Ball watch unveil cool new Engineer HydroCarbon Spacemaster
I first really noticed the Ball Watch company a few years ago and have always meant to get my hands on one but never actually got round to it. Ball Watch possess a quite unusual characteristic which is not found in many watch brands - although a nod of recognition also goes to Traser/H3 watches at this point. Ball Watch often fit their watches with vials of H3 luminous gas (similar to that used in Xenon headlights) in their displays and use it for super-high levels of legibility in the hour markers, numerals and hands. And it's in use again in the latest cool offering of the Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon Spacemaster.
Ball Watch put out a press release on the new watch. Here's what they said.....
Ball Watch Press Release
The Engineer Hydrocarbon collection is the ultimate personification of the BALL Watch identity. It is its iconic hero! Today, the brand has instilled it with renewed vigor. For this youthful makeover, the Research & Development team has applied all its technological expertise, its knowledge of materials and the readability standards inherited from the brand’s founder.
Several components have been modified and improved, including the rotating bezel. It has retained its unidirectional function, its notch calibrated at 30 seconds as well as its virile and robust design. However, it has been made slightly wider and flatter making it much easier to manipulate even when wearing gloves.
Loyal to its easy night reading function, BALL Watch has equipped the Hydrocarbon bezel with an H3 marker inserted in a protective container at 12 o’clock. Further, the graduation from 0 to 14, along with the digits 15, 30 and 45 all have very powerful luminescent paint emitting a blue glow.
The triple folding clasp and its extension, patented by BALL Watch, is a pure distillation of innovation.To improve the strength and durability of this clasp, it is machined from a single block of 316L stainless steel. To ensure optimum ergonomics, the clasp’s balance is perfect and the unfolding components are spread evenly under their cover; and a 22-millimeter extension system has been added on both sides of the bracelet so that the watch can be worn over sports gear. Opening and closing operations can be performed singlehandedly. The clasp operates with a robust locking mechanism enabling it to withstand extreme traction forces when in the closed position.
The crowning technical touch in this watch is its chronometer-certified ETA 2836 movement, with day and date calendar, delivering extreme precision.
The BALL Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon exudes unrivalled character that transforms its wearer into an unmistakable hero. It goes where he goes, cleaved to his wrist, leaving all others in its wake! Its ergonomic design means the wearer can forget about it and just focus all his attention on his current mission. The BALL Watch ambassador Brian Binnie, former US Navy pilot and astronaut, is well placed to report back on this particular point. It was this watch that he chose to accompany him out where gravity loses its hold, into infinite space where the earth is just a panorama separated from the immense blackness by a blue ribbon. Out there, Brian Binnie found the ultimate freedom.
BALL Watch is proud to be associated with the greatest of human endeavors and pays homage to this expedition by equipping the dial of the Spacemaster model with luminescent gas tubes emitting a blue glow similar to the illumination of a spaceship’s instrument panel.
Technical specification
Model Number: DM2036-SCAJ-BK Movement: Automatic ETA 2836-2, COSC certified chronometer Functions: Hours, minutes, sweep seconds, day and date 29 micro gas tubes on hour, minute, second hands and dial for night reading capability Case: Stainless steel case with luminous unidirectional rotating bezel Diameter 41.5 mm, Height 16.1 mm 4mm anti-reflective sapphire crystal Patented crown protection system Water-resistant to 333 m Antimagnetic to 12,000 A/m Shock-resistant – withstands 7,500 Gs shock test Band: Tapered stainless steel bracelet, with patented deployant buckle & extension system
For more information, please visit www.ballwatch.com
Well I'm not absolutely certain that hero status is a pre-requisite to own one, but if you can maybe 'pretend' to possess hero qualities, then you might just get away without anyone asking for your hero credentials.
It would be a shame if the watch was not supplied to mere mortals such as I because it's a nice looking piece and I'm sure it would draw admiring comments, but maybe that's because heroism is expected as standard if you wear one.
