Did You Know Ball Made a Duel Time?
And not just any duel time, one with quick set pushers!
I've been on a bit of a Ball Watch kick lately, looking through their catalog and understanding their offerings.
I stumbled on the Roadmaster series and there are a lot of different models. Tide trackers, moonphase, chronos, and on and on. I like GMTs and they offer 3 different models in the Roadmaster collection.
The Pilot, a flyer style GMT with date and quick set pushers for the hour hand.
The Marine, a caller GMT with day-date and quick set pushers for the GMT hand.
And most interestingly, the Vanguard with an extra 12-hour hand that is adjusted with quickset pushers. It's also day-date and has an AM/PM indicator above the 6 for the second time zone. And like other cool dual time watches, the second hour hand can be positioned under the main hour hand if you want. Unlike the Pateks and Sinns that do this though, it halos the normal hour hand in a cool way.
And of course they all have awesome lume.
Also, I only grabbed the one colorway for all three watches. But they have basically all the classic combinations and some nice blue and green variants for all three watches.
I'm writing this because I'm kind of blown away with their offerings. I don't know of any other company who offers a watch model will all GMT configurations.
40mm case, but the effective lug-to-lug is over 50mm with that integrated bracelet end. I would want to try one on before buying one. They do look large, especially for my wrist. But wanted to share for those interested in dual time watches like me.
The Roadmaster Marine is a grail watch for me. A day-date GMT would be so nice. Can my Timex effectively do the same thing, yes. But it’s not quite the same. (Hmm… maybe I should think about that, honestly). One of the odd things tho is that Ball almost always uses butterfly clasps; which doesn’t really make sense for their bracelets, given the aesthetics of its watches. I wish (analog) day-date GMTs weren’t extremely rare. Hell, if a company told me it would be more feasible with quartz movements, I’d be totally okay with that. (Hopefully it would be solar tho).
The endlinks adding to the length is strange choice to me and it would be nice if they used a normal clasp with micro adjustments
Yep, you need to try them on. Personally most Ball watches I’ve tried on feel too thick (especially the ones with mad lume).
I was very surprised at how in depth the catalogue is for Ball, they have a lot of great offerings. Something like the Engineer III Endurance 1917 TMT that has a thermometer in either Fahrenheit or Celsius in an analog watch, is very impressive.
I was very surprised at how in depth the catalogue is for Ball, they have a lot of great offerings. Something like the Engineer III Endurance 1917 TMT that has a thermometer in either Fahrenheit or Celsius in an analog watch, is very impressive.
Yeah, that's another one that is fascinating. They no longer have the ones with Fahrenheit scales on their website but I'm sure you could find them.
The Roadmaster Marine is a grail watch for me. A day-date GMT would be so nice. Can my Timex effectively do the same thing, yes. But it’s not quite the same. (Hmm… maybe I should think about that, honestly). One of the odd things tho is that Ball almost always uses butterfly clasps; which doesn’t really make sense for their bracelets, given the aesthetics of its watches. I wish (analog) day-date GMTs weren’t extremely rare. Hell, if a company told me it would be more feasible with quartz movements, I’d be totally okay with that. (Hopefully it would be solar tho).
The endlinks adding to the length is strange choice to me and it would be nice if they used a normal clasp with micro adjustments
I love day-date. It's such a useful complication. I actually quite like butterfly clasps also. My hands are fairly large for my wrist size and it's a struggle to get a watch with a bracelet sized for my wrist on if it doesn't have a dive extension or butterfly clasp. Butterflies open wider than normal folding clasps.
I would be tempted to wear this on a strap exclusively, but that would be a bummer.
I thought dueling went out of fashion in the late 19th, early 20th century? 😉🤣
I love day-date. It's such a useful complication. I actually quite like butterfly clasps also. My hands are fairly large for my wrist size and it's a struggle to get a watch with a bracelet sized for my wrist on if it doesn't have a dive extension or butterfly clasp. Butterflies open wider than normal folding clasps.
I would be tempted to wear this on a strap exclusively, but that would be a bummer.
All hail day date.
Yeah that’s the only positive exception I can think of for butterfly clasps. If nothing else, it would be nice if they could be removed like those bracelets you see online with the default flip-lock, 3 micro adjustment clasps that are just attached with spring bars.
