Wed 14 Mar 2007
Review: Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon GMT Diver
Posted by The Breitling Source under Watch Tips & Tricks[5] Comments
Right after shipping off that Formex, I just got another watch in! Got this one off of a forum from a REALLY swell guy… sold it to me for such a great price and included Express Shipping all they way to Canada. Got off easy with no duties/taxes too!
Anyway.. here is the wonderful watch from ball:
This is truly one of my favourite watches I’ve received in a LONG time. When i play with it and wear it I get almost as giddy as I do when trying on a new Breitling! Ball watches have been around a while, making watches for the adverse conditions of the railroad building trade I believe. Their new watches have cool Tritium tubes in them to make the indices glow super bright for 25 years!! This one contains an Swiss ETA Automatic movement… the 2893-2. This movement is based on the ETA 2892-2 but wiht the addition of a GMT hand module.
This Ball I purchased is indeed used, and is an older one with the older packaging.. i believe newer models have a white box.
Comes with plenty of links, and a half link as well. A decent sized manual that i have not yet need to consult. Out of the box the watch is keeping time within COSC standards, which is very good. This watch just sits on the wrist really nicely and looks really darn good to boot!
All three hands and all hour indices have the tritium illumination from the tubes. The Second hand and GMT look the same in the dark, however you can tell the difference by the fact that the second one moves a lot quicker. Dial is a nice matte black finish with painted lettering… not quite as nice as the Breitling Dials, but still quite nice indeed. Bezel is very cool as well.
The back of the watch has a very neat engraving/stamping of a submarine, and mentions that the watch is good to -40degrees celcius… a nice feature as it does get cold in Canada!
The bracelet is very well made and I highly recommend the watch in general. Sapphire crystal, Solid stainless bracelet, very robust case and unique styling. It is a lot more streamlined than Breitling watches are, which tend to sit ON the wrist, rather than AROUND the wrist like the Ball.
This Ball also has the signaure ball crown lock which flips up when you release it and pull upwards. A neat feature, but more of s styling gimmick than anything else… kind of like Panerai’s crown protector!
Movement: 8/10
Case/Crystal/Crown: 9/10
Dial/Hands: 8/10
Strap / Buckle / Bracelet: 8/10
Accuracy: 9/10
Comfort: 8/10
Packaging / Manual: 6/10
Overall Impression: 9/10
July 5th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Me parece maravilloso. Muchas gracias.
August 10th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Really cool writeup… just got mine 🙂
December 24th, 2011 at 8:13 pm
Just got mine and it’s really a great timepiece. You are dead on.really looks good and sits very well on my wrist. I have had many Rolexes in the past,and The Ball Engineer GMT is at least equal in quality and in my opinion quite possibly a bit better. A Very beautiful,substantial solid block of steel. Very well made. My Rolexes have come and gone but my Ball is here to stay. This will go to my sonand to be handed down to his.You can’t beat the price.
January 2nd, 2017 at 11:50 am
Interested, haven 4 Breitlings, a couple of Omegas, and a few higher end watches.
Please contact me as I would like to see a complete catalog.
I am currently looking for a knock around watch and The Ball line might be something I would consider.
Thanks and use my email address to contact me for further information.
January 12th, 2017 at 3:14 pm
Hi, Sorry I’m just a blogger.. I don’t really have access to catalogs to send to people. Maybe you can contact a dealer?