The Complete Story of Ball Watch

The history of Ball Watch is closely linked to the development of American railroads that began in the 19th century. It was founded by Cleveland based in jeweler Webb C. Ball in 1891. Post the Great Kipton Train Wreck, he developed an innovative time-inspection system for checking the precision of watches worn by all railroad workers. This ensured accuracy and uniformity in timekeeping, and succeeded to stay away from mishaps due to any mismatch in timing.

Presently, Ball is a leading producer of Swiss made premium tool watches suitable for various amateur and professional activities. 

Ball Watch Collections

The brand’s flagship collections are: Official Railroad Watch, Engineer II, Engineer III, Engineer M, Engineer Master II, Engineer Hydrocarbon, Trainmaster, Fireman and Roadmaster.

(1) Ball Official Railroad 

This remarkable series takes inspiration from the distinctive designs of the early Ball timepieces created for railroad workers. Powered by automatic movements, they fuse aesthetic elements of vintage era railroad watches with modern mechanical watchmaking. This archetypal ball watch collection is comprised of chronographs and “three-hand with date” wristwatches with a centre-seconds or subsidiary-seconds design. The prominent models from the current line-up are Standard Time and Cannonball. 

These classically styled yet well-built wristwatches are available with stainless steel or 18-carat rose gold case. The diameter of chronograph is 43mm. The models with centre-seconds version measures 40mm and the variant with small-seconds has a 39.5mm case. Depending upon the version, the water resistance can be 30m or 50m. 

(2) Ball Engineer II

This ball watch series offers wristwatches that combine sporty elegance and classic design. The line-up includes diving timepieces, chronographs and field watches. The notable models are: Navigator World Time Chronograph, Skindiver Heritage, Moon Phase, Marvelight, Rainbow and Green Berets. Antimagnetic up to 4,800A/m, all of them are equipped with automatic movements. Depending upon the model, they come with Stainless steel, TiC-coated steel or Titanium Carbide case.

The Navigator World Time Chronograph model has a 44mm diameter case with 50 meter water resistance. In addition to basic timekeeping, it offers world-time, chronograph, day, and date functions. Certified chronometer with a depth-rating of 200m (660 ft), the Skindiver Heritage comes with a 42mm case. It comes with a day-date display at 3 o’clock. The remaining models – Moonphase (41mm), Marvelight (40mm), Rainbow and Green Berets (both 43mm) – have water resistance rating of 100 meters. 

The average ball watch price range of the Engineer II collection is from 3,000 to 5,000 Singapore dollars.

(3) Ball Engineer III

Fusing streamlined design with sport-elegance, this collection is a re-imagination of the iconic Ball Engineer watch. The key models from this series are:  Armor, Ohio, Marvelight, Pioneer, Starlight, King, Bronze and CarboLIGHT. They are available in stainless steel, bronze and black titanium carbide coated steel case versions. Depending upon the version, the case measures 40mm, 43mm or 46mm. Powered by automatic movements, Engineer III watches come with or without chronometer certification. 

The Engineer III watches are available in Day, Day-Date and GMT versions. These timepieces are endowed with extreme antimagnetic protection up to 80,000 A/m (1,000 Gauss). This collection’s approximate ball watch price singapore is S$2,000 to S$4,500. 

(4) Ball Engineer M

The Engineer M series of watches are equipped with in-house manufactured Ball automatic movements. This ball watch collection is comprised of models like Skindiver III, Challenger 43mm and Marvelight (40mm and 43mm). These stainless steel chronometer wristwatches are 100m water-resistant and protected against magnetic interference up to 4,800A/m. 

(5) Ball Engineer Master II

This series offers sports, diving and aviation watches. The notable models are Aviator, Diver, Skindiver II, Skidiver Heritage, Diver Chronometer, Diver GMT, Diver World Time, Dolittle Riders, Endurance and Normandy. Depending upon the versions, these robust stainless steel timepieces have excellent magnetic-resistance ratings of 4,800A/m or 80,000 A/m.

