Ball Watch Company is closely tight to aviation. In 2010, a Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon traveled to outer space on the wrist of Captain Alan Goodwin Pointdexter, the commander of STS-131 NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. After the tragic death of Capatain Pointdexter in 2012, Ball designed a model to honour the memory of the captain, the Engineer Hydrocarbon Spacemaster Captain Poindexter.
Continuing in the same spirit, Ball is launching the Engineer Master II Pilot GMT, a tribute to the pantheon of heroes from the world of aviation. Conceived by the same Magali Metrailler who also designed the Ball for BMW collection, the Engineer Master II Pilot GMT is a combination of vintage style with a contemporary look.
As with other Ball models, this new piece too is using the luminescent micro tubes containing H3 gas to illuminate the 43.5 mm dial. All the indexes are green, while the hours, minutes and seconds hands are colored yellow. The GMT hand and the indexes on the bi-directional rotating bezel have been coated with green lume.
The visibility of the sandwich dial is further improved by the high contrast between the silver coloured dial housing the gas tubes and a black dial on top that has been cut out to make place for the tubes.
The GMT hand can be rapidly adjusted by turning the bidirectional rotating aluminium bezel. The GMT hand extends over the full radius of the dial, as the “embedded” gas tubes allow the hand to pass right around the whole diameter of the timepiece.
Available on a crocodile leather strap or stainless steel, the Ball Engineer Master II Pilot GMT is expected to retail from USD3,000.