunity to see/handle the Trainmaster Doctor's chronograph? Can't seem to get my hands on it her in sg.

 

cheers!  sh

....has hit the Hong Kong market about 2 weeks ago (YG only, RG and Pt still not in sight). I had the opportunity to handle one on last Monday. I did like everything about it except the $$ - would have preferred a steel version (The "Racer" is not as cool - and still not available).

A comment from an actual M.D. who was with me (he works in emergency service) on the Doctor's was:  "Nice and actually useful features, but for work [he'd] never wear a gold watch..."

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..did like the combo of single-button chrono and pulsemeter scale. And the overall layout, "clear and readable". The additional months display was considered a "gadget" - imho it's cool.

He does not like the older TM "Pulsemeter Pro" for design reasons, the luminous  "12 and 6 [are] too large". The (also older) TM "Pulsemeter" got the remark "dial too busy, can not read it at a glance".

He does not like to wear gold watches for duty, because he's in emergency services, constant fear of damage. Actually he wears a basic Fortis "Pilot Pro" for work - on a NATO strap...

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Well, the pictures on the Ball web pages (both, international and Ball USA) and the press releases are heavily photoshopped, one can actually not call them "Photos", they are "images"... So here are some "real world" watch pictures of a few selected Ball models:

Fireman Night Train white face NM1092C-S1J-WH

Trainmaster Cannonball CM1052D-S1J-BK

Trainmaster Cannonball CM1052D-L1J-WH

Trainmaster Cleveland Express NM1058D-LCJ-SL

Engineer Hydrocarbon Chronograph DC1016A-SJ-BK

Engineer Hydrocarbon "Mad Cow" DM1036A-SAJ-WH

Enginer Master II Moonphase NM1082C-SAJ-WH

Engineer II World Timer DM1028C-SAJ-WH