The diving watches from this line-up come with internal or external count-down bezels. The water-resistance can be 300m or 500m for ball watch engineer master ii divers. The price range of this collection is 2,400 to 4,500 Singapore dollars. 

(6) Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon 

This range is dedicated to adventurers, combatants, explorers, deep-divers and extreme-sports enthusiasts. The key models are NEDU, AeroGMT, DeepQuest II, Original, Submarine Warfare, Spacemaster Orbital and Racer. These exceptionally robust watches are made of stainless steel or titanium. They also feature patented innovations like the Amortiser® and the SpringLOCK®.

In this collection, you will find extreme ball diver watch models such as the DeepQuest II 1,000m and the DeepQuest 3,000m. The water-resistance of NEDU is 300m, the Hydrocarbon Original is 200 meter and the Submarine Warfare is 300m. The estimated retail price range of the Engineer Hydrocarbon is 3,000 to 6,000 Singapore dollars. 

(7) Ball Trainmaster

This collection is a tribute to the brand’s railroad heritage. Classically styled, these automatic watches are available with various functions: Chronograph, Date, Day-Date or Moon phase with date. Inspired by vintage designs, they are water-resistant up to 30 or 50 meters. The ball trainmaster watch models are shock-resistant and feature sapphire crystal caseback. The retail price range is SGD 2,200 to SGD 3,500, approximately.  

(8) Ball Fireman

The ball fireman range is comprised of robust timekeepers endowed with the spirit of classical railroad timepieces. The prominent models from this modern tool watch collection are Classic, Enterprise, Night Train DLC, Ducks and Victory. Made of stainless steel, these shock-proof watches with automatic movements are available in 40mm or 45mm case size. Rugged and reliable, they are water-proof up to 100 meters. 

(9) Ball Roadmaster

The Roadmaster is a series of robust tool watches created as a tribute to the masters behind the establishment of massive railroad infrastructure. The important creations from this series are Ocean Explorer, Marvelight, Pilot GMT, Marine GMT, Rescue Chronograph, Skipper, Starlight, Vanguard and Worldtime. The collection offers stainless steel, bronze and titanium wristwatches.

The best-selling Roadmaster ball gmt watch models feature 40mm titanium cases with ceramic bezels. The Marine GMT has a water resistance of 200m where as the Pilot GMT is 300m water-proof. They are shock-proof up to 5,000Gs and antimagnetic up to 4,800A/m. The retail price range is S$3,000 to S$5,000.

Summary

Before concluding, it is essential to know about special features of the timepieces produced by Ball Watch Company. Let us have a quick glance on these distinguishing characteristics.

1. Ball uses Self-Powered Micro Gas Tubes (H₃) to illuminate the hands and hour-markers of its watches, where as majority of the other brands employ luminous paintings like Super-LumiNova. The tritium H₃ micro gas tube based illumination method is brighter and has long life.
2. Some of the Ball watch models are made of 916L stainless steel, the high-grade steel alloy used by premium brands like Rolex.
3. Majority of the Ball watches are certified as chronometers by COSC. The brand also has an in-house automatic movement with chronometer certification.
4. Ball watches are highly shock-resistant, thanks to in-house developed and patented anti-shock systems.
5. Thanks to in-house developed innovations, Ball watches have excellent antimagnetic ratings, ranging from 4,800A/m to 80,000 A/m.
6. The brand’s patented crown-protection system ensures optimum water resistance for its submersible watches.
7. Some diving watch models from Ball are equipped with patented helium release valves.
8. Ball is the first watch brand to create a mechanical watch a day and date function combined with a 24-hour time zone display.
9. The brand developed the world’s first mechanical thermometer movement for measuring temperature.
10. Ball also offers a patented buckle system for ensuring ergonomic and comfortable fitting.