Ball is an absolutely amazing brand which offers great value for money. My very first 'real' watch that I bought was a Ball Trainmaster which I unfortunately had to sell due to my girlfriend being diagnosed with leukaemia. I do feel that their designs are very hit or miss and that their classic looking pieces appeal to me more than most of their modern and more experimental ones. As soon as the (financial) situation allows it I am definitely picking up a Ball again to celebrate. Either a Marvellight, Trainmaster or Roadmaster M!
easily one of THE most underappreciated brands in their segment. on the plus side, they're so underappreciated that discounts abound so the "value for money" is even greater with some patience :)
Hey man, thanks for asking. She was doing great and ended her maitenance treatment 4 months ago. Last week unfortunately they found something during a routine test. This week she will undergo more testing. She is strong, but things are not looking too great right now. We will know more about what it is and can be done once the test results come in :(@@matthewsanders6499
@@scottlauren3145 Depends on the model. I have one of their sports models that is completely brushed (case & bracelet). Then I have another piece with an identical bracelet that has a lot of polishing.
@@JinKee a nuclear arsenal made up of tritium weapons would be highly entertaining. Tritium emits beta radiation which isn’t even capable of penetrating the outermost layer of your skin. It would have the same effect as throwing sand at a concrete wall.
@@MrMadvillan if they're cheap enough I'll send one to my watchmaker and instruct him to pluck the tubes off the dial to replace the fading ones on my older watches. Not really though.
1) Half life of Tritium is 12.32 years. That means, in 12.32 years, any given sample of Tritium will lose half of its radioactivity. 2) NITE watches (out of the UK) has Tritium watches with Swiss movements (both Swiss Quartz and Swiss Automatic). 3) I have one of their T100 (4 times as bright as T25) Quartz ICON watches. It outshines Ball watches - It truly has to be seen. I'm a fellow lumatic and I have several Tritium watches. The NITE ICON is my brightest watch by a significant margin, even significantly brighter than my other T100 (Massdrop Tritium watches you've reviewed). HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Love the design of Ball watches! The only thing keeping me from pulling the trigger is the size. Wished there is a smaller case size option, IMO 36-38mm is the sweet spot for a non-dive watch!
The Ball Engineer M Marvelight is an amazing watch for the money, I've loved Ball watches for years but never saw many reviews on youtube until the past 6 months when its gone mad for them. I hope 2021 is the year Ball watches finely get the mainstream recognition they deserve.
Great looking watch! I have a 41mm GSAR and wear it more than my expensive watches. Would love a video on all the brands that make tritium tube watches!!
When I was a kid, I had an old Tissot watch of my dad's that had radium. It was great being able to view it all night long. And, when I held it right up close to my eyes, I could see lots of tiny little flashes, like lots of microscopic torches being turned on and off repeatedly. The watch was a bitch to wind, though.
I have been wanting to add a Ball to my collection for some time now ....This may be the one to pull the trigger on..!!! Thanks for this cool review..👍👍👍
And so Jody ventures down the Tritium rabbit hole............at least you’ll be able to see what time it is😂 Beautiful watch, and another great review. Maybe Carnival watches might be worth a squizz?
A small correction: the half-life of Tritium is 12.3 years so at 24.6 years 1/4 of it remains. Perhaps it at this point that the light isn't bright enough to be effective.
I have an old Stocker and Yale Sandy 540 from the 80s, the Tritium is still usable when I wake up in the middle of the night but the orange 12 pip has kicked the bucket.
Was coming to say the same thing. I believe people typically quote 25 years as the effective life for tritium watches since, as you say, after a quarter of the lume is gone it will have minimal functionality
We have to remember that brightness as perceived by the human eye is logarithmic (a 400 lumen light seems just twice as bright as a 100 lumen light, not 4X as bright), so by 24 years it may seem half as bright.
Just got my Engineer III Marvelight today. I love it. Just removed two links to get it to fit me, and we're off. The blue glow from all but the 12 o'clock marker is absolutely stunning. Feels solid, (904L steel) but not too heavy. I normally wouldn't be one for a cyclops date, but its grown on me over the last 9 hours lol
I own a Bicentennial limited edition Ball watch myself which only 200 pieces were ever produced. Gorgeous red bezel with see through case back. Ball watches are just so under rated IMO. I also love how the bracelet reminds me of the railway track.