All hail day date.
Yeah that’s the only positive exception I can think of for butterfly clasps. If nothing else, it would be nice if they could be removed like those bracelets you see online with the default flip-lock, 3 micro adjustment clasps that are just attached with spring bars.
That would be nice. Ball's divers have a folding clasp.
I have three Balls and there is one draw back to Balls. Tritium tubes deteriorate over the years and have to be replaced. It is a standard service that I have not gotten around to getting done.
I will say that all three I have, a Moonphase. a Streamliner and a Spacemaster, are solid watches and have run well for a long time.
I have three Balls and there is one draw back to Balls. Tritium tubes deteriorate over the years and have to be replaced. It is a standard service that I have not gotten around to getting done.
I will say that all three I have, a Moonphase. a Streamliner and a Spacemaster, are solid watches and have run well for a long time.
Yes, Tritium eventually decaying is disappointing, but I don't believe the problem is as bad as many make it out to be. I have Tritium gun sights nearing their half life and they are still plenty bright to see, maybe half as dim. Perhaps 2 half life's will be worse? Maybe 3 half lives gets you to what normal lume looks like when it hasn't been charged in many hours? Thats 24-36 years, something else will likely need service by that time anyway.
Your gun site must have more tritium. But we are talking watches.
All three of mine have been owned for15 years (minus) and they are so dim it has to be pitch black to see the tritium markers. A Luminox with 15 tritium tubes is the same.
It is as bad as they say. I can testify from personal experience. 😃
Your gun site must have more tritium. But we are talking watches.
All three of mine have been owned for15 years (minus) and they are so dim it has to be pitch black to see the tritium markers. A Luminox with 15 tritium tubes is the same.
It is as bad as they say. I can testify from personal experience. 😃
Thank you for your insight on this, I don't know that I've heard from anyone who has had a Ball for more than the half life of Tritium. Are the watches running well otherwise? Any service needed?
Perhaps the difference with the gun sites is that you view the tubes edge on so you are looking at a lot more material in a smaller area.
Thank you for your insight on this, I don't know that I've heard from anyone who has had a Ball for more than the half life of Tritium. Are the watches running well otherwise? Any service needed?
Perhaps the difference with the gun sites is that you view the tubes edge on so you are looking at a lot more material in a smaller area.
The watches run fine. And it isn’t like there is no activity, just very very faint. Given tritium’s half life is 12.33 years, and given the size of the tubes on a watch dial, little wonder they dim considerably.
Example: the Spacemaster when I first got it, the tritium out shown the luminova on the bezel. Then it became equal. Now these many years later, the tritium tubes are very weak.
The other factors to consider, you don’t know how long the tritium was on hand and what purity before being put in the tubes, how long the tubes sat around until being installed in a dial and used for a completed watch, then finally how long the watch sat before being sold. You can imagine this last factor being years in some cases. I suspect the moonphase I have fits this category as I bought it while my AD was clearing out Ball as they dropped the brand. All those years sitting degraded the tritium evidently as it was dim when I got it. But part of that is the markers are tiny dots, like vertical tubes, so the surface area to glow is significantly lessened.
I ramble.
The watches run fine. And it isn’t like there is no activity, just very very faint. Given tritium’s half life is 12.33 years, and given the size of the tubes on a watch dial, little wonder they dim considerably.
Example: the Spacemaster when I first got it, the tritium out shown the luminova on the bezel. Then it became equal. Now these many years later, the tritium tubes are very weak.
The other factors to consider, you don’t know how long the tritium was on hand and what purity before being put in the tubes, how long the tubes sat around until being installed in a dial and used for a completed watch, then finally how long the watch sat before being sold. You can imagine this last factor being years in some cases. I suspect the moonphase I have fits this category as I bought it while my AD was clearing out Ball as they dropped the brand. All those years sitting degraded the tritium evidently as it was dim when I got it. But part of that is the markers are tiny dots, like vertical tubes, so the surface area to glow is significantly lessened.
I ramble.
Well I really appreciate the info, thank you. I was thinking about the time before sale also. Makes their preorders more appealing, presumably a new dial configuration would require sourcing new tubes. But then resale value is further lessed because of this over time.
Titanium case too. These are slick.