Post by timelessluxwatches on Jun 13, 2015 9:28:01 GMT -6
Ball Report: JCK 2015
Ball is following up its amazing 2014 with lots of new models for 2015, including new thermometer watches, fully luminous moon phases and even a new anti-magnetic alloy case. Read on to see all of our first hand impressions.
Perhaps the Ball I was most excited about was the new Volcano. It looks terrific, especially on that NATO strap (one of two straps that every Volcano will actually ship with), thanks to the black case and red accents. But there's a lot more to the Volcano than good looks, and the black case is not the result of a coating.
It's actually a new composite that Ball calls mumetal-carbide that is naturally black all the way through, which implies great things about how this watch will hold up over the years.
This was just a prototype, however. The real Volcano will have a cool texture to the case which, from the samples, reminded me of the carbon ceramic brakes you might find in a supercar.
They did have these cool cube samples of the real material though and it really helped clarify things. To the left is an ordinary steel block and to the right the mumetal-carbide. If you look closely, you can see that cool texture I was referring to earlier. This cube revealed how they're going to be combining their anti-magnetic mumetal with this very different material--it'll be striated with a couple of strips of mumetal sandwiched inside.
The material had a lot of great properties. It was extremely scratch resistant, which we tested by rubbing the sharp edges of the steel block against the mumetal-carbide, a match that the steel cube handily lost. It was also extremely light--I'd say the cube felt less than half as heavy as the steel. But, perhaps most importantly, it's extremely resistant to magnetic fields despite the tiny amount of mumetal used. This means that, unlike the soft iron cores used in most anti-magnetic watches, the Volcano will actually be lighter than an ordinary watch, not heavier, and it will not be any thicker because the anti-magnetic material is directly integrated into the case composition. This is a far more elegant solution than the iron core approach, at least in theory, and provides a great alternative to the emerging and expensive competing approach of making the movement's most sensitive parts out of silicon.
The next really exciting piece was the new Moon Phase. It has a lot of the character of the original Ohio moon phase, with its oversized namesake complication, but it really takes it up a notch with tritium.
The moon phase is actually illuminated by a heavy concentration of tritium tubes. Ball told me that in the production version of the watch the moon phase would be cleaner (this one has some sort of glitter appearance to it). While the black model was great, I really look forward to seeing the new blue and white dialed models when they hit the store soon.
A watch that's sure to be a hit is the new Skindiver II, a follow up to the modern Skindiver, and of course, the original 1962 model. The classic looks remain, complete with their 1960s diving charm, but the watch has received updates to make it the best yet.
The most obvious improvement is the addition of a helium release valve in the case and a depth rating of 500 meters, 200 more than its predecessor.
Ball combined plenty of their beloved tritium tubes with conventional luminous paint for this model. The lume resides in the numerals of the black ceramic bezel. The watch wasn't "charged up" for this photograph, but I think it'll make a rather eye catching display at night once it is.
The new Hydrocarbon AeroGMT brings a more modern, hardcore look to it. Despite a 300 meter water resistance rating and diver good looks, the AeroGMT isn't really a dive watch per se thanks to its bidirectional sapphire GMT bezel, but it's certainly not a watch that's scared of the water either.
Unlike the Skindiver II, the AeroGMT doesn't have luminous paint in the bezel. Instead, its filled with what must be a fairly expansive number of tritium tubes, making the bezel glow just as brightly, or even more brightly, than anything on the dial.
The new Engineer II Green Berets is a military inspired watch that combines a back-to-basics look with some retro styling cues like that great looking nubuck leather strap. The black case is actually titanium carbide.
In typical Ball fashion, the tritium level has been maxed out with the use of oversized tubes as hour markers.
One of the more unusual watches was the Trainmaster Kelvin as it has a rare thermometer complication.
The thermometer complication is available in Celsius or Fahrenheit with a Kelvin conversion scale on the back. Both measurements are available in a silver or black dial.
But the real story here is how great the watch looks--its retro appearance is tremendous, easily one of the best looking watches of Ball's 2015 collection.
The Trainmaster Cleveland Night Express limited edition is similarly gorgeous and features a manual wind movement.
The Ball Engineer Master II Diver is the second diver in Ball's new lineup and quite a bit more contemporary than the first.
The bezel is very cool and the watch in general is much sharper, more angular, than the Skindiver II.
The coolest aspect, however, is the use of tritium in the first quarter of the unidirectional bezel.
The Ball Trainmaster Roman Ladies is extremely classy, from the blue hands to the bold Roman numerals, and it's a terrific choice for the person who likes railroad watches but in a smaller form factor.