I LOVE my Ball watches!!! I was camping in Death Valley (Racetrack Playa) last weekend at 3AM in total pitch darkness and my Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II with micro Tritium gas tubes that didn't let me down at all and I also can read my book from the ultra bright lume, believe it or not, folks 😀
Ball line, named after Locomotive Engineers, Locomotive Fireman, Trainmaster etc. It's all about railroading... Beautiful watch and I just purchased a Ball Fireman "GLORY", since that is what I hired out as, before promotion to Engineer....42 years went by fassssst...! Great video as usual.... GG
I am a nuclear engineer by trade, and Ball has an “engineer” line of watches and all of their watches have nuclear powered lume, so it feels like they are calling my name. Unfortunately as you mention most of their watches are pretty busy, especially in their engineer line. Combine that with my preference toward smaller watches (around 36mm, and ball has pretty much nothing under 40mm) and my hate of butterfly clasps and I have yet to find one that I would actually consider buying
I hate butterfly clasps too. But the one that comes on my Ball watch is the nicest I've ever come across. I forget it is a 'butterfly' as soon as I put it on.
First timer here. Loved yr coverage of the Ball fireman victory. I've just finished purchasing one tonight. Drove myself pleasantly crazy for months deciding. It boiled down to a Longines Conquest auto black face 15:59 and the Ball 😂😂😂
Hey Jody, this watch is a absolute stunner. I love this kind of watch. For me it hits the sweet spot between tooly and dressy. The tritium tubes are an added bonus of course. I just wish the bracelet had a bit of taper to it. A brilliant review, look forward to more tritium stuff. Cheers!
I know this is an older video but if you’re interested in Ball watches this is the series of watches that I recommend. They are reasonably priced and this watch fits well on the wrist, it is very flat in the center and the lugs don’t lift off the wrist excessively in my opinion like the Engineer III tends to do. I have both. My wrist is around 7.5” or so and I can wear the 43mm Engineer III just fine but I prefer this one.
For an Ali express tritium I suggest the epoch watch brand. I have a blue one that is a strap monster and the tubes glow nicely. Featured on my insta channel in the last week @watchandcocktail. Fun movement too.
Ever since I saw this review earlier in the year I’ve had my eye on getting a Ball. I just picked up a Fireman Nightbreaker on rubber strap (RRP £1050) for just under £600 in an AD sale in Glasgow with an additional discount on top, Same case as this one, but blue concentric circle dial, red second hand with tritium and no RR counterbalance on second hand and the date is at 3. The rubber strap smells of cupcakes because they use vanilla oil in them apparently, so that is another unique addition to the overfull watch box! Love the channel, keep up the good work!
Welcome to the club. I own 2 Ball Trainmaster's; a 38mm GMT, and a 40mm power reserve with enamel dial. The lume is just the tip of the iceberg with these watches, the build quality and attention to detail is exceptional. Some of the best watches available today.
Deep Blue have a solid 41mm Tritium Diver with T100 tubes, it’s less refined than the Swiss options and with a NH35 movement but I take mine diving without being precious with it and it sure beats my old Luminox that flooded after 4 years of use.
DEEP BLUE sell a 500m diver with beautiful Trtium lume for around £300. Might even be less. Applied lume is in a much lower class in comparison. I would highly recommend you give them a check out. I think that they are an American company. Happy hunting the tritium. Love the show, Pete, bedford,UK
I purchased a Traser Outdoor Pioneer last year , Swiss made excellent milspec looking watch Traser is the sister company that makes and supplies the tritium , Microtec .
The date window at the 4:30 ruins it for me and look how far into the dial it’s located! A telltale sign that the movement’s too small for the watch itself 🤨 And adding insult to injury, said date wheel isn’t dial colored either. Apart from that though, I do quite like it. Just wish they toned down a bit on the high polish everywhere! Is there a no-date version of this watch maybe?
There are only a few companies making watches with tritium that have horological significance, and for me that is a bummer. Marathon makes some good offers but their low end model has its moans Jodi stated in a recent video. Ball of course has a lovely history with their railway linked hertage, but they are all on the high end for someone like me who makes such a small amount of income. I hope that soon more companies offer a low end tritum watch that doesn't have a 16 mil strap size with marathon, or super expensive like Ball and their amazing looking lineup. Hopefully it comes soon because I want a tritum watch! And I would love American made, simple, rugged, normal strap size, and at least 100m of water resistance. Love the channel! Keep it all coming.
STUNNING!!!!! By far one of the best watch you have reviewed for yonks. However, that weird yank and release clasp is just daft. I can hear you say....HELLLOOOOW and just one more BALL! after this (or not)
I have been admiring Ball watches from afar. Fortunately or unfortunately i have gone to a one watch collection (Casio doesn't count) and my Sinn 556A on bracelet is really doing a good job.
Glad a watch channel I like reviewed one of these. I have this exact watch, except mine is blue sunburst,. This was my first automatic and def my first watch that is more than a couple 100 bucks. Absolutely love it and I'm glad to see a solid review. Thank you!
I own a hydrocarbon gmt and a storm chaser chronograph. Love my BALLS!! All jokes aside, you get a lot for your money with ball. They just dont hold value well so look second hand if you arent sure it will be a keeper.
You should check out the Islander series of watches. Perfect for this channel in terms of price point and specs received. Plus the lume is amazing on it. I have had the watch for about 5 months now, slept with it on last night from 9-6 and the Lume was still glowing when I woke up.
One thing missed here is that the Rail Road Standard or RR, was the precursor to COSC standard or a "Proto COSC", if you will. I myself have a Hydro Carbon Magnate GMT and it punches well above it weight.
Jody, I agree about the clasp. I've got an Engineer Marvelite 2 (basically a Rolex OP36 clone, including Cyclops) and it took me twenty minutes to get the dam thing off my wrist! My daily wear is a Nite Alpha 300 which uses T100 tritium tubes, a Swiss Ronda quartz movement, 10 year battery life, 316, ceramic and sapphire, 300m water, blah, blah blah, but the best thing is that it lights up the freaking bedroom wall at night. Based in Christchurch, UK. Worth a look at £430 Stirling.
As far as affordability goes, you should check out Aragon watches. They recently came out with two new tritium models. They always seem to have a sale going on, so depending on the model you should be able to pick one up for $170-$250 USD. You just have to keep in mind that their watches run on the larger size and come in some bold colors. Cheers.
#lumepigs unite! Love the design on that Ball watch and the dial color is just gorgeous. Great choice, Jody! I’ve got T25 tubes in my collection but would love to see some T100 in person to compare. Cheers! 😎🍻👍
Using tritium tubes is a bit heretical to me. One reason is they are just straight and can't be put into shapes like regular lume. You might as well get a quartz watch with electric light if you want good illumination imo.
@@metatechnologist I can understand how you mean, that’s definitely a downside to tritium tubes and I agree. It would be nice (and part of me wonders if possible) to do glass shapes that are round, triangular, etc.
@@DavidSchwartzjr I'm thinking of improving lume chemistry. Shaping small glass tubes seems cost prohibitive. The other thing is that tritium does go out so it's not great for something you want to pass on. Maybe they can be replaced but probably expensive to do so.
Great video - I am a big Ball Watch fan (have 6 of them). You should check out the Tritium light display on the Ball Fireman Ducks - it's nuts. Each minute marker has a thin tube inlaid into the dial. So with the hands as well, that's over 60 tritium tubes! It's very well done and looks spectacular at night. As you say, the build quality of these watches is phenomenal. The bracelets & clasp on the Hydrocarbon range are on another level.
I have numerous Ball Watches including a Fireman Enterprise. The best one is the Marvelight M in my opinion and here are the reasons: 80 hour power reserve, tapered bracelet, see-thru sapphire case back- domed sapphire crystal, and tritium tubes in the applied hour markers. It's a stunner for sure! $1980 at Gnomon and worth every cent...
Great looking watch. But if you want an affordable watch with Tritium (H3) tube dials check out MWC. They do several watches with H3 dials, divers, pilots and field watches well under $500.
Here’s one for you Jody...I’ve a few mates in military special forces and when they get a bit older they ALL get a Ball watch. It’s a sort of graduation present to themselves after their Marathons and Luminox....😁
Jody, just for info. I have a Nite watch which has T25 tubing. Mine is a Nite Icon. Nice clean dial, no fuss, glows for 25 years. Love it, the only down side is that it is a quartz but, it is a Swiss made quartz..!
I've been a fan of Ball for a while now, and my favorite might be the moonphase-the moon is lit by tritium gas tubes! It also has a 3 o'clock date, you might want to check it out, Jody:)
I agree, Jody....love the watch. Have almost purchased several times....then I see the date window and can’t pull the trigger. I think it would be best at the 6 position...then it would be a no brained. Great review. Thanks
Just bought a Ball Fireman Racer. Tremendous for less than 1k on the gray market. I'd put it up there with Tudor and Omega when It comes to the finishing. Sellitas keep it at lower price though. Very happy
I'm not sure it is... 5000 gauss is half a Tesla, that's a very strong magnetic field. The usual iron cage method only works to around 0.1 Tesla. Above that you need to actually replace parts of the movement with paramagnetic components, and I just can't see Ball doing that to a 2824 at $1.2k USD. Also shock resistance is actually an ISO standard, 5000g is surprisingly common, things just getting dropped from shoulder height is going to generate ~2000g.
Glad to see you finally get on the Ball mate! I've been mulling over the dual time Engineer Master GCT for a while now. In the meantime, you may want to take a peek at Traser Watches for some tritium on the cheap. I picked up a P96 Pioneer from Marc at long island watch a couple years ago. Amazingly lightweight little beastie with a Swiss Rhonda quartz movement and under $300(U.S.) on sale. Then last year I nabbed a bronze beauty P67 Officer Pro from a German dealer on Chrono24 for around $700 on sale, (including the bloody VAT) and it's got the same ETA movement as that Ball. She's one of my favorite shiny bits as she's got loads of lume + tritium tubes. If you're interested, I'd be willing to send you both watches if you want to review them.
I'm so happy to see you reviewing another man's Ball (sorry, too easy). I got an Engineer III Marvelight, and I was going to see if you wanted to review it. But I'm glad you reviewed this one. Gorgeous.
First, let me say that that BALL is gorgeous. Love that model. Tritium is unquestionably much, much safer than radium (which not only breaks down into inhalable radon but also has a half life of 1600 years and therefore is still deadly on early 20th century watches even though they no longer glow due to phosphor degradation) but...you ARE still exposed to very low levels of X-rays from tritium. Probably not enough to make a difference as opposed to normal background levels, but still some amount of radiation. Given all of the other sources of radiation in our lives, I would rather stick with completely inert and non-radiating superluminova. Note that the half life of Tritium is not 25 years but 12.32. The tubes are marked T25 because they will cease to be visible in about 25 years, but they will only be half as bright in 12 years.
Right there with you... I got enough radiation from living too close to Chernobyl and not being told about the disaster, so I pass on radioactive watches. A lot of people want to believe that it's safe, or profit from people believing.
At last, Ball Watches getting some recognition! I have three, absolutely love the quality and history. I even have a vintage one from 1995, tritium still working 😊
LOVE Ball watches! You might want to take a look at their Engineer II Moon Phase (the moon lights up at night which I think is very cool), Engineer III Pioneer or their Fireman Enterprise. Like you, I do not like a "busy" watch. I like it classy without a whole lot of fuss going on under the crystal. Ball makes some GREAT watches. Thank you for reviewing this watch. One of the things I do love about watching your videos is that you do cover the good things as well as the moans and niggles! Thank you Jody for ALL you do for our watch community!
I’ve got the fireman nightbreaker and with the date at the three o’clock position I think it may be the perfect do anything piece. Really an interesting brand, I just loathe the arabica though, I’d never get anything that looks as if my child had drawn it. Love the textured dial, lume and size. Weight on strap is fantastic. Just a class watch.
I agree 100% about Ball styling - it can be hit or miss. But give them credit, they are not just copying other watches, and they do have several toned down models. I own two and consider them one of the best values in Swiss watches.
When I first started getting into the hobby wanting to expand from Casio G-Shock I discovered luminox I still have several that I love and I have some special edition That collaborate private space exploration companies. I actually got a couple T 100 watches that really make my luminox t25 tubes seem dim. I like to wear one to bed because I can see it all night long. Ball is definitely on my bucket list since I have just about every affordable watch that I think I could ever want I want a few luxury pieces now
I picked up a Ball last year and I don't know why I waited. It's this same watch you have, but black dial. I have said it many times in comments elsewhere, and I'll finish up that trend here: That bracelet, while somewhat of a pain to dial in the sizing, is the most comfortable butterfly bracelet I have on any watch, and when it's on it's ON.
I personally like my Traser field watch. Swiss made, fully lumed dial plus tritium tubes for half the price of the Ball watches. Most of the Trasers are quartz movements though, if that's an issue. More field watch than dress watch also.
Went into my local "good" jewellery shop to buy an Oris T1. Had never heard of Bell. Shop were very keen to show them to me. Not a sales push but to show the quality. That was about 6 years ago and I still haven't felt a better bracelet. I did buy the Oris. I do have a Bal on my watch list.
